Interesting…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Because conservatives are scrooges, the good folks at Americans for Tax Reform have gone through the fine print to find out what our Olympians will have to cough up to the IRS should they be lucky enough to win any medals in London.

Even by the standards of our government, the numbers are insane.

For instance: Americans who win bronze will pay a $2 tax on the medal itself. But the bronze comes with a modest prize—$10,000 as an honorarium for devoting your entire life to being the third best athlete on the planet in your chosen discipline. And the IRS will take $3,500 of that, thank you very much.

There are also prizes that accompany each medal: $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze.

Silver medalists will owe $5,385. You win a gold? Timothy Geithner will be standing there with his hand out for $8,986.

It gets even worse. Not only do our Olympic athletes have to pay taxes on their medals and prizes – chances are their competitors on the field will face no such taxation when they get home. Because the U.S. is virtually the only developed nation that taxes “worldwide”income earned overseas by its taxpayers, our Olympic athletes face a competitive disadvantage that has nothing to do with sports.

I can only wonder if there is any way the athletes can deduct the cost of their training???

Personally, I think this is just beyond stupid!!!  At least Rubio has sponsored a bill to relieve the taxes for Olympic winners!

I’m off to the range… Go read the folks on my sidebar! 

 

Comments

Interesting… — 5 Comments

  1. I would think cost of training is a deductable.
    Some libs are all up in arms over Mr. Rubio’s bill. They of course demand that the olympians “pay their fair share”.
    They fail to understand that any medal winner will realize a cosiderable income boost, which IS taxable.

  2. What’s truly sad is that the Dems do this with a straight face. Surly the all-powerful “O” can simply issue a note to Timmy and tell him not to prosecute any Olympic athlete for tax evasion?? Right??

  3. Skul- Yep, seems we are the only country that taxes olympics winnings (that I’m aware of)..

    eia- Yeah, right… like THAT is going to happen!

  4. They should at least be able to deduct mileage for travel to training and any related living expenses. That would probably wipe out any taxes on their medals.