Schock: Don't Tax Olympians' Winnings

By Chris Bentley in News on Aug 6, 2012 6:20PM

America’s hunkiest Congressman, Aaron Schock (R-18th), and his six-pack want to pull Olympic winnings off the tax rolls. Schock introduced a bill last week that would make prize money and medals won by U.S. Olympic athletes tax exempt.

Medals come with performance bonuses: $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. The market value of those precious metals could be taxed, too, although Northwestern University tax expert David Cameron told the Tribune he doubts the IRS chases Olympians for their medals.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) took the torch from Schock and more than 30 co-sponsors, introducing a companion bill in the Senate. Schock and others apparently view taxes on Olympic athletes as a penalty, while opponents say the additional exemption would further perforate the Swiss-cheese of our nation’s tax code. And, after all, Kobe Bryant may be banking on gold, but the prize money isn’t what’s driving him to compete.