USA will tax it's athletes for winning at the Olympics...
 

http://www.atr.org/win-olympic-gold-pay-irs-a7091

Win Olympic Gold, Pay the IRS
U.S. Olympic medal winners will owe up to $9,000 to the IRS.

WASHINGTON, D.C. ? While 529 hardworking athletes proudly represent the United States in the 2012 Olympics, any medals and money they earn wearing red, white and blue will be taxed by the IRS. According to research done by the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation, U.S. Olympic athletes are liable to pay income tax on medals earned and prizes received at the London games.

American medalists face a top income tax rate of 35 percent. Under U.S. tax law, they must add the value of their Olympic medals and prizes to their taxable income. It is therefore easy to calculate the tax bite on Olympic glory.

At today?s commodity prices, the value of a gold medal is about $675. A silver medal is worth about $385 while a bronze medal is worth under $5.

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

So how much will U.S. Olympic medal winners have to pay in taxes to the IRS?




Medal/////Tax/////Prize Tax/////Total Tax Burden

Gold/////$236/////$8,750//////$8,986

Silver////$135/////$5,250//////$5,385

Bronze///$2///////$3,500//////$3,502


American gold medal winners will pay the IRS up to $8,986. Silver medal winners will pay up to $5,385. Bronze medal winners will pay up to $3,502.

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.




:Oh crap:Oh crap.

Gary Johnson for president!

Kick in the nuts to those that literally spend their whole lives training with virtually no compensation aside from personal pride.

boo fucking hoo

That's because they get paid cash for winning...

you sure about those stats on the medals? sorry i don't trust exactly a tax reform website. from what i've read the intrinsic value of the gold medal isn't really that much but i could be wrong

If they worked for Jesus, they wouldn't always have to pay.

:1orglaugh That sucks

The value of those medals is much higher than the commodity price of them. I'm not saying that they should be taxed on them, I don't think they should, but any Olympic gold medal is worth a decent amount of money and if it is from a well-known athlete it can be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Fucked up loophole for sure....

Um.... We also tax our military, teachers, and police officers. Get over it.

(Come to think of it, that's a great incentive for teachers if they no longer had to pay taxes.)

Maybe they could make them "selves" a non profit organization, and pay the winnings into said account and enjoy the shelter giving to this type of setup

That is incorrect. USA is the only or one of the only countries in the world that tax their citizens on their worldwide income regardless of their country of residence. HOWEVER other countries tax their residence meaning they tax people who have a residence IN THEIR country regardless of where the money is earned. Money earned at the olympics is still taxed everywhere else according to the tax laws in the country they are living in. If a usa citizen is living in germany he will be taxed in germany and usa but receive a tax credit from USA for taxes paid in germany to avoid double taxation.
Ff

Its not for the medals, Its because The United States Olympic Committee rewards Olympic medalists with honorariums. A gold medal brings $25,000. Silver medals get you $15,000. And a bronze is worth $10,000 and so they are taxed as if its income because it is.

It makes sense, but I agree too that it'd be a grand gesture to make this income tax-free.

i'm sure it's Obamas fault...


but actually unless it's a lottery win, in most countries price money is income and will be taxed

lottery winnings and some casino winnings over certain amounts are also taxed in USA

The cash I understand. Taxing the value of the medal I don't. It would make sense to tax them if they ever sold it, but simply winning it shouldn't make them have to pay tax on the medal itself. I don't ever remember anyone paying tax on bowling or BMX trophies.

Oh well. Like it or leave.

So when a team wins the world series that should be tax free? They arent amateurs anymore.

Just so I am clear. Do you want all taxes abolished? And if so are you willing to give up all the services provided to you with those taxes?

I'm not saying taxes aren't too high, they are. But I think most of us take for granted the everyday things we have because of them.

I'm sure according to Sean Hannity there are athletes who are refusing to go to the Olympics because they will have to pay taxes if they win something. :1orglaugh

good thing is that we have already established that you're an idiot...

but you could read this for a start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merit_good

Hardly comparable.

World Series is full of multimillionaires, people that get paid big money to play a game for big money.

Olympians spend big money, training to be great, to represent their country. To thank them, we tax their glory. Stupendous!

<yawwwwnnn>

So would you just take a vote on what services people want, then let the market decide how much they are going to cost and then just evenly split that cost among everyone that lives in a particular area? Will you get to opt out of paying for things you don't want. For example, if you have no kids can you opt out of paying for education for other kids. Can you opt out of paying for national defense? Police? Fire? Rescue? Roads? Who controls what road and who pays to fix what road? We just going to get rid of all food inspection and let the market handle it?

How do you think all of this stuff will work? I have a feeling you will be shocked at just how much more you will be paying.

no

:2 cents:

Move to Saudi Arabia, no taxes there you dumb fuck.

You're too intelligent to actually believe that JohnnyClips is capable of having this discussion, or that he is open-minded enough to even consider what you are saying. I think I understand meetings of the elite much better now with this example. It's really the only way a progressive think tank could exist and not devolve.

So how would the police work?

How about fire departments?

How about roads?

Education?

National defense?

Details please.

I know I am knocking on a door that will never be answered, but maybe the lizard king will suddenly give him a moment of enlightenment and he will floor us all with some brilliant insight. . . or maybe I will shit a pile gold Krugerrand. :)

you obviously decided not to read this

i studied economy and even if i forgot a lot - this i remember

Actually it is pro basketball players can play in the Olympics, tennis stars also. Micheal Phelps is worth 45 million. The days of Al Oerter ,working a day job and training at night are long over.

this btw has nothing to do with free markets in other areas

You named Pro basketball players and Michael Phelps. We have over 500 people in the Olympics and we have thousands of others training to become part of the Olympics.

How many of them can you name? How many of them do you think have more than a dime to their name?

How much money is our top female judo Olympian worth? What's her name?

Most of them likely have very little money unless their families have money and most of them will make very little if anything when they come home. The woman who is going for her third straight gold in fencing comes from my state so they have been covering her and she talks about working her regular job and training after work and on weekends.

If you are in a marquee sport like swimming or gymnastics they often get large sponsors that will help pay the cost of the training and cover your living expenses, but you aren't getting rich by any means.

There was a story a few years back about the guy who caught Barry Bond's record breaking homerun ball. They said it was worth about a million dollars. The guy was considering keeping it, but then found out he could be taxed on the value of the ball so he could end up having to pay over $300K in taxes if he decided to hold onto it so he ended up selling it.

I am asking for enlightenment, but you refuse to give details.

They're working on making Olympic prizes for US athletes tax exempt. Look up the Rubio bill. :upsidedow

in reality like the article I posted said , a accountant worth half their salt would get it close to zero if not zero. You have some many expenses to go against it.

yeah, fucking ridiculous is'nt it :2 cents:

Pay 9k to make a few million when you get back? Where do I sign up?

#1 rule on GFY: Facts don't matter.