Section 701.40.46. Taxation of compensation of nonresident members of professional athletic teams.

 Effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 1995, the Iowa source income of a nonresident individual who is a member of a professional athletic team includes the portion of the individual’s total compensation for services provided for the athletic team that is in the ratio that the number of duty days spent in Iowa rendering services for the team during the tax year bears to the total number of duty days spent both within and without Iowa in the tax year. Thus, if a nonresident member of a professional athletic team has $50,000 in total compensation from the team in 1995 and the athlete has 20 Iowa duty days and 180 total duty days for the team in 1995, $5,556 of the compensation would be taxable to Iowa ($50,000 × 20/180 = $5,556).

The following subrules include definitions, examples, and other information which clarify Iowa’s taxation of nonresident members of professional athletic teams:

         40.46(1) Definitions.

            a.                The term “professional athletic team” includes, but is not limited to, any professional baseball, basketball, football, soccer, or hockey team.

            b.               The term “member of a professional athletic team” includes those employees who are active players, players on the disabled list, and any other persons required to travel and who travel with and perform services on behalf of a professional athletic team on a regular basis. This includes, but is not limited to, coaches, managers, and trainers.

            c.                The term “total compensation for services rendered as a member of a professional athletic team” means the total compensation received during the taxable year for services rendered. “Total compensation” includes, but is not limited to, salaries, wages, bonuses (as described in subparagraph (1) of this paragraph), and any other type of compensation paid during the taxable year to a member of a professional athletic team for services performed in that year. Such compensation does not include strike benefits, severance pay, termination pay, contract or option year buy-out payments, expansion or relocation payments, and any other payments not related to services rendered for the team.

For purposes of this paragraph, “bonuses” included in “total compensation for services rendered as a member of a professional athletic team” subject to the allocation described in this rule are:

             (1)              Bonuses earned as a result of play (i.e., performance bonuses) during the season, including bonuses paid for championship, playoff, or “bowl” games played by a team, or for the member’s selection to all-star, league, or other honorary positions; and

             (2)              Bonuses paid for signing a contract, unless all of the following conditions are met:

            1.      The payment of the signing bonus is not conditional upon the signee playing any games for the team, or performing any subsequent services for the team, or even making the team;

            2.      The signing bonus is payable separately from the salary and any other compensation; and

            3.      The signing bonus is nonrefundable.

            d.                Except as provided in subparagraphs (4) and (5) of this paragraph, the term “duty days” means all days during the taxable year from the beginning of the professional athletic team’s official preseason training period through the last game in which the team competes or is scheduled to compete. Duty days are included in the allocation described in this rule for the tax year in which they occur, including where a team’s official preseason training period through the last game in which the team competes, or is scheduled to compete, occurs during more than one tax year.

             (1)              Duty days also includes days on which a member of a professional athletic team renders a service for a team on a date which does not fall within the previously mentioned period (e.g., participation in instructional leagues, the “Pro Bowl” or promotional “caravans”). Rendering a service includes conducting training and rehabilitation activities, but only if conducted at the facilities of the team.

             (2)              Included within duty days are game days, practice days, days spent at team meetings, promotional caravans and preseason training camps, and days served with the team through all postseason games in which the team competes or is scheduled to compete.

             (3)              Duty days for any person who joins a team during the period from the beginning of the professional athletic team’s official preseason training period through the last game in which the team competes, or is scheduled to compete, begins on the day the person joins the team. Conversely, duty days for any person who leaves a team during such period ends on the day the person leaves the team. When a person switches teams during a taxable year, separate duty day calculations are to be made for the period the person was with each team.

             (4)              Days for which a member of a professional athletic team is not compensated and is not rendering services for the team in any manner, including days when the member of a professional athletic team has been suspended without pay and prohibited from performing any services for the team, are not to be treated as duty days.

             (5)              Days for which a member of a professional athletic team is on the disabled list and does not conduct rehabilitation activities at facilities of the team and is not otherwise rendering services for the team in Iowa, are not to be considered duty days spent in Iowa. However, all days on the disability list are considered to be included in total duty days spent both within and outside the state of Iowa.

             (6)              Total duty days for members of a professional athletic team that are not professional athletes are the number of days in the year that the members are employed by the professional athletic team. Thus, in the case of a coach of a professional athletic team who was coach for the entire year of 1995, the coach’s total duty days for 1995 would be 365.

             (7)              Travel days in Iowa by a team member that do not involve a game, practice, team meeting, all-star game, or other personal service for the team are not considered to be duty days in Iowa. However, to the extent these days fall within the period from the team’s preseason training period through the team’s final game, these Iowa travel days will be considered in the total duty days spent within and outside Iowa, for team members who are professional athletes.

             (8)              Duty days in Iowa do not include days a team member performs personal services for the professional athletic team in Iowa on those days that the team member is a bona fide resident of a state with which Iowa has a reciprocal tax agreement. See rule 701—38.13(422).

         40.46(2) Filing composite Iowa returns for nonresident members of professional athletic teams. Professional athletic teams may file composite Iowa returns on behalf of team members who are nonresidents of Iowa and who have compensation that is taxable to Iowa from duty days in Iowa for the athletic team. However, the athletic team may include on the composite return only those team members who are nonresidents of Iowa and who have no Iowa source incomes other than the incomes from duty days in Iowa for the team. The athletic team may exclude from the composite return any team member who is a nonresident of Iowa and whose income from duty days in Iowa is less than $1,000. See rule 701—48.1(422) about filing Iowa composite returns.

         40.46(3) Examples of taxation of nonresident members of professional athletic teams.

            a.                Player A, a member of a professional athletic team, is a nonresident of Iowa. Player A’s contract for the team requires A to report to such team’s training camp and to participate in all exhibition, regular season, and playoff games. Player A has a contract which covers seasons that occur during year 1/year 2 and year 2/year 3. Player A’s contract provides that A is to receive $500,000 for the year 1/year 2 season and $600,000 for the year 2/year 3 season. Assuming player A receives $550,000 from the contract during taxable year 2 ($250,000 for one-half the year 1/year 2 season and $300,000 for one-half the year 2/year 3 season), the portion of compensation received by player A for taxable year 2, attributable to Iowa, is determined by multiplying the compensation player A receives during the taxable year ($550,000) by a fraction, the numerator of which is the total number of duty days player A spends rendering services for the team in Iowa during taxable year 2 (attributable to both the year 1/year 2 season and the year 2/year 3 season) and the denominator of which is the total number of player A’s duty days spent both within and outside Iowa for the entire taxable year.

            b.                Player B, a member of a professional athletic team, is a nonresident of Iowa. During the season, B is injured and is unable to render services for B’s team. While B is undergoing medical treatment at a clinic, which is not a facility of the team, but is located in Iowa, B’s team travels to Iowa for a game. The number of days B’s team spends in Iowa for practice, games, meetings, for example, while B is present at the clinic, are not to be considered duty days spent in Iowa for player B for that taxable year for purposes of this rule, but these days are considered to be included within total duty days spent both within and outside Iowa.

            c.                Player C, a member of a professional athletic team, is a nonresident of Iowa. During the season, C is injured and is unable to render services for C’s team. C performs rehabilitation exercises at the facilities of C’s team in Iowa as well as at personal facilities in Iowa. The days C performs rehabilitation exercise in the facilities of C’s team are considered duty days spent in Iowa for player C for that taxable year for purposes of this rule. However, days player C spends at personal facilities in Iowa are not to be considered duty days spent in Iowa for player C for that taxable year for purposes of this rule, but the days are considered to be included within total duty days spent both within and outside Iowa.

            d.                Player D, a member of a professional athletic team, is a nonresident of Iowa. During the season, D travels to Iowa to participate in the annual all-star game as a representative of D’s team. The number of days D spends in Iowa for practice, the game, meetings, for example, are considered to be duty days spent in Iowa for player D for that taxable year for purposes of this rule, as well as included within total duty days spent both within and outside Iowa.

            e.                Assume the same facts as given in paragraph “d,” except that player D is not participating in the all-star game and is not rendering services for D’s team in any manner. Player D is instead traveling to and attending this game solely as a spectator. The number of days player D spends in Iowa for the game is not to be considered to be duty days spent in Iowa for purposes of this rule. However, the days are considered to be included within total duty days spent both within and outside Iowa.

         40.46(4) Use of an alternative method to compute taxable portion of a nonresident’s compensation as a member of a professional athletic team. If a nonresident member of a professional athletic team believes that the method provided in this rule for allocation of the member’s compensation to Iowa is not equitable, the nonresident member may propose the use of an alternative method for the allocation of the compensation to Iowa. The request for an alternative method for allocation must be filed no later than 60 days before the due date of the return, considering that the due date may be extended for up to 6 months after the original due date if at least 90 percent of the tax liability was paid by the original due date (April 30 for taxpayers filing on a calendar-year basis).

The request for an alternative method should be filed with the Taxpayer Services and Policy Division, P.O. Box 10457, Des Moines, Iowa 50306. The request must set forth the alternative method for allocation to Iowa of the compensation of the nonresident professional team member. In addition, the request must specify, in detail, why the method for allocation of the compensation set forth in this rule is not equitable, as well as why the alternative method for allocation of the compensation is more equitable than the method provided in this rule. The burden of proof is on the nonresident professional team member to show that the alternative method is more equitable than the method provided in the rule.

If the department determines that the alternative method is more reasonable for allocation of the taxable portion of the team member’s compensation than the method provided in this rule, the team member can use the alternative method on the current return and on subsequent returns.

If the department rejects the team member’s use of the alternative method, the team member may file a protest within 60 days of the date of the department’s letter of rejection. The nonresident team member’s protest of the department’s rejection of the alternate formula must be made in accordance with rule 701—7.8(17A) and must state, in detail, why the method provided in this rule is not equitable, as well as why the alternative method for allocation of the compensation is more equitable than the method set forth in this rule.

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code sections 422.3, 422.7, and 422.8.

[ ARC 7761B , IAB 5/6/09, effective 6/10/09;    ARC 0251C , IAB 8/8/12, effective 9/12/12]