ATR Calculates Hefty Tax Burden That American Medal-winning Olympians Bear; Will NBC Report?

For the "You didn't build that!" file: Our friends at Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) did some number crunching and calculated that American Olympians who win gold medals this year will face nearly $9,000 in federal income tax per each one earned. Silver medalists would pay just a bit over $5,300.

What's more, in undoubtedly one aspect of American exceptionalism that American liberals love, the U.S. is the only developed country that taxes income earned overseas by its citizens, notes ATR's Hugh Johnson:

It gets even worse. Not only do our Olympic athletes have to pay taxes on their medals and prizes – chances are their competitors on the field will face no such taxation when they get home. Because the U.S. is virtually the only developed nation that taxes “worldwide” income earned overseas by its taxpayers, our Olympic athletes face a competitive disadvantage that has nothing to do with sports.

The networks of NBC are, of course, the American outlets covering the London Olympics. I wouldn't hold my breath for NBC News or MSNBC to report this story or raise questions in interviews with athletes about the tax burden they have to bear on their medals and prize monies.

At time of publication, U.S. athletes earned 21 medals -- 7 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze. Using ATR's numbers, that's at least $126,994 due to Uncle Sam because of the athletic success of American athletes. It's actually probably significantly more than that since some of those medals were earned in team sports and the medal count reflects only medals per event (not per athlete awarded).

Read the full blog post here.

Image above via Trendwire.