Athletes representing our nation overseas in the Olympics shouldn’t have to worry about an extra tax bill waiting for them back home." (A new Olympics tax exemption might make the tax code more complicated, but we digress.)Īfter a reader notified us of this developing issue, we decided to fact-check ATR’s specific claim that "U.S. tax code "is a complicated and burdensome mess that too often punishes success, and the tax imposed on Olympic medal winners is a classic example of this madness. Olympic medal winners from paying taxes on their hard-earned medals." Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced the Olympic Tax Elimination Act, which would "exempt U.S. These calculations were widely noted in the blogosphere. A gold-medal winner would owe $8,986, while a silver-medal winner would owe $5,385 and a bronze winner would owe $3,502. Olympic Committee.ĪTR went on to offer calculations of what medal winners might owe the IRS, using that 35 percent tax rate. There are also cash prizes that accompany each medal: $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze." These prizes are given by the U.S. A silver medal is worth about $385 while a bronze medal is worth under $5. … At today’s commodity prices, the value of a gold medal is about $675. tax law, they must add the value of their Olympic medals and prizes to their taxable income. The ATR blog post continued, "American medalists face a top income tax rate of 35 percent," ATR wrote. Olympic medal winners will owe up to $9,000 to the IRS." With Americans paying close attention to the London Olympics, two leading figures in the conservative movement - Grover Norquist and Marco Rubio - have launched an effort to lighten the tax burden for athletes who win medals.Ī July 31, 2012, blog post on the website of Norquist’s group, Americans for Tax Reform, had the headline, "Win Olympic Gold, Pay the IRS: U.S.