Could Players Cheat The Tax Code?

[SunsetBengal]

(04-18-2023, 01:21 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: This one is just about taxing draft picks.

This says that signing bonuses are generally only taxed at the state level, which, like income, I'm assuming is taxed at a lot less of a rate than federal taxes, so why wouldn't they just make most of it a signing bonus and then take a minimal regular salary?

Just seems like there would be ways around the tax code.

According to the article from Forbes, it's only dealing with State taxes as they relate to signing bonuses.  If a player receives all of his pay via game checks, he has to pay the state and local tax rate for the city/state he played that week.  If he receives his money as a bonus, he's only taxed on that money in the city/state that he has his official residence established.  For example a player living in a 'no State income tax State' like Texas or Florida, they can save a large amount of money by electing to take their money in the form of a bonus.  Whereas athletes residing in high tax States like NY, Ill, or Cali, will feel a huge tax burden on said bonuses.