Nonprofit NIL Collectives Not Tax Exempt

[CTBballfan243]

A bit harsh but - with all the advantages student athletes do get - I have a suggestion. Most if not all these schools likely have a business school and an accounting department. Have said student athlete register for a class. The class they are enrolled in, will help them oversee their money management. This class will help them in life throughout their career, even if they don't make it into the NFL. Keep in mind students should leave a university with the tools they need to be successful. How is it a good thing for a student who has never had these money advantages - suddenly be enslaved by poor decision-making simply because they never knew. Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law but going to college only to be left ignorant - not really a good look for that university IMO. I have always felt that colleges do the following thing wrong. They let said student enroll in a major. The student gets assigned an advisor. The advisor lets them know what classes to take etc. How they might help them succeed, but don't really help. The student asks an advisor what you can do with that degree? The reply you get "and its amazing - how many will tell you" - to go research that for yourself? Hmm, how much does one earn with said major? Well the student athlete like any student needs to know? The football athlete gets injured - their future is gone. No NFL, now what can he do? Why can't universities be held to a higher standard where they should offer up what most athletes learn later, they wont be in the top level of their sport. In my opinion Higher standard is Higher education. They may coach, they may need to rely on their major of study, but give them the tools!

The tools are there for the taking. It is up to the student athlete to make the effort, put in the work, and gain knowledge.

 

[CL82]

Room, board and tuition are covered. If the only difference is a 9% state income tax, CA will win all day.

At a $1 million of NIL that 9% is $90,000. Some may find that to be a material difference.

 

[Kolumbo]

A bit harsh but - with all the advantages student athletes do get - I have a suggestion. Most if not all these schools likely have a business school and an accounting department. Have said student athlete register for a class. The class they are enrolled in, will help them oversee their money management. This class will help them in life throughout their career, even if they don't make it into the NFL. Keep in mind students should leave a university with the tools they need to be successful. How is it a good thing for a student who has never had these money advantages - suddenly be enslaved by poor decision-making simply because they never knew. Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law but going to college only to be left ignorant - not really a good look for that university IMO. I have always felt that colleges do the following thing wrong. They let said student enroll in a major. The student gets assigned an advisor. The advisor lets them know what classes to take etc. How they might help them succeed, but don't really help. The student asks an advisor what you can do with that degree? The reply you get "and its amazing - how many will tell you" - to go research that for yourself? Hmm, how much does one earn with said major? Well the student athlete like any student needs to know? The football athlete gets injured - their future is gone. No NFL, now what can he do? Why can't universities be held to a higher standard where they should offer up what most athletes learn later, they wont be in the top level of their sport. In my opinion Higher standard is Higher education. They may coach, they may need to rely on their major of study, but give them the tools!

The schools, the parents or the parents' accountants should at least cover the basics of income and expense with the kids. Given the number of student athletes at each school, a class specific to this activity makes sense. Then they'll portal to another school and have to file in multiple states. Put aside x% of your income to pay taxes, and pay quarterly. Just to start. Schools teaching accounting have close ties to CPA firms so those firms would probably jump in.

It will be interesting to see what these contractors start deducting as usual and necessary business expenses. Create LLC's and file as S-Corps. Buy a business car to have transportation to get to and from sponsors and events. Need nice threads for public appearances. Hire their friends to help manage and do errands for them. Need to buy entertainment equipment for those long trips across country. Business meals start to add up quickly. Heck many students earning NIL may barely turn a profit.

 

[WestHartHusk]

At a $1 million of NIL that 9% is $90,000. Some may find that to be a material difference.

The delta for everyone else is FAR greater when housing and food are factored in, and even with that CA is very desirable. 90K difference to live in SOCAL or BA versus Gainesville, Dallas is a no brainer. It’s also weird you don’t see GA (6%), Alabama (5%) being hamstrung by income tax, just the boogeyman.

 

[CL82]

The delta for everyone else is FAR greater when housing and food are factored in, and even with that CA is very desirable. 90K difference to live in SOCAL or BA versus Gainesville, Dallas is a no brainer. It’s also weird you don’t see GA (6%), Alabama (5%) being hamstrung by income tax, just the boogeyman.

At that age, net numbers after tax wouldn't have made a lick of difference to me, but in the modern age with the total dollars at stake, I could see it being a part of the analysis for top players.

 

[Stinger92860]

Obviously the money belongs to the athletes and they can do what they wish with their money. However, it would be great if the universities offered an option to have some portion of the funds managed for future use.

 

[Kolumbo]

The delta for everyone else is FAR greater when housing and food are factored in, and even with that CA is very desirable. 90K difference to live in SOCAL or BA versus Gainesville, Dallas is a no brainer. It’s also weird you don’t see GA (6%), Alabama (5%) being hamstrung by income tax, just the boogeyman.

I really don't follow your argument. Travel for SOCAL also sucks so there's that plus income taxes.

 

[Stray_Dog]

The tools are there for the taking. It is up to the student athlete to make the effort, put in the work, and gain knowledge.

I am not saying the tools are not there - I am saying just a little direction to assist them in making a class mandatory. I also don't for one second doubt that the student athlete would not put the time in. Why? Two things an athlete wants - To play their game and Earn money doing it! They know the opposition wants to take their play time away. They may not know who wants to put their hands into their wallets and who has a legal right to do so. How you protect yourself from all those trying. Not sure why making a student athlete take such a class instead of some drivel of a class that may not help but give them more playing time. I was watching a thread about how Student athletes may eventually unionize. Do you think classes of this type may not become part of the union doctrine? Jump ahead on this is my advice and if the union does not happen, it still is a great thing for the them!

 

[JohnFSilver]

That was what I thought was most important.

A friend of mine sat through a pitch from a Big 10 collective. He said they were really pushing the tax deductible angle. I questioned if that was based on an IRS statement. He went back and asked his friend that was trying to get him to donate and the guy said something like "it's 100 percent legitimate. Every collective is doing it." Whenever I hear "everyone is doing it," I go into skeptical mode.


Any idea if the schools are helping athletes with this? Actors and musicians get themselves in trouble all the time by spending all their earnings without putting anything aside for taxes. I can imagine a lot of college athletes taking their $200k (more or less) and spending it all.

How are you going to help them? They have to pay. Set then up with an accountant I guess.

 

[Chuck]

How are you going to help them? They have to pay. Set then up with an accountant I guess.

Yes. I was referring to education, training, and maybe professional support like accountants.

I didn't really follow this thread after posting, but saw that there was a reply to this comment. Look at all the sophisticated stuff that the Boneyard is discussing. Deltas, tax friendly states, setting up LLCs.... My college freshman is not getting any NIL, but if he did he'd have no idea how to handle that money or the liabilities. Blowing the money on dumb stuff is one thing, especially since they are young. But it's more problematic when the government puts its hand out for money you no longer have.

That said, we haven't read about any guys getting in trouble yet, so maybe this isn't a big deal.