While professional sports can be extremely lucrative, student athletes can also clear quite a bit of income before they turn pro. In 2021, the NCAA established interim guidelines allowing student athletes to capitalize on income opportunities related to their name, image and likeness (NIL). Since then, quite a few student athletes are earning NIL income of more than $1 million per year. Talk about enterprising!
Indeed, that word, “enterprising,” is key for student athletes who obtain money from NIL opportunities, because it is taxed as self-employment income. Managing — and maximizing — the NIL income student athletes are allowed to earn, especially from a tax perspective, can feel daunting.
