“Barbie” owns so much in her pink-hued world—a gorgeous house, several cars, and oh so many clothes. With her love of high-ticket items, a real-life Barbie would be an economic powerhouse in the state of California, contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales and property taxes from her kaleidoscope of jobs since March 9, 1959.
Malibu, Calif., one of most well-known places Barbie has lived, is among the most expensive areas in the US. Luckily, someone loves Barbie enough that they built a life-size Barbie Dreamhouse in the city to analyze—complete with an oceanfront view and a pink slide into the pool.
The real-life Barbie Dreamhouse—which has to have room for Barbie, her little sisters and pets, and maybe Ken—boasts an online sales price of around $5.2 million. That’s less than most would think an oceanfront property would cost. If this property were bought in today’s real estate market, it would create a yearly property tax bill of $3,553 per month, or about $42,640 per year at 8.2% in Los Angeles County.
Also, as is California tradition, that property tax bill would increase on an annual basis at a cap of 2% of the assessed value. That means that a maximum of $10,400 would be added to that original property tax per year. Keep in mind this is only for her most popular piece of Barbie real estate—it doesn’t factor in the taxes related to her glam vacation house, townhouse, or international properties.
Along with that considerable yearly property tax bill, she’s had about nine different modes of transportation. The most iconic is her little pink convertible, but that’s certainly not her most high net worth vehicle.
Barbie’s most notable cars are her 2004 Ferrari F1, 1991 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet, 1987 Ferrari 328 GTS, 1976 Star Vette, 1962 Mercedes Benz 190SL, 1962 Austin-Healey 3000 MKII, and 1957 Chevy Bel-Air. The amount of sales tax that Barbie must have paid on these vehicles—which not only are high-value cars, but also are all custom because they’re all pink—is significant.
All those vehicles, if purchased today in their custom pink paint, most likely command a price in excess of $50,000, which in Los Angeles County means you have a sales tax of around 9.5%. One could break down the individual car prices and their sales tax and appreciation over the years, but it’s safe to say Barbie pays around $5,000 in sales tax for each new pink vehicle. With just those nine cars listed above, that’s $45,000 in sales tax on top of the hefty price tag.
The true sales tax hit to Barbie’s lifestyle is the shopping—a majority of which she could probably classify as a “business expense” due to her involvement in every profession possible. It might not even be unheard of for Business Barbie to classify the pink custom everything as part of her brand, allowing her to write of the majority of her shopping addiction. Alas, this isn’t a full audit of Barbie’s life.
Barbie has her daily wardrobe, her party wardrobe, her custom vehicles, her furnished Dreamhouse, her custom Barbie camper, her pets’ wardrobes, etc. Because Barbie is buying custom, she’s spending tens of thousands of dollars just in sales tax on her custom life on an annual basis.
For Barbie to afford this life of leisure, her income from her 50-plus jobs and businesses throughout the years can no longer be in a fantasy world. But she has always embodied the true Barbie Girl spirit—whether as an astrophysicist, a NASCAR driver, or a Mary Kay consultant—and crushing it in her pink pantsuit. California can only dream of sending Barbie a tax bill.
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.
Author Information
Lauren Suarez is an attorney at RJS Law in Southern California who has been practicing tax law for about 10 years. She has a wide array of knowledge in federal and state tax controversy matters.
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