U.S. Athletes Taxed for Their Olympic Medals

Unlike athletes from other countries, U.S. Olympic athletes acquire a financial obligation to the state with every win

US medal-winning athletes at the Olympics have to pay tax on their prize money—something which is proving controversial in the US. But why are athletes from the US taxed when others are not?

The US is right up there in the medals table, and has produced some of the finest displays in the Olympics so far.

Michael Phelps has broken the record for most Olympic medals ever, and 16-year-old rising star Gabby Douglas has won the all-round gold in the gymnastics—the first African-American woman to do so.

So the US is feeling pretty proud of its athletes right now. But not everyone is happy to hear that their Olympic medal-winning athletes are being taxed on their medal prize money.