Prizes awarded by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) are subject to federal taxes because they count as income earned abroad. The USOC hands out $25,000 for gold medals, $15,000 for silver medals, and $10,000 for bronze. But athletes in the top tax bracket, including snowboarder Shaun White, will have to fork over 39.6 percent of their winnings.
The 230 U.S. Olympic athletes at the Sochi Winter Games in Russia will have to pay between $1,000 and $9,900 in taxes if they win medals, according to a chart compiled by Americans for Tax Reform. A bronze medalist in the lowest tax bracket would pay $1,000 in taxes. A gold medalist in the highest tax bracket would owe $9,900.
An Olympic gold medalist in the middle 28 percent bracket would have to pay $7,000 of the $25,000 they make from USOC.