Update: Please note this offer has expired. No, you can’t get a free copy of Office by following these links anymore. Sorry you missed it.
Microsoft is giving away copies of Microsoft Office Small Business Management Edition, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, Outlook with Business Contact Manager Update, and Small Business Accounting 2006.
What’s the catch? You have to watch three live webcasts over a four-day period and fill out a short evaluation for each one. More details at the Microsoft Small Business Summit website.
Update: As several people have noted, this offer is only available in the United States. Also, this “gift” will be reported as income on a W-9 form. According to the release, “Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the recipient based on the fair market value of the software provided. The suggested retail value of the software is $669.00. Microsoft is required to collect W-9 information from each software recipient.”
A little interpretation of the above is in order. Just because Microsoft declares the “suggested retail value” as $669, that doesn’t mean that’s the value that has to go on your tax return. You’re required to pay taxes on the “fair market value,” which you can establish any way that makes sense. If you already own a copy of Office, for instance, the fair market value to you could reasonably be construed as the discounted price of the upgrade version of this software. I did a quick Froogle search and found this version available for as low as $190. If I were filing my taxes after receiving this software, I would include the W-9 plus a short letter and a printout of the first page of that search as documentation.
Of course, I’m only the son of an accountant, not an actual CPA or lawyer, so don’t take that as legal or financial advice!
Ed Bott 
And they 1099-misc you at the end of the year.. depending on your bracket this could be a couple hundred bucks.
Hopefully your users will benefit from getting one of the 300 copies before they sell out…but it seems like a risk and a pain to me:
You may win or you may not.
You have to pay if you win.
I’m curious if Microsoft will let you know if they sell out that portion of the show.
I also mention this because a better secret is to attend one of the Microsoft launches, like the Microsoft CRM launch. You win in every possible way: free meal, free parking, good knowledge from sharp people, good networking, AND FREE SOFTWARE like Office Pro without any tax issues. Yep, they just give it away…
You’re confusing two different giveaways, Jared. The first 300 people to register and attend at least one live event get a book, the Microsoft Small Business Kit. There’s no limitation on the software giveaway, as far as I can tell, except for the nebulous “while supplies last.”
Hello Ed, how do I get a copy of Office 2003? I have been lusting after it but can’t afford it as a senior citizen on a budget. How doI go about it?
Thank you, Elise
Hi Ed,
I signed up for the courses, which I am interested in taking, but the motivation is the Small Business Office 2003. Will I know if I will receive the software, before the courses begin?
Thanks for you response.
BJ Kochendorfer
Ed…
I’m back. I have signed for 4 days of webcasts. Where do I go online to attend them? I must have missed something somewhere. Is it the Microsoft Passport?
Thanks for your help.
BJ Kochendorfer
BJ, I have no idea how the program will work specifically. I’m just passing along a link to something that looks interesting. If you have any further questions, you’ll need to check in with the program’s organizers. They should send you e-mail explaining how to attend each of the seminars you signed up for.
Sheeeez, youd think that with a date of Feb 26th, the were all GONE by the 27th?
Alvaro, nothing is “gone” until the program itself concludes, which is next week.
Anyone who sends Microsoft their tax information on a W-9 is out of their mind. If receiving a gift (obsolete software) for answering a survey is taxable (I think not) then it is up to each individual to report it, not Microsoft. If taxable (not) the correct amount varies with individuals and with states. Shame on you Microsoft for your lies and shame on you fools who get sucked into this “something for nothing scheme.”
Folks, in order to view the webcasts and get the software you have to have a MS Passport. If you don’t care about your em box filling with MS and 3rd party offers [in abundance], then the offer is a good deal. I got to the part where the MS Passport was required in order to proceed and just cancelled out. I’d actually love to hear more than 3 of the web casts but I’ve had very [!] negative experiences with the volume of what I consider to be junk mail when I had an MS Passport. It’s a balancing act, I guess. I choose not to let MS invade my life.
As an adult, we should all know that you do not get something for nothing. Chalk it up as yet another Microsoft scam. They, undoubtedly, will be the only ones who come out with something for nothing. Shame on you if you fall for it.
Scam? That’s a pretty harsh word. Care to back it up? Or is it just an ad hominem attack?