We should be taxing every Olympian’s medal

Taxing Olympians is a thorny issue. On one

hand, they are national heroes who represent our country on a global stage. On the other, they are Americans who earn an income from their labor. Creating a special immunity for Olympic income seems unfair to the millions of other Americans who go to work, earn an honest paycheck, and give the “tax man” his share. Special tax immunity creates resentment, and it is a dangerous slope.

There is, however, one credible difference between Olympic athletes and the average American taxpayer. Olympic athletes have the opportunity to earn their income only once every four years. So here is my compromise: Allow them to spread out the winnings over the next four years. If an athlete doesn’t earn a regular living off his or her sport, then it doesn’t seem fair to bunch up all his or her sport income into one year when getting to the podium is a four-year process. This solution would relieve a lot of the tax burdens for the less affluent athletes and more accurately reflect the reality of Olympic competition. The really honest way to do it would be to go back four years and amend the returns, but that would be a lot of work.

This solution seems fair to me. Olympians should be treated fairly by the income tax. That’s all people really demand out of a tax code. Stuart Coombs Newark