UK Edition
US athletes will have to pay ‘Olympic medal’ tax when they return home
Gymnastics, athletics and swimming victories have pushed the US to the top of the Olympics medal league table above Team GB, but it will also leave their athletes with a hefty tax bill when they return home.
Olympic medals won by any US athlete are given a value and taxed by US authorities, based on the value of the materials in a gold, silver or bronze award.
Gold medals are worth around $600 based on today’s commodity prices, a silver medal around $300 and copper-made bronze medals just $4, according to BBC News.
Simone Biles, the 19-year-old gymnast with five Olympic medals under her belt, could be paying tax on multiple medals including four golds.
The US team counts some of the most decorated Olympic athletes in the world, notably swimmer Michael Phelps, who has won 28 medals, including 23 golds, during his career - earning him the nickname of the "Flying Fish".
But unlike team GB, the US government also pays athletes a financial bonus if they win medals at this summer’s games, much like rivals including Italy and Russia – although this, too, is taxed as income.
US gold medallists are paid $25,000, silver winners $15,000, and bronze medallists earn $10,000.
Americans for Tax Reform, a lobby group that opposes the "medal tax", says the total tax bill paid by medallists is far more considering the additional payouts US Olympians get for winning a podium place, with $9,900 tax to pay for a gold, $5,940 for a silver and $3,960 for a bronze medal.
Prize money is usually taxed in the UK, including Andy Murray’s £2m sweetener for taking the Wimbledon Men’s Singles title earlier this summer.
Great Britain doesn’t offer incentive payments to its medal-winning athletes, saying it isn’t important to motivating athletes, who are instead left to cash in on their post-Olympic fame through corporate deals and media appearances.