Pro Athlete Tax Returns Illustrate Complexities of U.S. Tax Code

Kurt Badenhausen for Forbes writes:  Tax Day is upon us once again, where procrastinators stressfully rush through their returns to get them to the post office before closing time. The tax code is so convoluted that many people struggle through the ins and outs on which form to report income, which schedules to deduct expenses or even which items of income are taxable and which expenses are deductible. The tax returns for most people are relatively simple as compared to an athlete’s because they only have to know the rules for one state.

Athletes file taxes not only in their home state but also in every state—and some cities—in which they play. Not every state uses the same calculation to determine what portion of an athlete’s income to tax, and some use different calculations based on the sport. For example, Pennsylvania taxes baseball, basketball and hockey players on the ratio games in the state over total games played, including pre- and postseason, but they tax football players based on days worked in the state over total days worked.Michigan uses the same method but excludes the preseason. Most other states use the days worked method.

Reciprocity agreements can save an athlete thousands if their tax professional knows what to look for. For example, a Pennsylvania resident whose tax rate is 3.07% is exempt from paying taxes on money earned in New Jersey (8.97% tax rate),West Virginia (6.5%), Ohio (5.925%), Maryland(5.75%), Virginia (5.75%) and Indiana (3.4%). Because players come from all over and move around so much an athlete’s team will often times report income and withhold taxes in every state he plays, regardless of whether a reciprocity agreement with his home state is in place.

Taxpayers generally receive credits for taxes paid in other states. Usually, credits are taken on a taxpayer’s home-state return. But residents ofArizona, Indiana, Oregon and Virginia must take credits for taxes paid to California on their California return. Most of time, states will not give credits for taxes paid to cities. However, New Jersey gives people who work in Philadelphia and pay its 3.4985% nonresident wage tax a credit on their New Jersey return.

Unlike most of us, athletes can receive millions in signing bonuses. These bonuses are exempt from most states’ taxes if they are paid separately from salary, non-refundable and also not contingent upon playing for the team. So if Mario Williams’ contract was written properly, the Texas resident would not have to pay a dime in taxes to New York (or any other state) on the $19 million signing bonus he received when he signed with the Bills last summer, a tax savings of $1.676 million. It is a safe bet that Buffalo’s payroll department allocated the bonus to New York and the other states in which the Bills played. It is up to his tax advisor to catch it and make the necessary adjustment.

Finally, athletes get docked with hidden taxes in various jurisdictions. Tennessee hits basketball and hockey players with a $2,500 per game tax (max 3 games per year). Pittsburgh gets athletes for 3% of their wages for games played there. Although deductible on Schedule A of the federal return, neither of these taxes shows up on the player’s W-2. The tax preparer needs to have the player’s year-end paystub, where those and other deductions are often found. Many teams also mistakenly withhold Pittsburgh’s 1% wage tax. This tax is only imposed on Pittsburgh residents, so a refund request must be filed with the city to reclaim that money.