Oprah's free cars not really free

Thanks but no thanks Oprah! Many of the 276 recipients of the new Pontiacs that she gave away last week are going to have to fork over thousands of dollars in taxes. While Pontiac agreed to pay for most local charges, state sales tax and licensing fees, the recipients have to report the cars to the IRS as income. This extra income can push them into a higher tax bracket. For a nearly $30,000 car, that probably means, for most of the recipients, shelling out $7,125 for the "free" car.