How do Nobel laureates spend their prize money? | Hacker News Reader

How do Nobel laureates spend their prize money?

phys.org

31 pointsm_class19 comments

> Since the Reagan tax reforms of the mid-1980s, the United States, the only country to tax the [Nobel] prize, has taken another 40 percent or so off the top. (http://www.cnbc.com/id/49341627)

Really? Oh yes it's right there under "Pulitzer, Nobel, and similar prizes." http://www.irs.gov/publications/p525/ar02.html#d0e8326

Stay classy America.

Any reason that the winner of a cash prize from a popularity contest shouldn't be paying taxes?

I'm going to play the devil's advocate here: couldn't you argue that whatever you did to win a Nobel prize is already (supposedly) a significant contribution to society, making additional contribution via taxes unnecessary (or, in fact, discouraging); as opposed to, say, winning the lottery.

Sure, but why isn't, e.g., being a teacher not a significant contribution? Or, for the sake of this argument, being the founder of a wildly successful company that employs thousands of people? Look, I'm against taxes as much (and probably even more) than the next guy, but making exemptions for prizes is plain irrational.

Yea, it would be awesome to give the government another vector to pick winners and losers based on "contribution to society".

I'm certainly not for more taxes, but I'm definitely not for more tax rules and exemptions.

There is already a tax rule just for those prices, that "picks winners and losers"; it would be a matter of removing conditions from that rule (that the prize must be donated), not adding another.

I hope I'm making a significant contribution to society with my job. Where's my tax break?

Ask every other country in the world. I'm sure they have reasons. And the Nobel prize isn't a popularity contest.

Based on the rules there, it looks like it shouldn't be taxed. The Nobel prize definitely meets criteria one and two, and three seems easy to meet.

It's only not taxed if you agree, in advance of receiving the prize, to donate the proceeds to a charity. Any form of keeping it for your own use is taxable under those rules (you must meet "all of the following" requirements for the award to not be taxable).

Also, America is the only country that taxes overseas income. So the only other country where the tax status of the Nobel prize would be in doubt is Norway.

Canada does also. They made a tax treaty with hong-kong in 2012. I've had to file a statement with Canadian authorities to avoid double taxation in on my British income.

It's nice of Obama to donate his prize money to charity, but I still cringe reading that he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Apparently, the Nobel Committee's main consideration was hope that he will do right for the world (or at least better than the predecessor). A kind of a credit, which sadly wasn't honored.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Nobel_Peace_Prize

Jagland said "We have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year. And we are hoping this may contribute a little bit for what he is trying to do," noting that he hoped the award would assist Obama's foreign policy efforts.

Pretty sad really. I'm a boxing fan. Floyd Mayweather made over 90 million dollars in his last fight. Nobel winner - 1.25 million. Where are our priorities?

Oh, did you buy a ticket to go see the Nobel awards? No?

I think people understand how capitalism works. I also think it's OK to lament that the outcome of people expressing their preferences en mass is that light entertainment is favoured so drastically over science.

I guess I was just pointing out hypocrisy. Its not just favored by 'everybody else', I'm guessing its favored by the one posting the comment.

The article missed the famous quote along the lines of spending it all in Amsterdam.

The winners buying real estate need to look out for maintenance costs and taxes... better expect to spend 5% the cost of the house, or more, annually, for taxes and utilities and upkeep, so if the prize is more than perhaps 10 times your annual income you're eventually going to be in a world of hurt. I've had some relatives end up land-poor and its not a pretty sight. Here's 5 million dollars of lakefront property. Whoops he doesn't make 500K/yr.

Heard many similar stories about extreme home makeover where property taxes would climb by 3-5x after the renovation, forcing people to foreclose.

I'm under the impression that there was eventually a successful reform effort to have renovations made in the name of accessibility tax-free.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com