Sitcom Tax: A round-up of tax information courtesy of Hollywood

Income tax misinformation abounds in the world as Hollywood portrays it. And the trouble is, some people believe what they see. Here's a grab bag of tax episodes, mostly with tax bloopers.

In Dharma and Greg, Dharma plays drums with a band, earning a grand total of $12.50. When she gets paid, the band leader tells her he'll have to send her a 1099 at year end, since she neglected to fill out a W-2. Allrighty then...double blooper. Imagine having to issue a 1099 for every twelve bucks you pay out. And as for calling a W-4 a W-2, unfortunately that's a mistake we've all heard too many times.

The writers of Seinfeld used an old tax chestnut. Elaine – the editor of a catalog - takes her friend George out to lunch.

"I don't really see how having lunch with me is a business lunch," says George.

"Oh. Well... you've seen our catalog. What did you think of it?"

"It stinks."

"Good... now it's a business lunch."

I can't vouch for the exact wording, but the tax blooper is way too familiar. An episode of Roseanne uses the same gag when she declares one brief mention of business at an otherwise personal dinner makes it a write-off.

This one isn't a sitcom, but another product of Hollywood. In the movie that is simply called Scrooged, Scrooge mentions giving his brother a nice Christmas gift of a VCR. The generosity is uncharacteristic of the wealthy penny pincher. But it makes sense when he adds... "It's a tax write-off." Hmmm… who knew you could write off your personal Christmas list?

Here's a real golden oldie. It's not a blooper, but a rare tax story that is actually nice. In a 1953 episode of The Honeymooners, the eternally poor Ralph Kramden discovers that he owes the Internal Revenue Service $15 (in today's dollars, $119). Coincidentally, he's saved for months and socked away $15 to buy himself a new bowling ball. When he discovers the tax liability, he battles with himself... reluctant to hand over his bowling ball money to the IRS. But when a priest comes to his door collecting for the poor in other countries, Ralph chokes up and donates his $15 to the less fortunate.

Sitcom Tax "It's a small price to pay," he says, "for living in the best country in the world."

I don't know how Ralph paid his taxes that year. But the show was a nice reminder that in spite of our everyday worries like income tax and the IRS, we live in a wonderful and generous country.