2024-08-08 18:07:57
Emmanuel Macron has declared an Olympic Truce, but it is difficult to abide by it in France when we talk about taxes. On Thursday, Bruno Le Maire, the resigning Economy Minister, reopened the tax debate that has been going on in recent days around the bonuses of medalists at the Paris Olympics and declared himself in favor of exempting them from tax.
“When we achieve such great results, the medals are extraordinary, they are a reward for years of work and effort, and they are a source of pride for the French people, and these bonuses must not be taxed”, said one of the tenants of Bercy in an interview with Le Figaro.
Effective measures for football players
“I will be proposing to make them tax-free in the next 2025 budget,” he announced, while also acknowledging that this was “not a good idea.” [à lui] “I’m in charge of the day-to-day stuff, but I’ll make arrangements so that these bonuses are included” in the 2025 budget, he said. He added: “The next majority, the next government, will decide in the 2025 budget by a sovereign vote whether they (sic) follow the proposals that I put forward.”
Such a measure could benefit footballers – who were already guaranteed a medal before Friday’s final – or Teddy Riner, who don’t particularly need cajoling from the tax authorities. But Bruno Lemaire ruled out any derogatory arrangements. “If athletes with particularly high earnings want to redistribute these bonuses to the federation or to those who need them more, they are free to do so, and it could be a good gesture,” he commented.
Repeated debate
The tax debate was launched on Monday by double Olympic judo champion David Douillet, who considers the tax on these prize money – decided in 2011 when he was sports minister – a scandal. The next day, British MP Olivier Marleix went further and announced that he wants to introduce a bill to “exempt our Olympic and Paralympic medalists from prize money tax”.
The issue of the taxation of athlete bonuses is a sticking plaster that public authorities cannot get rid of. Specific exemptions were introduced in 2016 (Rio) and 2018 (PyeongChang). The tax was finally introduced at the Tokyo Olympics. But two years later, Emmanuel Macron announced an increase in the bonuses for medal winners … precisely to compensate for this tax. On top of this, aid for high-level athletes was increased. Apparently not enough to put an end to the recurring controversy.
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