Broadcasters and state taxes

[ShoogarBear]

This isn't really Spurs-related, but it doesn't exactly fit anywhere else:

Tony Kornheiser on his radio show today was talking about his upcoming gig on MNF and how he will have to pay state taxes for every different city they broadcast a Monday night game from. He didn't sound like he was kidding.

Can this really be true? It doesn't make sense. Why should that be true for broadcasters but not athletes, or sportswriters?

[CubanMustGo]

It is true for athletes. Whenever one of our guys plays out-of-state, they incur income tax for each game according to that state's rates and laws.

I think Texas should incorporate a reciprocal income tax law for exactly this situation. You charge our guys income tax, we charge yours.

I dunno about sportswriters, because while they are in another state they are still writing for the folks back home.

[CubanMustGo]

Here is a link: http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Taxes/P112872.asp

You may never have hit a grand slam or made a slam dunk, but it's possible you might face the same "jock tax" that costs Alex Rodriguez and Shaquille O'Neal thousands of dollars every time they play a game out of state.

The tax, which emerged in the 1990s to tap the huge paychecks of visiting professional athletes, has spread to include just about anyone who works extended periods in a state that levies a personal income tax.

The 41 states that do so have always held the right to collect tax from nonresidents who do business there. But athletes and entertainers have been the chief targets for nonresident taxes, partly because they tend to make lots of money and partly because their schedules are public and available to tax agencies.

[genghisrex]

I'm pretty sure that pro athletes do have to pay taxes in each state they play in during the season. Sportswriters probably only have to pay in the state(s) where they file their stories (i.e. where the newspaper is), but I could be wrong about that.

[SpursWoman]

It's very true for athletes ... when I interviewed with SS&E they went into great depth about it as part as the position's responsibility. It's the athletes...coaches... trainers...pretty much everyone that travels with the team.

[Sec24Row7]

yeah, it's about as unfair a law as there possibly could be.

[101A]

I can't imagine the quantity of tax returns these guys have to file. I live in PA now; & had to file 4 of them....(Fed, State, Town & School District) -

These guys are an accountants dream; might be filing a hundred tax returns!

[ShoogarBear]

I can't imagine the quantity of tax returns these guys have to file. I live in PA now; & had to file 4 of them....(Fed, State, Town & School District) -

These guys are an accountants dream; might be filing a hundred tax returns!

Yeah. Baseball players must be the worst, since they have multiple trips in multiple cities for several days at a time.

I can imagine even more complicated situations. What if you're injured and don't make a road trip? What if you do make the road trip but don't suit up?

I guess good ole Quicken+Turbo Tax is out for them! It's a tax accountant's dream.