Is Olympic gold medal money taxed?

Answer 1

The answer is yes and no. First, there have been a lot of erroneous blog posts about this topic, especially as it relates to American athletes. Some internet sources claimed the athletes would have to pay a tax of as much as $9,000 if they won a gold medal (false). In fact, the gold medal is only about 1% gold, so it would not have a great financial value. But what is true is that there is the potential of taxes, although not on the medals.

American athletes (and those from some other countries too) receive a cash prize when they win a medal. This prize usually comes from the country's Olympic committee, and the amount varies. Some of the awards could be taxed, but as snopes.com (which fact-checked the false $9,000 claim) points out, most athletes won't pay very much, because they can offset the prize against the amount it cost them to train, buy equipment, etc. So it will probably all even out in the end. I enclose the link to the facts about what American Olympians might have to pay, depending on the amount of the award they win.