Senator Chuck Schumer is leading the charge to pass a tax break for U.S. Olympians who take home the gold, silver, or bronze. “After a successful and hard fought victory, it’s just not right for the U.S. to welcome these athletes home with a tax on that victory,” Senator Schumer told an audience in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Tuesday. To that end, Senator Schumer has co-sponsored a bill — the United States Appreciation for Olympians and Paralympians Act — that would amend § 74 by adding the following subsection:

(d) Exception for Olympic and Paralympic medals and prizes. Gross income shall not include the value of any medal awarded in, or any prize money received from the United States Olympic Committee on account of, competition in the Olympic Games or Paralympic Games.

The bill passed in the Senate (via unanimous consent) on July 12. Identical legislation has stalled in the House for more than a year.

A press release from Senator Schumer’s office states that under current law, U.S. medalists are subject to federal income tax on cash prizes awarded by the U.S. Olympic Committee. The committee awards $25,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for a silver, and $10,000 for a bronze. Americans for Tax Reform — the Grover Norquist outfit that, unsurprisingly, supports this legislation — saysthat “[a] gold medalist from Team USA could end up facing a tax bill of $9,900 per gold medal, $5,940 per silver medal, and $3,960 per bronze medal.”

As others have noted, this is a very silly bill: of course Olympians should be taxed on their prize money, just as we all are.

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