Tax Time for Umpires

[kylehutson]

7 minutes ago, maven said:

You can get a 1099 on paper?

Apparently? SWMBO's employer only sends them that way.

[noumpere]

15 minutes ago, kylehutson said:

Apparently? SWMBO's employer only sends them that way.

 

23 minutes ago, maven said:

You can get a 1099 on paper?

Yep -- we send all outs that way, and we get all 100+ that way.  For me personally, it's easier to track and process -- so maybe that's a reason to NOT work a game to avoid one -- so you don't miss the e-version and fail to properly identify it on the tax return.  You can get it all resolved, but it's more of a mess than it needs to be.

[philaump]

18 hours ago, noumpere said:

He's afraid of paper cuts?

Yup, it's those paper cuts. 

That being said, why should we pay more in taxes than we are required to?

 

[noumpere]

18 minutes ago, philaump said:

Yup, it's those paper cuts. 

That being said, why should we pay more in taxes than we have to?

 

I agree we shouldn't pay more than the rules require us to (that's not quite the same as "we have to").  Whether we get a 1099 doesn't affect what the rules say we should pay.  But, then, you knew that.

[philaump]

50 minutes ago, noumpere said:

I agree we shouldn't pay more than the rules require us to (that's not quite the same as "we have to").  Whether we get a 1099 doesn't affect what the rules say we should pay.  But, then, you knew that.

Agreed.

I know that most HS assignors don't want their officials to get 1099'd as well. The HS assignors out my way encourage us to tell them when we are close to that $600 threshold, so they DON'T send us to those schools.   

[LMSANS]

I had an accounting professor (A CPA) 40 years ago who told us "deduct what you think is right. Just be aware that if you are very aggressive with your interpretation, calculate what it will cost you if the IRS disallows the deduction? So you know whether you can afford it."

[wolfe_man]

1 hour ago, LMSANS said:

I had an accounting professor (A CPA) 40 years ago who told us "deduct what you think is right. Just be aware that if you are very aggressive with your interpretation, calculate what it will cost you if the IRS disallows the deduction? So you know whether you can afford it."

LOL, I think we had the same professor! Very true statement.

It's not what you think you can get away with, it's what it costs you if you get caught. 

Honesty is still the best policy - even if it is old-fashioned and almost extinct.

[andydufresne]

On 3/8/2021 at 12:00 PM, Mudisfun said:

Considering the whopping 5 games I got in last year, including 2 LL freebies, this thread is completely lost on me this year!

Not necessarily for everyone, though. One year I got injured the 2nd day of the season and missed the rest of it. Not before, however, I had amassed a ton of expenses in pre-season training, buying uniforms, travel to regional rules conference, etc. I took a Schedule C loss that offset the income from my full-time job.

[andydufresne]

On 3/10/2021 at 10:37 AM, philaump said:

Agreed.

I know that most HS assignors don't want their officials to get 1099'd as well. The HS assignors out my way encourage us to tell them when we are close to that $600 threshold, so they DON'T send us to those schools.   

That's ironic coming from people in a profession dedicated to integrity. All income is reportable (not necessarily taxable, but reportable). If you are honest on your tax returns, there is no reason to care whether you get 1099s. The people you work for have an incentive in order to avoid the paperwork, but the only reason for an individual to want to avoid a 1099 is if (s)he is trying to engage in tax evasion (not avoidance, which is legal, but evasion, which is not). And oh, boy, how I will never forget practically being strung up in the parking lot for making these same comments at an association meeting a couple of decades ago.

[andydufresne]

One thing to know: expenses from self-employment are deductible only if you are operating with the intent to make a profit. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sc    Expenses for sporadic or hobby income are generally not deductible.

That's something to keep in mind before announcing to the world that "I don't umpire for the money." If you want to deduct your expenses legally, you'd darned well better be doing it for the money.

[Richvee]

On 3/8/2021 at 10:43 AM, Thunderheads said:

Arbiter does for sure

As long as you’re over $600 with the group. I did 2 or 3 fall games under my college group and did not receive  a 1099 

[MadMax]

19 hours ago, andydufresne said:

That's something to keep in mind before announcing to the world that "I don't umpire for the money." If you want to deduct your expenses legally, you'd darned well better be doing it for the money.

This confounds me. I distinctly recall being implored and chastised by coaches & parents – regardless the age level – that we (umpires) “do it for the kids!” 

[wolfe_man]

21 hours ago, andydufresne said:

Not necessarily for everyone, though. One year I got injured the 2nd day of the season and missed the rest of it. Not before, however, I had amassed a ton of expenses in pre-season training, buying uniforms, travel to regional rules conference, etc. I took a Schedule C loss that offset the income from my full-time job.

Sorry, I gotta ask.

How’s Red doing? The weather in Mexico pretty good?

[kylehutson]

22 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

Sorry, I gotta ask.

How’s Red doing? The weather in Mexico pretty good?

I have been laughing to myself at this username being involved in a post on tax evasion.

[wolfe_man]

19 minutes ago, kylehutson said:

I have been laughing to myself at this username being involved in a post on tax evasion.

I know!   I keep imagining the big guard holding Andy over the edge of the roof for suggesting a way to cheat. Andy couldn't have worded it worse though.  "Do you trust your wife?"

I live about an hour from the place where it was filmed. 

[andydufresne]

11 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

I know!   I keep imagining the big guard holding Andy over the edge of the roof for suggesting a way to cheat. Andy couldn't have worded it worse though.  "Do you trust your wife?"

I live about an hour from the place where it was filmed. 

That wasn't cheating--it was a perfectly legal tax avoidance strategy.

[wolfe_man]

On 3/16/2021 at 12:00 AM, andydufresne said:

That wasn't cheating--it was a perfectly legal tax avoidance strategy.

Was - and is.  I meant the guard thought that he was being sneaky.

[jaselamas]

What about the W2 form? It also talks about all your taxes. Maybe you are not from the United States, but in the United States, we fill out a W2 form every year, which indicates how much taxes you paid for the year and you can roughly assume your pension and understand whether you should work at your job or not. I think that such a form is also filled out for sports judges. You can even calculate it online to understand in advance what you have with taxes on https://www.thepaystubs.com/w2-form-generator and as far as I know, it also depends on the state how much taxes you pay. But if something is wrong with you, you'd better talk to a tax specialist.

[noumpere]

1 hour ago, jaselamas said:

What about the W2 form? It also says about all your taxes.

Most don't get a W-2 for officiating, since we are not employees.

[maven]

56 minutes ago, noumpere said:

Most don't get a W-2 for officiating, since we are not employees.

Some associations use Arbiter or other online services and get paid through them. If Arbiter pays an official more than $600/year, they're required to submit a 1099. And, although still not a W-2, it's a form reporting income to the IRS and so functionally similar.

[LMSANS]

All income is reportable, with or without payer documentation. Remember how they got Al Capone.

[beerguy55]

On 9/22/2021 at 8:44 AM, LMSANS said:

All income is reportable, with or without payer documentation. Remember how they got Al Capone.

And income includes finding a quarter in a vending machine change slot, or being paid in Amazon gift cards.

[Catch18]

And income includes…..being paid in Amazon gift cards.

Beerguy, careful on what you show up to the plate and pay with….I know some like to set a trend, this is not one of those times.


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[maven]

 

[kylehutson]

I'll go out on a limb and say that for the foreseeable future, I would umpire a game for one bitcoin.