Nothing like training your whole life to compete in the Olympics and represent your country and then you have Uncle Sam waiting for you to return with his hand out.  Can you believe the American Olympians are taxed for their medals?  Worst part is, we are the only country that does this!  Check out how much each Olympian has to pay for winning a medal, it’s ridiculous!

According to the website for Americans For Tax Reform, our poor Olympians are getting ripped-off when it comes to winning a medal!  Americans who win gold medals get a bonus of $25,000 from the U.S. Olympic Committee. Silver gets you $15,000 and bronze winners $10,000. Sounds great, right?  Until the government taxes you on that bonus!

Gold medal winners will end up owing $8,750 in taxes for each of their gold medals. Silver medal winners pay$5,250 in taxes and bronze means you pay $3,500 in taxes.

Wait, that’s not all!  You also have to pay taxes on the actual value of the medal itself!

For a gold medal, add $236, taking the total you pay in taxes up to $8,986.

A silver medal adds $135, for a total of $5,385.

Bronze costs an extra $2 in taxes, for a total of $3,502.

So, if you do the math, in 2008, Michael Phelps paid $71,888 in taxes for his 8 gold medals!

The U.S. is one of the only countries that taxes its own Olympians.  Most countries don’t tax income earned overseas.