Navigating Taxes for Student Athletes with NIL Revenue Artwork

The Business of College Sports

Welcome to The Business of College Sports podcast! Host Kristi Dosh is a sports business contributor for Forbes and formerly ESPN's sports business reporter. A recovering attorney, she is the author of "Saturday Millionaires: How Winning Football Builds Winning Colleges." She's joined each week by experts in and around college sports to discuss the latest news and the impact it has on the industry. Whether you work in the industry or are simply a fan of college sports, this is where you come to learn what's really going on behind the scenes.

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The Business of College Sports

Navigating Taxes for Student Athletes with NIL Revenue

August 19, 2021 • Kristi Dosh • Season 2 • Episode 45

This episode I am joined by Katie Davis, a CPA, Partner, and Collegiate Athletics Practice Leader at James Moore & Co., an accounting firm that works with collegiate athletics departments, athletic associations, booster clubs, and other higher education-related organizations nationwide.

Katie has dedicated her career to providing accounting and consulting services to universities and advocating for the financial voices in college athletics. She helps to educate the sports business industry on relevant issues that impact us now and in the future. I was previously on Katie's News & Brews podcast discussing the first day of NIL.

In this episode, Katie joins me to explain the tax implications and questions surrounding NIL activity by student athletes. Some of what we discuss includes:

Tax liability for a student athlete who is a resident of a different state than the state where their university is located, plus what happens if their NIL activity takes place in another state (like a commercial shoot)
How a student athlete reports the value of merchandise, products and travel vs. cash payments
Whether things like iPads provided by athletic departments to student athletes are taxable
Tax implications of car deals
How much student athletes should set aside from NIL revenue for taxes
How NIL might impact need-based aid or dependent status
Expenses student athletes might be eligible to deduct in relation to their NIL activities
Paying quarterly taxes vs. annual as as student athlete

You can follow Katie on Twitter and check out her podcast, News & Brews.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.