By Jonathan Nehring | Disclaimer
Diving deeper into the numbers for what each college athlete would owe in state income taxes if they were to be paid, we turn first to the SEC teams.
Diving deeper into the numbers for what each college athlete would owe in state income taxes if they were to be paid, we turn first to the SEC teams.
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If this is your first time stopping by, here are some other articles to get you caught up to speed in the series on the impact state income taxes could have on NCAA recruiting.
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Of the conferences observed, SEC athletes would owe the third least in state taxes of all conferences. The average SEC athlete in both football ($6,921) and basketball ($15,394) would pay less in state taxes than their average NCAA football ($7,333) and basketball ($17,399) player.
While most of the league will owe more than the NCAA average athlete would, the SEC benefits from their four schools located in states that don’t charge state income taxes – Texas, Tennessee, and Florida.
Those four schools, Vanderbilt, Florida, Texas A&M, and Tennessee, could see a competitive boost in recruiting against fellow SEC schools as their athletes would net as little as $8,180 more than other SEC football programs or as much as $25,229 more than other SEC basketball programs.
While most of the league will owe more than the NCAA average athlete would, the SEC benefits from their four schools located in states that don’t charge state income taxes – Texas, Tennessee, and Florida.
Those four schools, Vanderbilt, Florida, Texas A&M, and Tennessee, could see a competitive boost in recruiting against fellow SEC schools as their athletes would net as little as $8,180 more than other SEC football programs or as much as $25,229 more than other SEC basketball programs.
The biggest winner in SEC basketball if athletes were to be paid would likely be the Florida Gators as only them or the Kentucky Wildcats have won the SEC regular season title in the past 5 years and Florida basketball players would make $21,326 more per year than the Wildcat’s players would make.
Florida will also seem to benefit most in SEC football. They have won 33% of the SEC football titles since 1990. In the years Florida hasn’t won the SEC title, only five other schools have shared that title. The average state tax bill for those five other schools is $7,314 more than Florida players would have to pay. Compare Florida’s state tax bill against the SEC champions of the past 15 years (Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, and LSU) and you see that Florida would be able to offer their players $9,122 more per year than any of the other SEC contenders could have.
Non-Florida fans will be able to find some solace however in the fact that, as we will see when we discuss the ACC, Florida will face stiff competition with Florida State and Miami University each year for player’s most interested in making maximum money.
Winners aside, the SEC has a gap of “haves” and “have-not’s” within their conference but not as extreme as the Pac-12 or MWC as we will see later this week.
However, as can be seen above, the gap would be significant enough to change the landscape of the SEC for years to come.
Non-Florida fans will be able to find some solace however in the fact that, as we will see when we discuss the ACC, Florida will face stiff competition with Florida State and Miami University each year for player’s most interested in making maximum money.
Winners aside, the SEC has a gap of “haves” and “have-not’s” within their conference but not as extreme as the Pac-12 or MWC as we will see later this week.
However, as can be seen above, the gap would be significant enough to change the landscape of the SEC for years to come.
NOTE:
This article only discusses state income taxes. College athletes would also be subject to federal and local income taxes. Provisions in the federal tax code allow for the deduction of state and local income taxes for certain income thresholds. Given this potential deduction on federal taxes, the variance in total income taxes owed may not be as drastic between conferences and schools. However, for simplicity sake - this article solely focuses on state income taxes.
Estimated football and basketball salaries provided by CNBC's Mark Koba (@MarkKobaCNBC).
This article only discusses state income taxes. College athletes would also be subject to federal and local income taxes. Provisions in the federal tax code allow for the deduction of state and local income taxes for certain income thresholds. Given this potential deduction on federal taxes, the variance in total income taxes owed may not be as drastic between conferences and schools. However, for simplicity sake - this article solely focuses on state income taxes.
Estimated football and basketball salaries provided by CNBC's Mark Koba (@MarkKobaCNBC).
- Estimated football salary: $178,000
- Estimated basketball salary: $375,000
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