A fortunate player recently rejected an offer to receive 40 years of Xbox Game Pass for free for a surprisingly valid reason.
Xbox Game Pass is a monthly membership service that provides customers with unrestricted access to a sizable selection of Xbox games for a low cost, as well as sporadic extras like Funimation or Disney Plus.
The Xbox Game Pass catalog expands with new games each month, and some of them are also added as soon as they become available.
Microsoft Rewards, a program that enables users to accumulate virtual points through the purchase and play of Xbox games, completion of weekly tasks, and participation in online tests and surveys, occasionally offers “lifetime” memberships as part of the company’s efforts to promote Xbox Game Pass.
The Microsoft Rewards “lifetime” Xbox Game Pass memberships are valid for up to 40 years and include a special Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership card bearing the winner’s gamertag.
Although a lifelong subscription to Xbox Game Pass may sound like a dream come true to the most ardent Xbox fans, one recent winner pointed out a potential drawback.
According to Pure Xbox, a Reddit user going by the name Elvite earlier this week took home the Microsoft Rewards Xbox Game Pass Lifetime Membership reward. They finally had to decline it because of tax considerations, however.
I Won Game Pass Ultimate for Life and Declined the Prize (AKA: Taxes are a Bitch)
by u/Elvite in MicrosoftRewards
Elvite took to r/MicrosoftRewards to say that if they had taken the award, it would’ve increased their taxable income by $7,300 in 2023, adding $1,752 to their federal tax burden in addition to state income tax.
Other Reddit users who left comments on Elvite’s post were sympathetic to their predicament, and some even praised them for taking the time to carefully study the terms and conditions of the complimentary Xbox Game Pass subscription that many others would have accepted without hesitation.
Some other users also noted how “eye-opening” it was to think that taxes would make winning such a prize more trouble than it would be worth.
They also mentioned how countries like the UK do not tax awards the same way the US does.
It may seem strange for somebody who won a lifetime Xbox Game Pass to decline this gift, but as Elvite’s current predicament shows, these promotions aren’t always successful.
Fortunately, before taking this Xbox Game Pass reward at face value, the gamer took the time to consider how it might affect their finances in the long run.