Taxes

[justacoach]

Originally Posted by kstiles99

As a young official, 16, I tend to get very confused at the specifications of officiating basketball. For starters, this is my first ever post on this forum. So my question to all you veterans is about payments. I have a Refpay account. I need to know if I need to worry about the IRS and filing my officiating income at my age. I also live in Oklahoma and would like any of you to give me advice on finding work. I don't believe my association I'll be going into serves more than 2 schools a year. So it's slow to say the least. I'd love to gain some knowledge on this stuff and find out how to referee more.

Welcome, young'un. You've happened onto one of the greatest sources of officiating knowledge.

As to taxes,you Definitely need to worry about IRS!!! We'll assume you still live at home. You need to advise your parents of your calendar year earnings when they prepare their 1040's. If you accrue sufficient income, your parents may lose the ability to claim you as a dependent. Please seek professional advice on this subject as well as the specifics for your home state.

As far as finding work, take a look at your state's HS sanctioning body so you can become aware of their requirements and timelines.

For work in the offseason, start by contacting the local AAU, YBOA or other similar organizations to get referrals to local tournament organizers. Find out who is assigning their tournaments and contact them.
One thing that will never hurt is to increase your rules knowledge. You can get an app for Android with a digital version of the Rules, Case and Official's manual. Check the officiating section at NFHS.org.

There is not much activity on this board during the dog days of summer but there is a comprehensive backlog of interesting subjucts, just keep going backwards on this site.

I suspect there will be some OK officials that will respond with more specifics.

Again, welcome and take advantage of this essential resource.