Posted on 08/15/2016 2:20:04 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Michael Phelps may be untouchable in the water, but even he can’t out-swim the Tax Man.
America’s Olympic medalists must pay state and federal taxes on the prize money they get for winning.
The U.S. Olympic Committee awards $25,000 for gold medals, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze.
That’s not all.
Olympians also have to pay tax on the value of the medals themselves.
Gold and silver medals are made mostly of silver, while bronze medals are composed of mostly copper.
Rio’s medals are among the largest and heaviest ever and contain about 500 grams of either silver or copper.
The value of a gold medal is about $564; silver is worth about $305.money – around $1 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at kfor.com ...
What I have read regarding the Olympic medals is they are taxed at the value of the materials, not what an auction might fetch.
If members of our military have to pay taxes on the money they earn overseas, Olympians should also pay taxes on the money they earn overseas.
That’s only one half of the ledger. What about expenses? Many of these guys spent thousands of dollars training and preparing. Anyone who knows how to fill out a Sched C can easily reduce the tax liability to zero for most of them.
Excellent point.
they hop on this bandwagon every olympics...when nobel prize winners don’t have to pay taxs on their nobel, maybe we can talk about atheletes
Is it any wonder the government is so despised?
Material is worth at most 600 bucks:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/how-much-is-an-olympic-gold-medal-worth-cost-sell-gold-prices
The tax haul comes from the cash award.
That they have to pay taxes on it is ridiculous.
You’re likely quite right.
This is just silly. Although there may be some inherent value of the materials which goes into the metals, the true value is intangible and inestimable by the winner.
These are not possessions available for sale to the highest bidder, but keepsakes which are outside of the stream of commerce.
CORRECT!.......................
Well, it has to be claimed on their tax returns which doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to pay taxes on it.
I have several friends who are Minor League managers or coaches. When their teams win the World Series, they are eligible for the coveted world championship ring. Several of them have had to refuse the award because they can’t afford the tax liability of the award. Their salary is not high enough to be able to afford such luxuries.
The problem with the federal taxes that Mr. Phelps will pay on his gold medals, such taxes arguably based on Commerce Clause tariffs (1.8.3), is this. The corrupt feds are going to spend his taxes on things that the states have never delegated to the feds, expressly via the Constitution, the specific power to tax and spend for.
In other words, Mr. Phelps is probably going to pay unconstitutionally high federal taxes on his gold medals imo.
Yet Phelps is worth $55 million?
++If members of our military have to pay taxes ++
The military generally don’t pay for their own training or supplies or travel, and little to nothing for housing* and food**- they are room-and-board paid employees entitled to paid leave and vacation. American Olympians do and aren’t - they are ‘individual businesses’. I disagree they should be taxed, but if they are, should be fully entitled to expense the taxes down to zero if they can, just like any other business.
*Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rates are designed to cover 100 percent of the average rental costs for the type of dwelling authorized for the specific paygrade (rank).
https://www.thebalance.com/basic-allowance-for-housing-3353831
**Current BAS Rates: Enlisted: $368.29 per month Officers: $253.63 per month.
http://www.military.com/benefits/military-pay/allowances/basic-allowance-for-subsistence.html
You pay tax when you get the medal, and then pay tax when you sell it later on. So, at least on the value of the metal itself, you get to pay tax twice.
Ordinary income the first time, and capital gains the second time.
Actually not as most have their travel and expenses paid.
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