Marco Rubio Wants Tax Reform for Olympians
While criticizing the "complicated and burdensome mess" that is our tax code, Marco Rubio proposed an exemption on the taxes Olympic medalists pay on their prize winnings Wednesday. In addition to their medals, winners receive a cash honorarium on which they have to pay taxes. According to The Washington Times' Stephen Dinan, Americans for Tax Reform says that gold medalists receive a $25,000, on which they have to pay $8,986 in taxes. So Rubio introduced The Olympic Tax Elimination Act Wednesday to free them from that. He says in a press release, "Our tax code is a complicated and burdensome mess that too often punishes success, and the tax imposed on Olympic medal winners is a classic example of this madness."
RELATED: The White House Is Cool with Rubio's Olympian Tax Exemption
That Olympnians have a tax bill shouldn't be that surprising. People have to pay big tax bills on their Jeopardy! winnings, and even on non-cash prizes like, say, a car from Oprah. But Jeopardy! winners aren't quite as great a symbol of national unity in our ever-running tax debate so, here we are, criticizing the complicated tax structure by introducing bills that would affect the tax earnings of a mere 57 (so far—go, USA!) American citizens this year.
