Dust In The Wind (Kansas, 1977) ...
 

Several years ago our Connecticut State IAABO Board told that we couldn't work AAU games unless the AAU tournament administrators negotiated payment with our Connecticut State IAABO Board and that we could only work with other IAABO certified officials in such games.

That memorandum lasted just a few weeks and then disappeared (as if it never existed, with no explanation) like dust in the wind after a few guys made a few phone calls to the Connecticut State Department of Labor.

https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.U...=0&w=202&h=175

I work for my schools and assign conference games for 24 schools. The schools pay for assigning.

Not everything is as in your little corner of.......you know.


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Do As The Romans Do ...
 

Of course I know, when in Rome (or SC (South Carolina?)) ...

I, like Rich, was just pointing out the differences.

Wow. Seven dots, that's a lot of dots, just like our Tweeter In Chief (with apologies to Stephen Colbert). Did the post really need seven dots? Isn't that wasting dots, you know, dots don't grow on trees ?

It's good to feel appreciated. :D

Do you get paid directly to yourself or via "Mac Daddy's Rules & Reffing LLC"? You can't avoid truly avoid FICA, but you can decrease how much you pay, legally. Make an S-Corp, pay a "reasonable salary" and take the rest as a dividend. Dividends don't pay FICA.

Yup, CPAs are a lot more than tax preps. I've also worked with CPA's who use this ignorance so people will pay them $150/hour to plug information into TurboTax. I highly recommend everyone here talks to a tax professional for tax planning, not filing. Unless you straight-up didn't file.

Free Advice Is Totally Worth The Price One Pays For It ...
 

Thanks for the free advice (I assume that I won't get a bill) but it seems like a lot of work for only a little payoff. By the time I declare my business expenses for dues, fees, fines, insurance, uniforms, shoes, equipment, laundry, and travel mileage, officiating seems more like a hobby rather than a business.

Now that I'm retired from my day job (fans have been telling me not to do that for years), I'm legally declaring my round trip mileage for all my assignments. I couldn't do this when I was traveling to assignments from my day job that I commuted to every day, right?

Of course, I did know a "guy" at work who told our boss that in case the IRS called, he should tell them that I, I mean he, would drive home before all of my, I mean his, assignments to "get my, I mean his, bag" even if the assignment was in the same town where I, I mean he, worked. Wink. Wink. Nod. Nod.

I highly doubt CPA firms are using TurboTax.

As long as tax law is complicated, the IRS is intimidating, and clients are willing to pay to have a CPA sign their 1040, I don't really see the issue.

I love my CPA. For tax guidance and preparing my returns. Well worth the fee to me.

You can't write-off miles that you do from home to the work site. That's commuting. BUT, you can write them off if you handle a majority of administrative duties at home. Or have a home office.

You're right though. I want to say the math to do the S-Corp thing only makes sense once you hit $75k. That number was pre-TCJA, so who knows now.

https://proconnect.intuit.com/

Same company that makes TurboTax. It's what we use. It's pretty much TurboTax without the cute graphics. So long as your tax situation is simple (W-2 income only, no estates, business that makes under $250k and/or no inventory) you don't really need a tax professional.

Not to say you should stop seeing your guy. If he's good, hell he's good. But behind the green curtain it's just some old guy pressing buttons.

Sure, if you say so.

Again, a lot of people with straightforward tax situations see the value in having a CPA sign their 1040. Others just hate doing their taxes and are willing to pay someone to take it off their hands. If you're seeking tax advice from a CPA chances are preparing your return is over your head even if it's straightforward. There are a lot of clients that probably use EAs for "easy" returns, as well.

I'd use a CPA over H&R Block anyday. No offense to you, to each his own.

In Virginia the commissioners get paid by the school(s), usually a lump sum up front based on the number of games to be assign or a negotiated fee, and also get paid by the officials with an 8-10% commissioner's fee out of our game checks.

I got into a debate with our treasurer this past season because our 1099's are reflecting the full game fees, not the game fees minus 8 to 10%. I told him the 8-10% commissioner's fee needs to reflect as income for the commissioner and whoever else gets paid from those fees. Officials at no time see that 8-10% portion of our game check, so it should not reflect as our income. We get paid by the association, so that 8-10% is only touching the association's hands.

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No offense taken. That mentality is how I make money.

It's the same in Western VA and my basketball association as well. I heard that the local rival one pays it's officials the actual amount that is reflected in Arbiter. For soccer and baseball it's different; the amount you see on Arbiter is what you get paid.

The only other one that does it via 11% fee out of your check is the football group. I asked them about that, and next thing you know, I got kicked out.

Death and Taxes ...
 

Back in my youth, when I was only teaching for a living, wasn't officiating, didn't own a house with a mortgage paying interest on a loan (I rented an apartment), and didn't own any stocks, bonds, mutual funds, dividends, etc. (all I had was a bank account), I did my own taxes.

Those days are long gone.

Underestimating Complexity ???
 

I'm retired, I don't make a daily commute back and forth to a "day job" any more.

During basketball season, three, or four, days a week, I leave home and drive to a basketball assignment, work the game, and drive back home after the game. That round trip mileage has to be deductible, as do the trips I take back and fourth to our board board meetings several times during the basketball season.

Right?

Back in an earlier post I was referring to the complex situation of an official making his normal commute to his "day job", and then traveling to a basketball assignment from his "day job" (not back home first), and then driving back home after the game. It was always my understanding that many officials might be underestimating the complex nature of that tax situation.

Right?

Alright, let's make sure we're talking about the same thing here:

You work at X and live at H. You have a game at Z. Going from H to Z or from X to Z, you can deduct those miles. That isn't commuting, that's going to the temporary work station (which is the school, your meeting, camp/tryout, etc.). Doesn't matter if you're retired, a student, or a CEO.

Going from Z to H is the problem. Is going home work-related? What do you do at home that could be considered a valid business reason? If you can't give the tax man a solid answer (like I have a home office), it's a no, and you can't deduct the round-trip miles.

Now, is he really going to come for your log book and demand you open that up and explain everything? Maybe. Maybe not. I doubt he'll care for what you write-off, but no, round trip usually isn't deductible. That's why you have to play the game and make a BS company or an LLC and file extra paperwork.

Orange Is The New Black ...
 

Wow. I'm retired so there is no X. It's just H to Z and Z to H. I never realized that I can't deduct business expenses for Z to H mileage. I present my officiating mileage to my tax accountant as "round trip mileage" and he allows it. Always has.

This worries me because I don't look good in orange.

I visit a State Correctional Institution several times every month as part of my church's Prison Ministry (Matthew 25:36). The corrections officers let me out after every visit. I don't think I can handle staying there overnight.

If it makes you feel better, if we audited every American, we'd likely get billions of dollars in taxes back. When they changed the tax laws in the 80s, they said over 7 million children disappeared because they required folks to put down their dependent's SSNs instead of just trusting them to be honest.

But hey man, you're a fugitive now. A real genuine bad-ass.