{"id":22164,"date":"2018-02-08T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/the-price-of-victory\/"},"modified":"2023-03-01T13:02:39","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T19:02:39","slug":"olympic-winners-get-taxed-on-their-medals","status":"publish","type":"newsroom","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/olympic-winners-get-taxed-on-their-medals\/","title":{"rendered":"The Price of Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ppmodule_summary\" class=\"pp_moduleblock\">&nbsp;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-34545 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/shutterstock_741252352-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/shutterstock_741252352-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/shutterstock_741252352-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/shutterstock_741252352-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/div>\n<div id=\"ppmodule_pressrelease\" class=\"pp_moduleblock\">\n<div class=\"text_companyprofile\">\n<p>As the Olympic games begin in PyeongChang, South Korea, U.S. competitors have one less thing to worry about: getting taxed on their medals or prizes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMedals are prizes, and all prizes are generally taxable,\u201d says Gil Charney, director of tax law and policy analysis,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetaxinstitute.com\/\">The Tax Institute at H&amp;R Block<\/a>. \u201cHowever, a new law passed after the summer games of 2016 in Rio de Janeiro exempts Olympic winners from taxes on the value of their medals or their cash prizes if their adjusted gross income is $1 million or less.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is good news for winning athletes, because besides receiving gold, silver, or bronze medals, U.S. Olympic winners collect cash prizes, which have increased for 2018:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gold \u2013 $37,500<\/li>\n<li>Silver \u2013 $22,500<\/li>\n<li>Bronze \u2013 $15,000<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition, the medals themselves have value (which fluctuates):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gold \u2013 approximately $550 to $600<\/li>\n<li>Silver \u2013 approximately $300 to $350<\/li>\n<li>Bronze \u2013 approximately $4 to $5<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While the winners won\u2019t have to worry about federal taxes on their prizes and medals, they may face state or local taxes.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Odds and ends<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The afterglow of Olympic victory may shine brighter for winners who land lucrative&nbsp;product endorsements. (Gymnast Gabby Douglas sells cornflakes, snowboarder Shaun White touted American Express, figure skater Michelle Kwan pitched Kraft foods and so on.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuccessful athletes may win product endorsements, all of which are taxable as ordinary income,\u201d says Charney.<\/p>\n<p>And what about all the hard work, like travel and training, that Olympians need to get to the top?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTaxpayers can only deduct expenses for training and travel if they are ordinary and necessary expenses required for a trade or business,\u201d says Charney. \u201cOlympic athletes, whose lives typically consist of constant training and competitions, would probably qualify for such treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s no magic formula for determining that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you are training for and participating in athletic events often enough so that you\u2019re earning income, the activity rises to the level of a trade or business and you don\u2019t have a full-time job, you may be considered self-employed. This could allow you to deduct business-related expenses,\u201d says Charney.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would also help to win competitions (and prize money), as well as endorsements, to support the claim that the activity is truly a profession. However, winning is not a requirement, any more than being profitable is a requirement to operate a business.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Extra support<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>However, that\u2019s the tax&nbsp;<em>theory<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn practice, some Olympic athletes may be sponsored by organizations that pay for their travel and training, so they may not have any out-of-pocket expenses they can deduct,\u201d says Charney.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, athletes may pay for expenses with stipends, scholarships, gifts, earnings from part-time jobs, and even proceeds from crowdfunding campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo the tax treatment of athletes\u2019 income and expenses will vary,\u201d says Charney.<\/p>\n<p>For those with the talent and guts to earn glory, a shot at winning may be worth any price.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Olympic games begin in PyeongChang, South Korea, U.S. competitors have one less thing to worry about: getting taxed on their medals or prizes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":34545,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[],"news-categories":[23360],"class_list":["post-22164","newsroom","type-newsroom","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-categories-income"],"acf":{"post_rest_thumbnail_alt_id":null},"yoast_head":"<title>Olympic winners get taxed on their medals | H&amp;R Block Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Athletes who brought home hardware from the Olympics will have to face tax implications. 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