Professional Athletes' Big-League Tax Bills

Behind every sports star who's hauling down the big bucks is a keen-eyed certified public accountant quick-stepping through a maze of state and local income taxes imposed on nonresident athletes, commonly known as the "jock tax."

Professional sports players get taxed by pretty much every city and state in which they play, says Ryan Losi, CPA and executive vice president of Piascik & Associates, a Glen Allen, Va., accounting firm that represents more than 70 professional athletes.

"NFL players typically file in 10 to 12 jurisdictions. NBA is somewhere between 16 and 20. MLB is somewhere between 20 and 26, and the NHL is between 14 and 16," says Losi.

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The 'jock tax'

Taxing states and some municipalities impose a "jock tax" on visiting professional sports players in one of two ways. Most use the "duty days" method, which divides the player's total number of work days during the season by the number of days spent playing in the state. A few use the "games played" method, which divides the total number of games in the season by the number played in the state.

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