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.
The medals themselves are taxed, too, but they're not as valuable as their shiny goodness may appear. Based on the commodity prices of the metals involved, gold is worth in the neighborhood of $600, silver about $300 and bronze next to nothing. What they'd go for on the open market is much higher, easily $10,000 or more, but that's not a factor unless an athlete sells or otherwise disposes of the medal, according to tax expert Blake Christian, partner at Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt.
For the complete story please visit
USA Today
ABOUT
Dynamic Wealth Research was founded on the principle the world is changing at an ever-increasing pace. The greatest profit opportunities an investor will ever find are from massive, sweeping changes. Dynamic Wealth Research analyzes and closely follows these changes, keeps its readers on the leading edge of them, and shows you how to be best positioned these anxious, interesting, and ultimately profitable times.
