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Burger King cook who received measly gift after never missing a day of work in 27 years buys first home after fundraising campaign
New York Post ^ | Jan. 2, 2024 | Nicholas McEntyre

Posted on 01/05/2024 12:33:06 AM PST by nickcarraway

The Burger King cook who never missed a day of work for nearly 30 years and received a measly gift for his dedication has bought his first home with the more than $400K raised from the now-viral clip, saying it was a Christmas miracle.

Kevin Ford closed on his new Pahrump, Nevada, home on Dec. 13, paying $177,000 for the 846-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath house, sharing the news with his followers on social media, according to TMZ. “I wanted to show you something, something you made possible, you did for me, just a hardworking guy,” Ford said in a video posted to Instagram on Dec. 29. “Now I know it needs some work, gonna cut off the haters already, I know it’s not a mansion but it’s mine.”

Ford had celebrated his 27th anniversary with the fast-food franchise without missing a single day of work. The chain, however, gifted him a backpack with a movie ticket, a Starbucks cup and a mix of candy and chocolate.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Food
KEYWORDS: burgerking; nevada
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To: Husker24

Yeah. That doesn’t sound right. My starter was 700 sq ft 2 bedroom and it was TINY.

But maybe... If it makes him happy, and if it embarrasses Burger King, good for him.


21 posted on 01/05/2024 4:03:42 AM PST by MayflowerMadam ("A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once.")
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To: antceecee

the person receiving a gift typically does not have to pay gift tax. The giver, however, will generally file a gift tax return when the gift exceeds the annual gift tax exclusion amount, which is $16,000 per recipient for 2022.


22 posted on 01/05/2024 4:21:10 AM PST by muir_redwoods (Freedom isn't free, liberty isn't liberal and you'll never find anything Right on the Left)
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To: Justa

Recipients don’t pay the gift tax. The donor has to pay the gift tax. Seems very odd, but that’s the way it is. But that’s only if the donor gives more than the limit to a single person ($17k in 2023). So as long as no single donor gave more than $17k, gift tax doesn’t apply.

Also there is no state income tax in Nevada so that doesn’t come into play either.

The money would be treated as income and he has to pay the Federal income tax. Depending on his other income that’s going mean most of the 400k gets taxed at 24%, so he would keep a bit over $300k.


23 posted on 01/05/2024 4:25:50 AM PST by sipow
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To: nickcarraway
Ford had celebrated his 27th anniversary with the fast-food franchise without missing a single day of work. The chain, however, gifted him a backpack with a movie ticket, a Starbucks cup and a mix of candy and chocolate.

That's cheaper than cheap.

24 posted on 01/05/2024 4:29:09 AM PST by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus…)
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To: Justa

Actually I was mistaken about the income tax. Donations via GoFundMe or similar fund raisers are considered personal gifts and the recipient is not taxed.

Any individual donor who gave more than $17k would have to pay gift taxes - but there is a good chance that no one gave that much. In either case he keeps the $400k tax free.


25 posted on 01/05/2024 4:30:28 AM PST by sipow
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To: antceecee

The donor is responsible for the gift tax. If you give more than the limit to an individual, then you are responsible for the taxes, not the recipients.

If ten people give $10k each to someone, there are no taxes.
If one person gives $100k to someone, then the donor owes taxes.

In this case chances are no one gave over the limit.


26 posted on 01/05/2024 4:34:25 AM PST by sipow
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To: spincaster

You can still get a great Whopper, but it won’t be from a BK run by one of the big franchisees. Those are always dystopian hellholes with food you’re scared to eat. You have to find a family owned BK. The difference is night and day. A family owned BK will have picture perfect Whoppers made with fresh ingredients.

I’m lucky to have discovered just such a BK in my part of town. The neat landscaping and clean parking lot caught my eye one day so I stopped in and got a Whopper, which turned out to be fantastic.

A short time later someone on FR said something about family owned BK’s bucking the trend of general awfulness within the BK organization. Reading this got me curious about the unusually good BK I had stumbled upon. So the next time I was in there I checked their business license hanging on the wall and, sure enough, it said something like Smith Family Burger King. Apparently it’s a locally owned individual franchise with owners who care.

Moral of the story is that if you want a Whopper that’s like the ones you remember, you might seek out a family owned BK franchise.


27 posted on 01/05/2024 4:34:38 AM PST by Yardstick
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To: antceecee

The $15k limit is on the giver, not the recipient. So an unlimited number of people can give up to $15k per year (actually now I believe it is $17.5k) with no tax consequences to the recipient.


28 posted on 01/05/2024 4:37:05 AM PST by NCLaw441
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To: Justa
$400K raised. House price was 177K. Likely bought it outright. And a good chunk of change for renovation and living expenses.

Yeah, this is a responsible man ... making good choices. He'll keep that home. Good for him.

29 posted on 01/05/2024 4:37:54 AM PST by GOPJ (There'sNO diversity at Harvard beyond kink/pigmentation. Which might matter if it was a whorehouse.)
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To: Gen.Blather

The only thing your employer owes you is a days pay for a days work.


30 posted on 01/05/2024 4:45:24 AM PST by Dandy (Drain the swamp baby!!!)
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To: nickcarraway

27 years as a burger king cook.. what great aspirations this guy had and he buys an 846 square ft home with money from go fund me.

It’s not a feel good story it’s pathetic.


31 posted on 01/05/2024 4:50:05 AM PST by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: Husker24

My thoughts too - cramped doesn’t even begin to describe it.


32 posted on 01/05/2024 5:19:42 AM PST by trebb (So many fools - so little time...)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda
Supposedly it’s considered a gift and not taxed

Only if the giver pays the gift tax.

If the giver doesn't pay, then the money is considered income and the recipient must pay income tax.

33 posted on 01/05/2024 5:33:11 AM PST by Angelino97
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To: Justa
I think it's the giver who's hit by the gift tax. But it's the giver's choice whether he wants to pay a gift tax in addition to the gift.

If the giver pays a gift tax, the recipient owes nothing. If the giver chooses not to pay a gift tax, the recipient owes income tax on it.

34 posted on 01/05/2024 5:36:48 AM PST by Angelino97
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To: sipow
Actually I was mistaken about the income tax. Donations via GoFundMe or similar fund raisers are considered personal gifts and the recipient is not taxed.

That can't be right. That leaves too much room for fraud. People paying money owed via GoFundMe so as to avoid income tax.

35 posted on 01/05/2024 5:39:47 AM PST by Angelino97
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To: All
The good ol' days.


36 posted on 01/05/2024 5:39:53 AM PST by Liz (Albert Schweitzer: “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.")
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda

IIRC, gifts are taxable to the donor if they are over a certain amount. Back when I gifted money to my children it was $10 or $11K and I had to split over multiple years.

With this being multiple donors, I’d assume the IRS would take its bounty off the total amount in the account (out of whatever is left beyond the house purchase).


37 posted on 01/05/2024 5:41:42 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: Dandy

“The only thing your employer owes you is a days pay for a days work.”

While I agree, not being purposely disrespectful of an excellent employee would be nice. To be clear, it wasn’t the company being disrespectful, but the company was well aware this particular boss was bad. The company’s main customer had called the CEO and asked this boss never to be allowed to attend a meeting with them.

I have to think, though, that the company knew about this manager’s hostile, poisonous attitude and promoted him anyway. I’ve noticed that management promotes people who have whatever personality defect they have. Alcoholics or drug users promote alcoholics or drug users for example.

The idea of recognizing someone’s long service could be a morale booster. I’m sure whatever consultant came up with the program had that in mind. The company spent X amount every year on consultants, usually at some posh golfing resort. But it was to make sure they were doing whatever the fashionable companies were doing. Everything GD did was just skin deep.


38 posted on 01/05/2024 5:42:20 AM PST by Gen.Blather (Wait! I said that out loud? )
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To: nickcarraway

A Burger King cook is a serious industrial air polluter. His fires produce greasy air pollution that is some how exempted from Federal Air Pollution rules


39 posted on 01/05/2024 5:47:05 AM PST by bert ( (KWE. NP. N.C. +12) Hamasci de is required in totalhe)
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To: trebb

Cramped depends solely on your situation and felt needs. 14 years ago, I lost my job and moved from Michigan to Maryland for a new one. This was during the last recession (depression in Michigan) and we lost almost all the principle and equity on our existing house. We ended up in a small house, about 1100 sq ft. with four kids.

It was tight at times, less so when I was able to finish the basement and add a couple bedrooms down there.

The kids all moved out and frankly, I don’t want anything bigger now. The best part is that the mortgage is very affordable and I’m not tied down to having to decide whether to eat or pay my mortgage.


40 posted on 01/05/2024 5:51:28 AM PST by cyclotic (Don’t be part of the problem. Be the entire problem)
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