The White House on Monday backed legislation designed to spare triumphant Olympic athletes a nasty surprise — a tax on medals they bring home from the London Games.

President Barack Obama “supports that bill. If it were to get to his desk, he would support it,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

“The president believes that we should support efforts … to ensure that we’re doing everything we can to honor and support our Olympic athletes who have volunteered to represent our nation at the Olympic games.”

Senator Marco Rubio, a rising Republican star, has introduced legislation following a report by the conservative group Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), which warned that athletes could be required to pay up to $9,000 in taxes to the Internal Revenue Service for each gold medal.