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The Cautionary tale of Darryl Strawberry’s Battle with the IRS Darryl Strawberry’s tax and financial troubles tell a cautionary tale about how professional athletes can become prime targets for the IRS. Strawberry, whose career ran from 1983 to 1999, is still battling the IRS, according to a Notice of Levy reportedly sent to HarperCollins Publishing […]

As a professional athlete or coach, you may deduct your business mileage. This includes miles driven to and from any arena other than your game arena and mileage driven to the airport or to workouts during the off-season. Keep a notebook in your vehicle to track the number of miles you drive during the year. […]

Angles Pay $23,368,000 More Because of State Income Tax Rate The Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles captured the most sought after free agent this offseason when they signed Albert Pujols to a 10-year, $254 million contract. With a maximum state income tax rate of 9.55% and an additional 1% on income in excess of $1,000,000, […]

Are Athletes Overpaid or Well Paid? At the heart of this debate is marginal revenue produced. If the marginal revenue produced by an athlete is greater than the cost of his services, everyone wins. Prior to the fall of the reserve clause, which essentially forced indentured servitude on professional athletes, owners kept the revenue produced […]

Trading Spaces and Moving Expenses With training camp just around the corner for the NHL and NBA and all the athletes who change teams this off-season, it’s a good idea to review which moving expenses are tax deductible. This article discusses the requirements and limitations, deductible moving expenses, and necessary documentation. Business related expenses for […]

Please note: the IRS has increased scrutiny of employee business expenses–specifically business miles.  So to verify the business miles you drove during a tax year, it’s important you know how the IRS defines business miles for a professional athlete and how to document your legitimate business miles. Here’s what the IRS considers to be legitimate, […]

How much will it cost you in additional income tax dollars to play in Canada? With professional sports leagues operating in both Canada and the US, athletes and their representatives should understand the international income tax consequences of playing across the border. Failure to do so could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional […]

With the large fines being imposed by the National football League this past month as well as the talk of possible suspensions in the future for head-to-head tackles, I decided to review the tax implications for both fines and suspension to learn which scenario has the best tax consequence for athletes. This article will address […]

In a time when budget crunches have increased the need for revenue among states, Massachusetts has offered their taxpayers the unique opportunity to assists the state by paying more in taxes. Although the state income tax rate in Massachusetts is officially 5.3%, the state provides the opportunity for residents and non-residents to pay income tax […]