helmuth_hubener
08-15-2016, 03:12 PM
Going for Gold? Not Without Giving Uncle Sam His Cut
http://archive.li/Hyl3o/14a28dcd7589a0afedccc5f4ae5696ab6b84f27a
Michael Phelps swims fast, but not fast enough to beat Uncle Sam, who awaits him at the finish line each time he wins a medal. His total income tax bill for the 2016 Games? Up to about $55,000 for his five golds and one silver.
Olympic athletes who bring home medals also bring home cash — $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze — paid for by the United States Olympic Committee. Like any prize winner, from a jackpot hitter to a Nobel Prize recipient, the athletes are taxed because Olympic medals and cash bonuses are considered income, said Steven Gill, associate professor of accounting at San Diego State University.
The maximum possible "victory tax" on the bonus for each gold medal, using the top tax rate of 39.6% for the nation's highest earners, is $9,900, according to Americans for Tax Reform. For silver, it's $5,940, and for bronze it's $3,960. Athletes in lower tax brackets would owe less — and keep in mind that some or all of their massive training expenses would likely be deductible, whether they treat their sport as a business or a hobby.
-- http://archive.is/Hyl3o
These athletes have made a tremendous individual achievement. Their victories are a celebration of individualism. They show the triumphal results of that moral system that reads as follows: PUTTING IN THE WORK! Too bad this moral system is dying out. And naturally, what is the response of the state to a great individual accomplishment?
You didn't build that.
You didn't swim that.
You didn't do that.
You didn't win that.
It takes a village. And so you'd better give the village what's coming to it. Or the village will take it.
http://archive.li/Hyl3o/14a28dcd7589a0afedccc5f4ae5696ab6b84f27a
Michael Phelps swims fast, but not fast enough to beat Uncle Sam, who awaits him at the finish line each time he wins a medal. His total income tax bill for the 2016 Games? Up to about $55,000 for his five golds and one silver.
Olympic athletes who bring home medals also bring home cash — $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze — paid for by the United States Olympic Committee. Like any prize winner, from a jackpot hitter to a Nobel Prize recipient, the athletes are taxed because Olympic medals and cash bonuses are considered income, said Steven Gill, associate professor of accounting at San Diego State University.
The maximum possible "victory tax" on the bonus for each gold medal, using the top tax rate of 39.6% for the nation's highest earners, is $9,900, according to Americans for Tax Reform. For silver, it's $5,940, and for bronze it's $3,960. Athletes in lower tax brackets would owe less — and keep in mind that some or all of their massive training expenses would likely be deductible, whether they treat their sport as a business or a hobby.
-- http://archive.is/Hyl3o
These athletes have made a tremendous individual achievement. Their victories are a celebration of individualism. They show the triumphal results of that moral system that reads as follows: PUTTING IN THE WORK! Too bad this moral system is dying out. And naturally, what is the response of the state to a great individual accomplishment?
You didn't build that.
You didn't swim that.
You didn't do that.
You didn't win that.
It takes a village. And so you'd better give the village what's coming to it. Or the village will take it.