The Amazing Race Grand Prize Is $1 Million. So Why Do Some Contestants LOSE Money?
The two-person teams on CBS' long-running reality competition The Amazing Race traverse the globe each season in planes, trains, automobiles, hot air balloons and more in pursuit of the ultimate bragging rights. And when the contestants return for Season 31 on April 17, they'll be battling for bragging rights, but also for cold, hard cash.
What do you get for winning The Amazing Race?
If you win The Amazing Race, it's the same grand prize as CBS' other mega-popular reality adventure show, Survivor: $1 million.
In addition to the payout for reaching the final destination in first place, teams can win paid vacations and new cars for finishing first in various legs of the show.
How do taxes affect your Amazing Race winnings?
While $1 million is the advertised prize, the U.S. government takes a substantial cut of your reality show winnings through taxes.
The cash jackpot isn't the only thing on the show that's taxed. According to Season 21 contestant Mark "Abba" Abbattista in an interview with The A.V. Club, "paid" vacations don't actually mean they're "free" vacations.
"So if the trip is worth $10,000, guess what? You owe Uncle Sam $3,500. And they’re not all-inclusive. Your air is paid for and your hotel and they include some other things, like massages or a snorkel trip, but all the food is not included," Abbattista said. "So you’re spending money and going to places that you’re not necessarily interested in."
Abbattista also said that some contestants would sell the cars they'd won to assist in paying taxes on their winnings.
You can get around paying taxes on reality show winnings is by giving away the prize as a gift. "If you want to give away prize money as a gift, you can make gifts of up to $13,000 to as many people as you want without having to pay gift taxes on it," according to NerdWallet.
Does everyone on The Amazing Race-even the losers- get paid?
It's unclear what exactly non-winners of the show are paid for their participation. Abbattista told The A.V. Club that contests "get some kind of money for the order that you come in."
For Season 6, the fan site TARFlies found that the team placing 11th and eliminated first was given $1,500. From there, the amounts increased to: $2,500; $3,000; $3,500; $4,000; $5,000; $6,00 and $7,000 for each additional leg and elimination.
Third-place finishers saw their prize increase to $10,000, with runners-up receiving $25,000.
Abbattista revealed that many Amazing Race like himself actually lose money by being on the show because they're forced to take time off from work to compete.
"If mom and dad are going away and not getting paid for that period of time, and they don’t win, you’re not compensating yourself with that money," Abbattista said.
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