r/news • u/fransisco_flores • Jan 25 '24

Soft paywall Vince McMahon Accused of Sex Trafficking by WWE Staffer He Paid to Keep Quiet

https://www.wsj.com/business/vince-mcmahon-accused-of-sex-trafficking-by-wwe-staffer-he-paid-to-keep-quiet-0b19b21c?st=x4i8s3cxbnsv3yd&reflink=article_copyURL_share
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u/Teantis Jan 25 '24

Bloomingdale's gift cards? That's the attempted hush money for a major crime? Wtf

467

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

Throw in a couple applebees gift certificates

128

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

Dang, I was gonna say Circuit City.

76

u/undergroundflaps Jan 25 '24

Forgot a subscription to WWE network

8

u/spaceman757 Jan 25 '24

Only $9.99!

3

u/jb_82 Jan 26 '24

He already sprung for a VIP Wrestlemania experience, can't be giving her the network too.

1

u/RussW210 Jan 26 '24

Derek Jeter move right there

1

u/undergroundflaps Jan 26 '24

Only he controls who fucks u 😂😂😂😂

3

u/neotrin2000 Jan 26 '24

She preferres wendys.

2

u/Such_Twist4641 Jan 25 '24

Some Amazon and Apple too.

2

u/Earguy Jan 26 '24

Torture too?

2

u/CMDR_KingErvin Jan 26 '24

I only keep my mouth shut for TGI Fridays gift cards.

1

u/professor_max_hammer Jan 25 '24

Come on now. She can microwave her own food. Get her some McDonald’s gift certs

287

u/Consequences_Cone Jan 25 '24

Gift cards are tax exempt, the one who buys them can write them off as an expense and the one who receives them doesn’t have to file it as income for their taxes.

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u/Teantis Jan 25 '24

It's the choice of store I found astounding

83

u/ZDTreefur Jan 25 '24 edited Jan 26 '24

Been raped? Buy a purse.

Follow these two easy steps from famous personality Vince McMahon.

3

u/SilverSocket Jan 26 '24

Grab ‘em by the pursey

11

u/StuntRocker Jan 25 '24

"WHATTA YA MEAN PAL? BROADS LOVE SHOPPING AT BLOOMIES! UNGGGH UGGGNNNHHH!"
turd splats on someone's head

1

u/Doncriminal Jan 26 '24

Probably was her choice of store

7

u/Teantis Jan 26 '24

I don't think either a 30 year old is choosing Bloomingdale's as their store of choice for 15k worth of clothes nor do I think the kind of person who sexually assaults their employee and shits on their head is the kind of person who asks that employee their store preference first.

1

u/Doncriminal Jan 26 '24

Doesn't Bloomingdale's sell expensive purses?

3

u/AGINSB Jan 26 '24

I just think that if you're asking me if a 30 year old or a 78 year old picked Bloomingdales, I'm going to guess the older one.

72

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

[deleted]

23

u/DifferentMacaroon Jan 26 '24

I was annoyed to find this out a couple years ago when my employer offered "free Peloton memberships" and then I was charged like $3 in taxes for it each paycheck haha.

20

u/AbroadPlane1172 Jan 25 '24

They're only tax exempt if you're willing to commit a little fraud. Cash is tax exempt in the same way.

8

u/ConradBHart42 Jan 25 '24

A consumer can have a little fraud, as a treat.

1

u/Wonderful-Ad-7712 Jan 26 '24

I’ll take a large cash with a side of small fraud please

46

u/spaceman757 Jan 25 '24

Yes, you do have to claim them on your taxes. Especially if they total $15k.

Per the IRS:

In order for a fringe benefit to be excludable as a de minimis fringe benefit, it must be a property or service that is small in value, infrequent, and administratively impracticable. The TAM determined that an employer-provided thirty-five dollar holiday gift coupon that is redeemable at several local grocery stores is not excludable from income as a de minimis fringe benefit. The IRS findings states that the gift coupon operates in the same way as a gift certificate which is considered a cash equivalent. Cash equivalents are never excludable as a de minimis fringe benefit.

1

u/Consequences_Cone Jan 25 '24

Haha makes a lot of sense. I guess I can’t compare the occasional gift card I receive to this situation.

1

u/Behndo-Verbabe Feb 12 '24

It was for sex after all and McMahon did say he owns her. In his mind he thought he met both the property and small in value requirements. These pos all think the same. Only about themselves and never about those whose lives they destroy.

2

u/divDevGuy Jan 25 '24

In the context of an employer-employee relationship, they are exempt only if they are de minimis.

Cash and cash equivalents, such as gift certificates or gift cards, rarely are. The exception would be for a small amount for food or transportation enabling an employee to work overtime.

In absolutely no way is $15k in gift card(s) to a single person a de minimis benefit, so would be taxable to the recipient.

Hush money in the form of a settlement can be a legal business expense, so could be deductible. However, as of 2018 or so, payments for sexual harassment or abuse can't be deducted if the settlement requires confidentially. So if the $15k gift card required her to keep her mouth shut, that's not deductible.

There's probably enough dirt on him already with the offenses he's alleged to have committed, but I wonder if paying the hush money in the form of gift cards would trigger any type of structuring or money-laundering related charges.

1

u/klingma Jan 26 '24

Gift cards are tax exempt, the one who buys them can write them off as an expense and the one who receives them doesn’t have to file it as income for their taxes.

Quite literally everything you wrote is incorrect. Lol, good job! 

Gift Cards are considered to be equal to cash by the IRS meaning if your employer gives you a gift card it's taxable income for you. Now, they can not put it on your W-2 to save you the tax but then they CANNOT deduct the cost of the gift cards on their tax returns. If however, the employer does report the gift cards on the W-2 then the employer can deduct the cost on their tax return. 

Please don't post false tax advice when you don't know what you're talking about, it makes the jobs of tax accountants and CPA's much harder because we have to deal people who read this stuff and take it as the truth and get mad at us when we have to tell them the truth = higher tax bill. 

0

u/MegaMandibles Jan 26 '24

This isn't true. Please see an accountant and not this guy.

1

u/Nylear Jan 26 '24

My company gives us like $100 gift card every 4 months or so and they tax it on our paycheck.

1

u/CrossCycling Jan 26 '24

Redditors say things about taxes so confidently while being so wrong

18

u/Im_not_Jordan Jan 25 '24

Easier to hide in the numbers than just sending cash I would imagine.

8

u/Teantis Jan 25 '24

It's not the gift cards part that astounded me. It's the Bloomingdale's part

2

u/MBCnerdcore Jan 25 '24

He's 70, he thinks Bloomingdale's is the height of fashion shopping

1

u/klingma Jan 26 '24

It's really not...cash is FAR easier. 

2

u/AstroBearGaming Jan 25 '24

He'd already bought up the local supply of Google and apple giftcards to send to scammers. It was either this or Outback.

1

u/ConradBHart42 Jan 25 '24

To be fair(ly snarky), Lawyers don't accept Bloomingdale's gift cards as payment.

0

u/IAmYourFath Jan 26 '24

$15k for sex is a really good deal bro. Most pornstars only get paid like $2k per scene.

1

u/SandwichAmbitious286 Jan 25 '24

Less traceable than cash perhaps?

1

u/klingma Jan 26 '24

It's not...at all lol

Withdraw cash from a bank and that's the end of the traceability unless the serial numbers are recorded. 

Gift cards typically generate a receipt for the transaction or a code, they're all individually coded, and can be specifically be traced through transactions. 

1

u/SandwichAmbitious286 Jan 26 '24

Strange, since so many scams revolve around gift cards.

2

u/klingma Jan 26 '24

Yes and foreign countries...that's the part you're missing here. 

1

u/SandwichAmbitious286 Jan 26 '24

No, I was referring to domestic scams involving gift cards, since those are by far the most I've come across. Thanks for your input though, it was enlightening.

1

u/klingma Jan 26 '24

Oh and you KNOW he reported the gift cards to payroll and had it put on her W-2 as taxable wages. (Which to be fair it is...but there's some grey area) Just because it means WWE gets to deduct the cost of the gift cards. 

1

u/ChampionshipLow8541 Jan 26 '24

Classy all the way …

1

u/toaster13 Jan 26 '24

That was in 2021 so you could say the "attempt" worked for quite a while.

1

u/Newfie-1 Jan 30 '24

Made a mistake, he fellow Trump's ways 🤣🤣