Taxes for Olympians
- SpiffCoug
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Taxes for Olympians
Do you think Congress should pass a bill exempting Olympians from having to pay taxes on their winnings at the Olympics?
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- snoscythe
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Re: Taxes for Olympians
If any of them do, they're idiots or they have idiot accountants. The amount of money they spend training, traveling, etc. is deductible against the value of the award as a business expense--anything they spent in the "production of the income" is deductible.
Besides, the scare story that an Olympian might owe $9000 in taxes on a gold medal is only true for an Olympian who (a) didn't incur enough business expenses to offset the value, and (ii) made over $388,350 in 2012 to be taxed at the highest rate of 35% that they used in coming up with the $9000 headline.
I think it's a waste of time carving out a tax exemption for something the IRS itself has said it's hard to imagine anyone actually having to pay.
Besides, the scare story that an Olympian might owe $9000 in taxes on a gold medal is only true for an Olympian who (a) didn't incur enough business expenses to offset the value, and (ii) made over $388,350 in 2012 to be taxed at the highest rate of 35% that they used in coming up with the $9000 headline.
I think it's a waste of time carving out a tax exemption for something the IRS itself has said it's hard to imagine anyone actually having to pay.