Even President Obama has Olympic fever, it seems. That’s the only plausible explanation for the latest word that the President is throwing his support behind a proposal to exempt U.S. Olympians from taxes on their awards.
The President is responding to a measure which, as I previously blogged, had been introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) last week to exempt American Olympians who win medals from paying federal income taxes on their winnings. The question came up today at a White House Press Briefing and Press Secretary Jay Carney responded:
Well, the President believes that we should support efforts, like I think the bill you’re referencing, to ensure that we are doing everything we can to honor and support our Olympic athletes who have volunteered to represent our nation at the Olympic Games. So he supports that bill. If it were to get to his desk, he would support it.
In the U.S., Olympians who earn medals receive cash awards: $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. The money is subject to federal income tax. Sen. Rubio wants the awards exempted, claiming that the tax is punishing success.
I respectfully beg to differ. I think the maneuver is political grandstanding. I’m not a fan of such an exemption, as I told the BBC because, despite Sen. Rubio’s cries for tax reform, this is exactly the kind of thing that has made our Tax Code more complicated, not more simple. Creating exceptions for what is, relatively speaking, a very small percentage of the population adds yet another layer of complexity to the Tax Code and raises more questions instead of creating solutions.
Do we need tax reform? Of course we do. Does exempting our athletes from federal income tax make that happen? Of course it doesn’t.
As the Olympics draw to a close, I’ll be among those cheering wildly for our athletes – because that’s what the Games are really about. Let’s not muck it up with politics.
