Reply #135: On the subject of celebrities getting "free shit", there are some misperceptions here

[DaveinJapan]

As mentioned above, the IRS cracked down on these so-called "gifts" because a gift means no strings attached (and could also be subject to a gift tax, but that's beside the point).

If I understand this correctly, what these vendors are doing is no different than if they hired so-and-so celebrity to come down and shoot a commercial for a set amount of money. Only in this case, the "amount of money" in question is paid in the form of goods rather than cash.

So no, in this case it's not an issue of celebrities getting "free shit" at all, they are being paid for their endorsement in a relatively unusual manner.

Note also, they don't get this payment because they're rich, but because they're famous (there are certainly *some* famous people out there who are not all that wealthy, but would still be sought after for endorsements and thus compensated in one form or another for that service).