IRS Taxes on Gold Medal Winners: $9,000. True or False?
If an American wins a gold medal at the Olympics, will the IRS collect about $9,000? True or false?
True — maybe. It depends on his post-endorsement income.
And why not? The U.S. Olympic Committee awards every gold medal winner in every sport, no matter how obscure, a cash payment of $25,000.
You didn’t know that, did you?
Italy pays over $180,000 to its gold medal winners.
Russia pays $135,000.
Ghana pays $20,000, which in Ghana is big bucks.
The gold medals are mostly made of silver, so the tax isn’t that high on the medals. It’s on the payola — sorry, the rewards for winning.
Here is a breakdown on who gets how much. (Taken from Americans for Tax Reform.)
If you watched the great 1980 movie, Chariots of Fire, on the 1924 Olympics, you will see the irony. The Old Boy Network that wanted to keep money out of consideration lost that battle in the twenty-first century.
No future Jim Thorpe will have to return his medals. He will cash in on the endorsements, and come back to try again at the next Olympics.
I don’t know if Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian. I do know that the IRS has greatly appreciated his efforts.
When an American stands on the victors’ platform, tears streaming down his face, there’s a reason: the IRS.
Frankly, I’d be hysterical.
Continue reading on snopes.com.
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Published on August 2, 2012. The original is here.