NCAA to allow players to profit off likeness

Walton

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Isn't the tax argument per the NC senator taxing the actual scholarship benefit? Kind of like winning game show prizes, then having to pay taxes on them. I don't think academic scholarships are taxed.
Yeah that guy is a moron. I'm not sure ANYONE thinks what he is proposing is a good idea, even the schools that are against players earning outside income. If the scholarship is taxed, then that likely makes the SA an employee of the school and that is the last thing colleges want.
 

aeromech

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Jan 14, 2007
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Scholarships and grants can have parts that are taxable and parts that aren’t. For a scholarship to be completely tax-free, the whole amount of money must be used for qualified expenses.....If any part of the money is spent on something which is not a qualified expense, that part will be considered taxable income.

Non-Qualifying Expenses For Tax-Free Scholarships
  • Room & Board
  • Research
  • Travel
  • Clerical Help
  • Equipment & other expenses which are not required for enrollment or coursework
https://www.studentdebtrelief.us/college-tips/are-scholarships-taxable/
 

gtphd

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Yes, helped my son do his taxes this past year. What I don't know is if guys on full ride athletic scholarships have been paying taxes on that income all along.
Isn't the tax argument per the NC senator taxing the actual scholarship benefit? Kind of like winning game show prizes, then having to pay taxes on them. I don't think academic scholarships are taxed.
They're not taxed if they pay for tuition and mandatory fees. Any non-mandatory fees, including room and board and food, are taxed.

Taxing athletic scholarships is a ridiculous idea. Consider a school like Tulane. None of the players will receive endorsements, so 85 guys will end up taking out loans to cover their scholarship taxes. Even at a school like Alabama, maybe 10 guys will get endorsements, leaving 75 guys paying taxes for no reason.
 

aeromech

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They're not taxed if they pay for tuition and mandatory fees. Any non-mandatory fees, including room and board and food, are taxed.

Taxing athletic scholarships is a ridiculous idea. Consider a school like Tulane. None of the players will receive endorsements, so 85 guys will end up taking out loans to cover their scholarship taxes. Even at a school like Alabama, maybe 10 guys will get endorsements, leaving 75 guys paying taxes for no reason.
How is it ridiculous to treat them the same way you treat academic scholarships? I'm wondering why it hasn't been that way all along. You may be against the idea of treating them like you do academic scholarships; but calling it ridiculous seems a little much.
 

gtfan088

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- how are the teammates going to react to this? More "look out" blocks for underperforming superstar RB or QB?

- how are certain fan bases going to react to a business enterprise that has been paying a S/A when the kid does the unthinkable like fumbling on the one yard line vs. Arch Enemy U?

- anyone thinking that within 5 years there wont be a law requiring a female S/A to get an equal endorsement deal as the highest paid male S/A has not paid attention the last 30 years.
Are there laws right now requiring female professional athletes to get equal endorsement deals?
 

gtphd

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How is it ridiculous to treat them the same way you treat academic scholarships? I'm wondering why it hasn't been that way all along. You may be against the idea of treating them like you do academic scholarships; but calling it ridiculous seems a little much.
I took the approach to mean the he was going to tax the entire scholarship, which is not how it works for academic scholarships.
 

PasadenaJacket

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Even at a school like Alabama, maybe 10 guys will get endorsements, leaving 75 guys paying taxes for no reason.
I have a feeling all players on Bama's roster are going to going to get very nice endorsement deals.
 

Vespinae

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So would this apply to co-op and summer intern students? Taxes, taxes for everybody.

However I do agree that athletes that get paid should absolutely have to report that as income to the IRS. Can't wait until a star athlete gets popped for tax evasion because they forgot to report some $5 signature.
Are you talking about income tax?
 

aeromech

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I took the approach to mean the he was going to tax the entire scholarship, which is not how it works for academic scholarships.
Are you talking about income tax?
I think there are a couple of facets of this that are getting confused. Right now student athletes full ride scholarships are completely tax free (as I understand it); whereas academic full ride scholarships are taxed as income for room & board, etc.. I would be ok with taxing student athletes like academic scholarships are presently. Senator Burr I think wants to tax student athletes who cut endorsement deals for the entire scholarship (room & board, PLUS tuition, books) which goes beyond how current academic scholarships are handled. For student athletes without endorsement deals nothing would change under Senator Burr's idea (I think).

My earlier post was questioning would a student on academic scholarship with a internship be treated differently than a student athlete with endorsement deal; or would the student on academic scholarship now get taxed for the entire scholarship if they accept an internship.
 

gtphd

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I think there are a couple of facets of this that are getting confused. Right now student athletes full ride scholarships are completely tax free (as I understand it); whereas academic full ride scholarships are taxed as income for room & board, etc.. I would be ok with taxing student athletes like academic scholarships are presently. Senator Burr I think wants to tax student athletes who cut endorsement deals for the entire scholarship (room & board, PLUS tuition, books) which goes beyond how current academic scholarships are handled. For student athletes without endorsement deals nothing would change under Senator Burr's idea (I think).

My earlier post was questioning would a student on academic scholarship with a internship be treated differently than a student athlete with endorsement deal; or would the student on academic scholarship now get taxed for the entire scholarship if they accept an internship.
Ah, makes more sense.

On your last point, the problem with treating an internship / coop different than an endorsement deal is that car dealership will just give players jobs without required attendance instead of an endorsement deal to skirt tax law. They'd take a hit on SS an unemployment insurance, but that's probably less than the taxes the student would pay on a scholarship.
 

Yukonwreck

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Isn't the tax argument per the NC senator taxing the actual scholarship benefit? Kind of like winning game show prizes, then having to pay taxes on them. I don't think academic scholarships are taxed.
What is going to be found is that college football in its current and former form is operating outside the law. It will therefore need to be abolished. Coaches, the NCAA, schools etc., have been unduly enriched at the expense of the scholarshipped athlete, who gets some benefits, but pays no taxes.
 

77GTFan

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Not surprised that a NC Senator would suggest this. This state, with its love of ACC basketball and for Duke and UNC in particular, wants to defend the status quo at all costs. The cheating that is an art form and protected by the NCAA keeps the cash cows at the top of college football and basketball. Though Burr is a Wake grad, I can imagine his move was orchestrated by Swofford and UNC and Duke. Any kind of move toward transparency and above the table transacting is bad news for the top dogs.
 

gte490v

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I don't see anything stopping boosters from starting Speculative Signatures, LLC and throwing what they used to donate to the school in as an annual investment. Recruits get paid whatever it takes to get them to go to School X in exchange for a signed football. Sell or donate the footballs, write off the losses, and now you maintain your tax deductible donations but have a direct impact on the program, which is what they want in the first place.

I think this is going to have a big impact on donations to athletic associations and women's scholarships.
 
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