Olympic Medalists Will Settle Up with IRS
Should the Olympic medal winners receive a tax exemption on their winnings?
New legislation is pending to exempt Olympic medalists from paying taxes on the prize money they win from the competitions, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has compared such an exemption to the one available to military servicemen and servicewomen in combat. There is precedent for exempting prize money from taxes, but only if the money is donated to charity.
Nobel Prize winners, for example, can opt to donate their winnings to charity and circumvent the income tax that would apply to the winnings. Some prize winners, such as those who catch a valuable fly ball at the ballpark, could have taken advantage of tax breaks but received bad advice instead. Our country's remarkable athletes who are representing us at the Olympics deserve all of the accolades and prizes they receive, but I'm not sure they qualify for an exemption from income taxes.
Nobel Prize winners, for example, can opt to donate their winnings to charity and circumvent the income tax that would apply to the winnings. Some prize winners, such as those who catch a valuable fly ball at the ballpark, could have taken advantage of tax breaks but received bad advice instead. Our country's remarkable athletes who are representing us at the Olympics deserve all of the accolades and prizes they receive, but I'm not sure they qualify for an exemption from income taxes.
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Gail Perry is Publisher at Sift Media US, Inc. and oversees the content on the Sift websites, AccountingWEB.com and GoingConcern.com. She has been the editor-in-chief at Sift Media US since 2007, overseeing the content on AccountingWEB.
Perry is a CPA and a former senior tax accountant with Big Four firm Deloitte. She maintains a small tax practice, she is a personal finance instructor, and the author of thirty books, including Surviving Financial Downsizing: A Practical Guide to Living Well on Less Income (Adams Media); QuickBooks on Demand (Que); Excel 2007 Macros Made Easy (McGraw Hill); The Complete Idiot's Guide to Doing Your Income Taxes (Alpha/MacMillan); and, most recently, Mint.com for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons). In addition, she is a former columnist for the Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News daily newspapers.
Perry is a nationally recognized speaker who advises public accountants on using Internet tools to improve their accounting practices. She also taught a college-level introductory accounting class and was on staff at the Indiana CPA Society as a computer applications instructor. For five years, she was a contributing editor for Accounting Today magazine before taking over the helm at AccountingWEB.
Perry is a graduate of Indiana University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She returned to school to study accounting at Illinois State University, passed the CPA exam (in one sitting!), and worked for Deloitte in the Chicago tax department.
Gail has been named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting by CPA Practice Advisor magazine and the American Society of Women Accountants.
Perry is a CPA and a former senior tax accountant with Big Four firm Deloitte. She maintains a small tax practice, she is a personal finance instructor, and the author of thirty books, including Surviving Financial Downsizing: A Practical Guide to Living Well on Less Income (Adams Media); QuickBooks on Demand (Que); Excel 2007 Macros Made Easy (McGraw Hill); The Complete Idiot's Guide to Doing Your Income Taxes (Alpha/MacMillan); and, most recently, Mint.com for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons). In addition, she is a former columnist for the Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News daily newspapers.
Perry is a nationally recognized speaker who advises public accountants on using Internet tools to improve their accounting practices. She also taught a college-level introductory accounting class and was on staff at the Indiana CPA Society as a computer applications instructor. For five years, she was a contributing editor for Accounting Today magazine before taking over the helm at AccountingWEB.
Perry is a graduate of Indiana University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She returned to school to study accounting at Illinois State University, passed the CPA exam (in one sitting!), and worked for Deloitte in the Chicago tax department.
Gail has been named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting by CPA Practice Advisor magazine and the American Society of Women Accountants.
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