

How do Nobel laureates spend their prize money? - m_class
http://phys.org/news/2013-10-nobel-laureates-prize-money.html

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Maxious
> 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](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](http://www.irs.gov/publications/p525/ar02.html#d0e8326)

Stay classy America.

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

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galaktor
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.

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LanceH
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.

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icebraining
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.

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znowi
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](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._

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mmgutz
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?

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

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robotresearcher
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.

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JoeAltmaier
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.

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VLM
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.

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jkat
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.

