It's the law: Athletic officials need a license to call

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

But, dividends are taxed at the same rate as earned income, I think.

Are your referring to federal, state, county, or city, or borough taxes?

[Adam]

Dividends are currently taxed at lower rates than "regular" income. Dividends are currently taxed at 15% (5% for those in the lowest two tax brackets).

These rates are set to expire (and thus increase to a more complex and higher system) mid-season this year (12-31-08) unless an extension was passed that I'm not aware of.

edited to add: the changes to this have been complicated, I believe for 2008 the rate may be 0% for those in the bottom two tax brackets.

[Larks]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Dividends are currently taxed at lower rates than "regular" income. Dividends are currently taxed at 15% (5% for those in the lowest two tax brackets).

These rates are set to expire (and thus increase to a more complex and higher system) mid-season this year (12-31-08) unless an extension was passed that I'm not aware of.

We all know the cuts wont be extended....because its the "fair" thing to do, economy be damned.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Dividends are currently taxed at lower rates than "regular" income. Dividends are currently taxed at 15% (5% for those in the lowest two tax brackets). These rates are set to expire (and thus increase to a more complex and higher system) mid-season this year (12-31-08) unless an extension was passed that I'm not aware of.

If someone were cruising the internet and came across this portion of this thread, they would think that we were a bunch of accountants discussing tax laws. Can't you guys take this over to the CPA Forum?

I just took a quick look at some of the other Forums for the first time. Very interesting. I now know what the testing Forum is all about. I used to think that it was about various exams for officials. It's not. I found JugglingReferee practicing how to line out my quotes; Stat-Man practicing his keyboarding skills; and JugglingReferee, and w_sohl, learning how to add signatures. Over on the Feedback Forum I found Back In The Saddle asking if he could keep my quotes off his monitor by adding me to his ignore list. Wow. There sure is a lot of information out there on the internet. However, there is no Water Polo Forum. The ASPCA, PETA, and the Humane Society must have lobbied to keep it off.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Larks

We all know the cuts wont be extended....because its the "fair" thing to do, economy be damned.

Yes we can.

[jdw3018]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

But, dividends are taxed at the same rate as earned income, I think.

Aside from the current advantage of a lower tax rate, the other advantage is that you won't owe self employment taxes on that portion of the income.

That's where the big savings come in.

[Kingsman1288]

Oh man. I remember when this email started going around in the association. Some people shrugged it off, some ran out and bought their licence. I haven't done anything yet.

What really sucks is that each city requires you to have a licence and each city has their own fee for a licence. We work all over San Diego county which I believe has 12 cities in it, if not more. 12 times whatever the fee is equals a lot of money.

I am not buying one. I think it's ridiculous to not enforce this law for years, and then just becuase times are tight start to enforce it.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Kingsman1288

I am not buying one. I think it's ridiculous to not enforce this law for years, and then just becuase times are tight start to enforce it.

"Book him, Dano!"

[Adam]

Talk about a great way to decimate the officiating ranks.

[Skarecrow]

Originally Posted by jdw3018

With an S-Corp you have to pay yourself a salary, and the taxes on that is no different than the taxes for a sole proprietorship (I mean, they're different, but they add up to the same amount in bottom line terms to you).

However, with an S-Corp you don't have to take your entire income as salary, and any income taken at the end of the year beyond that salary is treated as a dividend and taxed as such. That's where the savings come in.

In my opinion, to take advantage of the S-Corp (which includes additional fees and is a more complicated filing process) you have to have a decent amount of income. But it definitely pays to consult your accountant.

Agreed.....I take about 60 as a salary and the other 40 as a dividend.....works out ok, I hope

[jdw3018]

Originally Posted by Skarecrow

Agreed.....I take about 60 as a salary and the other 40 as a dividend.....works out ok, I hope

I operate my own business in my "regular" profession as well, so the S-Corp is the best way for me to go...I can't imagine it would be worth it for me to do it only for my officiating income.

Now, if I were officiating multiple sports all year round, high school, youth leagues, adult leagues, etc., or was heavy into college officiating where the income became substantial, then I could see it.

But, for the $2-3,000 minus expenses I currently make from officiating, it alone wouldn't be worth the extra bookkeeping hassles and fees.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by jdw3018

I operate my own business in my "regular" profession as well, so the S-Corp is the best way for me to go...

Me too.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Skarecrow

Agreed.....I take about 60 as a salary and the other 40 as a dividend.....works out ok, I hope

Just basketball? $100,00.00? You must work some schedule.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Just basketball? $100,00.00? You must work some schedule.

He was talking in Yen.

[JugglingReferee]

As you know, hockey in King in Canada, and Toronto is a huge market. I've heard of some leagues that play until 2am - because ice time is so sought after. I had a tax friend tell me that Revenue Canada is having a trial program this winter where they're tracking how much money people make officiating hockey in the GTA. While I've never cared to see anything official on the topic, and it'd be silly for my friend to lie about it, it is scary ground for the rest of us here in Canada. Maybe I should pay attention to this topic.