Obama supports exempting Olympic awards from taxes

President Obama believes that awards and medals won by Olympic athletes should be exempt from income taxes, White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Monday.

The move means Obama would back legislation by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) that would exempt the athletes' winnings, which award $25,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for a silver medal and $10,000 for a bronze medal.  

"The president believes that we should support efforts ... to ensure that we are doing everything we can to honor and support our Olympic athletes who have volunteered to represent our nation at the Olympic Games," Carney said.

Carney said Obama would sign that legislation if it was passed by Congress.

"He would support it," Carney said.

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