Tax Information
I have always counseled each of you regarding the importance of consulting a professional regarding tax issues. As a result of several recent inquiries I wanted to resend part of an earlier email regarding paying taxes on overseas income. First, I want to alert you to an issue regarding overseas bank accounts
Overseas Bank Accounts
Federal income tax form 1040, schedule B, lines 7a and 7b, pertain to “foreign accounts and trusts.” This section requires you to disclose that you had a foreign bank account at any time during the year unless the combined value of all foreign accounts was $10,000. This has practical applications: (1) The above is another of the many reasons why we need to ensure the GREAT bulk of your overseas income is wired directly to an account in the US; and (2) we will have to ensure that whoever completes your taxes understands that there must be a disclosure if you have such an overseas account(s).
Taxes on Overseas Income
As to taxes on overseas income in general, very few athletes understand the requirements for paying taxes in the US. I would never claim to be a CPA, but want to provide a very short ad general overview based on input from professionals I trust.
The United States has a tax agreement with almost every country in the world to protect against double taxation. This means that if your team is paying tax on your salary, you will not be obligated to pay taxes on the same salary in the US up to the percentage of taxes you (the team) paid in the country where you played. For example:
If you make $100,000 playing in Italy and the club you play on pays 20% taxes on your salary in your name, then $20,000 in taxes was paid in your name. When you get back to the US and declare to the IRS that you made $100,000 in Italy, your tax obligation here will be calculated using various factors - such as total salary, dependents, deductions, etc. If your calculated rate in the US was 25%, that would mean a tax of $25,000. As a result of $20,000 in taxes already being paid in your name by the Italian team, your tax liability in the USA should only be the difference between $25,000 and $20,000 = $5,000. As a result, you would owe $5,000 to the IRS on the total income you earned overseas. PLEASE make sure that we address any questions you have regarding overseas income.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Stages
The relationship between agent and athlete should start at graduation and continue through and after retirement. This type of long-term, committed relationship greatly benefits an athlete - if an agent understands their client’s wants, needs, likes, dislikes and passions, they are better able to ensure their happiness, safety and success. Every time an athlete switches agents they have to rebuild everything established with their prior agent – many times a long and unsuccessful process.
I have been blessed with many long, close and special client relationships. One such relationship is with Jenni Benningfield. In 2003 I was blessed to meet Jenni – then a junior at Vanderbilt. I first realized I wanted to work for Jenni when I listened to her talk to a teammate after a game during her sophomore season. Jenni walked the teammate through several plays – as a friend and leader. I knew at that point I wanted to be on Jenni’s team one day! Over the last six years Jenni and I have been through so much in life – the one constant has been the growth or our relationship. We have seen eachother through WNBA seasons, overseas seasons, injury, happiness, great success, disappointment and many, many more aspects of life. It has been a wild and wonderful ride that I feel so incredibly blessed to have shared with her. Jenni went to Australia this overseas season – we wanted a team and country where Jenni could truly enjoy what she thought might be her last year as a professional athlete. The experience far exceeded what we both hoped for. Jenni had a spectacular season – on and off the court. It ended with Jenni being named MVP of her team.
Jenni’s retirement is bittersweet. I will miss Jenni the athlete – the extraordinary way she led her teammates and played a game she loved. However, I am now exceptionally blessed to share her life as a friend.
I have been blessed with many long, close and special client relationships. One such relationship is with Jenni Benningfield. In 2003 I was blessed to meet Jenni – then a junior at Vanderbilt. I first realized I wanted to work for Jenni when I listened to her talk to a teammate after a game during her sophomore season. Jenni walked the teammate through several plays – as a friend and leader. I knew at that point I wanted to be on Jenni’s team one day! Over the last six years Jenni and I have been through so much in life – the one constant has been the growth or our relationship. We have seen eachother through WNBA seasons, overseas seasons, injury, happiness, great success, disappointment and many, many more aspects of life. It has been a wild and wonderful ride that I feel so incredibly blessed to have shared with her. Jenni went to Australia this overseas season – we wanted a team and country where Jenni could truly enjoy what she thought might be her last year as a professional athlete. The experience far exceeded what we both hoped for. Jenni had a spectacular season – on and off the court. It ended with Jenni being named MVP of her team.
Jenni’s retirement is bittersweet. I will miss Jenni the athlete – the extraordinary way she led her teammates and played a game she loved. However, I am now exceptionally blessed to share her life as a friend.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Reality/Injury
Every year I face the heartbreaking task of bringing at least one of my clients home from an injury. Many times WNBA basketball players ask their bodies to do extraordinary things – to play year-round, season after season, without a break. They do this to take maximum advantage of their ability to earn income – the logic being that they will not want or be able to play forever and should maximize every opportunity while they do. This is very appealing; however, it usually comes with a tremendous price/sacrifice, including devastating injury and/or not being able to see family, friends and loved ones for months at a time. Far too often women are also mistreated by teams and/or their own agents.
What is the solution? I wish I had an easy answer. I want my clients to all have the most happy and productive careers – to live where they want and be paid an amount they deserve. Isn’t this what they deserve? For some, money is more important than anything else. For others, the ability to live in and learn about a culture is most important. Ultimately, injury is always only a step away. An athlete should have no regrets – they should live and play fully. However, they must also take care of their bodies, minds, hearts and souls. They can’t forget to live.
As I write this I am bringing someone I care deeply for home from an injury. She has worked so hard for so long – when she plays it seems like she flies through the air. For the last 16 years her life has been devoted to basketball. All of that seems so meaningless right now as I watch her sit with her crutches in pain - her career has been jeopardized because of injury. Why . . . because she forgot to remember she was human and needed to rest. She was not a machine. As an agent I should push each client to play, play, play – that’s how my clients and I make money. However, money can’t help an athlete walk after her children and live without pain if her body is broken. Professional basketball is a business and an athlete is only as good as the product she sells – the ability to use her body and mind to do things on the court most of us can only dream about doing. It is up to everyone who loves an athlete to help them be as successful, happy and healthy off the court as on.
What is the solution? I wish I had an easy answer. I want my clients to all have the most happy and productive careers – to live where they want and be paid an amount they deserve. Isn’t this what they deserve? For some, money is more important than anything else. For others, the ability to live in and learn about a culture is most important. Ultimately, injury is always only a step away. An athlete should have no regrets – they should live and play fully. However, they must also take care of their bodies, minds, hearts and souls. They can’t forget to live.
As I write this I am bringing someone I care deeply for home from an injury. She has worked so hard for so long – when she plays it seems like she flies through the air. For the last 16 years her life has been devoted to basketball. All of that seems so meaningless right now as I watch her sit with her crutches in pain - her career has been jeopardized because of injury. Why . . . because she forgot to remember she was human and needed to rest. She was not a machine. As an agent I should push each client to play, play, play – that’s how my clients and I make money. However, money can’t help an athlete walk after her children and live without pain if her body is broken. Professional basketball is a business and an athlete is only as good as the product she sells – the ability to use her body and mind to do things on the court most of us can only dream about doing. It is up to everyone who loves an athlete to help them be as successful, happy and healthy off the court as on.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Be Cautious
This is a very troubling story from ESPN. I want it to serve as a reminder to clients and their friends to always remain cautious:
"James Conyers, the man who served five years in prison for stalking Olympian Sheila Taormina, was arrested and removed from Indiana State University on Sunday night following reports that he'd been stalking an ISU women's basketball player. Conyers walked into the student commons area, perched himself so that he could look at Sycamores center Kelsie Cooley, and was promptly arrested for criminal trespassing. A week ago, Conyers, 41, allegedly called the 19-year-old Cooley, said he was an ex-ISU jock and asked to meet her. In a report filed by campus police, the conversation was called "amicable." But that night, Cooley slept with a chair propped against her door for protection. Conyers' name circulated through the national media last summer, when Taormina, a pentathlete, made her final bid for the Olympics. Taormina told her story of how Conyers stalked her for nearly a year, threatened to rape her and followed her from Michigan to a training facility in Florida."
"James Conyers, the man who served five years in prison for stalking Olympian Sheila Taormina, was arrested and removed from Indiana State University on Sunday night following reports that he'd been stalking an ISU women's basketball player. Conyers walked into the student commons area, perched himself so that he could look at Sycamores center Kelsie Cooley, and was promptly arrested for criminal trespassing. A week ago, Conyers, 41, allegedly called the 19-year-old Cooley, said he was an ex-ISU jock and asked to meet her. In a report filed by campus police, the conversation was called "amicable." But that night, Cooley slept with a chair propped against her door for protection. Conyers' name circulated through the national media last summer, when Taormina, a pentathlete, made her final bid for the Olympics. Taormina told her story of how Conyers stalked her for nearly a year, threatened to rape her and followed her from Michigan to a training facility in Florida."
Sunday, February 8, 2009
No Excuses
"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it."
-Chinese Proverb
One year at a basketball event I was standing next to an agent who did not know who I was. I watched in horror as the agent's two assistants answered his emails and text messages for him as he met with a prospective recruit. Shouldn't his employers (his clients) have a right to expect that he is the one answering their emails/text messages for him? Don't you think that someone who tells a client they can be reached by a certain method of communication has a responsibility to ensure a response is given? Saying that you are too busy to respond to a client's question is never acceptable. If I'm a client and my employee tells me that and/or ignores my communication then I know one thing - they don't have time, energy or desire to work on my behalf.
-Chinese Proverb
One year at a basketball event I was standing next to an agent who did not know who I was. I watched in horror as the agent's two assistants answered his emails and text messages for him as he met with a prospective recruit. Shouldn't his employers (his clients) have a right to expect that he is the one answering their emails/text messages for him? Don't you think that someone who tells a client they can be reached by a certain method of communication has a responsibility to ensure a response is given? Saying that you are too busy to respond to a client's question is never acceptable. If I'm a client and my employee tells me that and/or ignores my communication then I know one thing - they don't have time, energy or desire to work on my behalf.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Striving For Excellence
Every day in my personal and professional life I encounter people who preach excellence, success, fairness, determination and make endless promises. They say they want to grow, win and lead – that they are “different.” Are they? What does it mean and who can be trusted to truly understand, appreciate and honor those types of promises? Do you and/or the people in your life, career and/or business truly know you, who you are and what you believe? Isn’t that important? To me, being excellent does not mean that you are perfect, without fault and blameless. Instead, it means you are relentless in your pursuit of personal, spiritual and professional success. You admit your shortcomings and devote the time and effort necessary to overcome them. My goal is to be passionate about everything I do – to attack everything with purpose and desire. I want to always succeed, but know I can’t. However, I will always be able to say to my family, friends and clients that I truly tried. What can you do today, tomorrow or this year to improve your life, family and career – to be excellent? What can I do? Don’t you owe it to yourself to wonder?
Every day in my personal and professional life I encounter people who preach excellence, success, fairness, determination and make endless promises. They say they want to grow, win and lead – that they are “different.” Are they? What does it mean and who can be trusted to truly understand, appreciate and honor those types of promises? Do you and/or the people in your life, career and/or business truly know you, who you are and what you believe? Isn’t that important? To me, being excellent does not mean that you are perfect, without fault and blameless. Instead, it means you are relentless in your pursuit of personal, spiritual and professional success. You admit your shortcomings and devote the time and effort necessary to overcome them. My goal is to be passionate about everything I do – to attack everything with purpose and desire. I want to always succeed, but know I can’t. However, I will always be able to say to my family, friends and clients that I truly tried. What can you do today, tomorrow or this year to improve your life, family and career – to be excellent? What can I do? Don’t you owe it to yourself to wonder?
Overseas Reality
In talking to trusted overseas teams, managers, agents and friends, it is becoming more and more clear that overseas opportunities and salaries could be dramatically different next season. I have never been a "yes" man to any of my clients - my commitment to each of them is to always tell them the truth even if it isn't something they want to hear. It would be irresponsible of me to not have a very direct and honest talk with each of them about what we might face when overseas offers are received for next season. Don't be mistaken, there will still be plenty of agents and teams that will say that the world economy will not impact overseas salaries and they may even go up - while this might be the case in regard to specific teams and specific players, it will likely not be normal. Instead, salaries are likely to stay the same or go down. I want each of my clients to understand this reality and be prepared for the worst - I would rather that we are surprised by a higher salary than horribly disappointed by a lower one.
Many sources have confirmed that sponsorship money should be considerably less. Most overseas teams depend on budgets driven by sponsorship money - payments from local, national and/or international companies. Most of these companies have suffered just like the rest of individuals and corporations throughout the world. We already saw an incredible amount of teams having financial trouble this season. It seems like multiple times each day I hear of a team disrespecting an athlete's contract. I have never been contacted by so many athletes I don't personally represent searching for help. I am disgusted and horrified by the abuse I see so many athletes facing. I will continue devoting my full energy and attention to preventing this from ever happening to any of my clients.
Where does this leave us? As I did this year, I will search for teams that I know will actually pay the money promised in a contract. While accepting the highest offer is always most appealing, it is NOT always the correct decision. This is where agents and clients disconnect the most. Since an agent gets paid a commission based on the amount of their client's salary, many agents push for acceptance of the highest offer. This is especially true because agents are usually paid at the beginning of a client's contract and are not impacted by whether a team is ultimately unable to pay everything owed. Instead, it is critical to accept an offer from a team that WILL actually pay all of the money promised. For example, many times several teams will make an offer to a particular athlete. It is my responsibility to determine which team will ultimately pay the most money - not which team offers the most. For example, a client might get offers from two teams: (1) Team A offers $15,000 per month for 8 months ($120,000 total); and (2) Team B offers $10,000 per month for 8 months ($80,000 total). This would seem like a huge difference. However, my research might indicate that team A can't pay everything they promise and, ultimately, Team B might be the better choice. If Team A can only pay for three month ($45,000) and Team B can actually pay for eight month ($80,000), then Team B is clearly better financially.
Next season will likely be filled with many agents, athletes and teams searching for any way to gain an advantage. It will be critical to not listen to every person speaking into your ear - you must filter who is talking to you, what they are saying and what is their motive. Remember that even athletes you are close to ARE your competitors - for jobs, money and opportunities. Share information VERY carefully. I am ALWAYS exceptionally excited for this time - to see each of my clients travel overseas to work, explore and make money. I want this next season to be as incredible as ever for my clients and will do everything in my power to see that it is.
In talking to trusted overseas teams, managers, agents and friends, it is becoming more and more clear that overseas opportunities and salaries could be dramatically different next season. I have never been a "yes" man to any of my clients - my commitment to each of them is to always tell them the truth even if it isn't something they want to hear. It would be irresponsible of me to not have a very direct and honest talk with each of them about what we might face when overseas offers are received for next season. Don't be mistaken, there will still be plenty of agents and teams that will say that the world economy will not impact overseas salaries and they may even go up - while this might be the case in regard to specific teams and specific players, it will likely not be normal. Instead, salaries are likely to stay the same or go down. I want each of my clients to understand this reality and be prepared for the worst - I would rather that we are surprised by a higher salary than horribly disappointed by a lower one.
Many sources have confirmed that sponsorship money should be considerably less. Most overseas teams depend on budgets driven by sponsorship money - payments from local, national and/or international companies. Most of these companies have suffered just like the rest of individuals and corporations throughout the world. We already saw an incredible amount of teams having financial trouble this season. It seems like multiple times each day I hear of a team disrespecting an athlete's contract. I have never been contacted by so many athletes I don't personally represent searching for help. I am disgusted and horrified by the abuse I see so many athletes facing. I will continue devoting my full energy and attention to preventing this from ever happening to any of my clients.
Where does this leave us? As I did this year, I will search for teams that I know will actually pay the money promised in a contract. While accepting the highest offer is always most appealing, it is NOT always the correct decision. This is where agents and clients disconnect the most. Since an agent gets paid a commission based on the amount of their client's salary, many agents push for acceptance of the highest offer. This is especially true because agents are usually paid at the beginning of a client's contract and are not impacted by whether a team is ultimately unable to pay everything owed. Instead, it is critical to accept an offer from a team that WILL actually pay all of the money promised. For example, many times several teams will make an offer to a particular athlete. It is my responsibility to determine which team will ultimately pay the most money - not which team offers the most. For example, a client might get offers from two teams: (1) Team A offers $15,000 per month for 8 months ($120,000 total); and (2) Team B offers $10,000 per month for 8 months ($80,000 total). This would seem like a huge difference. However, my research might indicate that team A can't pay everything they promise and, ultimately, Team B might be the better choice. If Team A can only pay for three month ($45,000) and Team B can actually pay for eight month ($80,000), then Team B is clearly better financially.
Next season will likely be filled with many agents, athletes and teams searching for any way to gain an advantage. It will be critical to not listen to every person speaking into your ear - you must filter who is talking to you, what they are saying and what is their motive. Remember that even athletes you are close to ARE your competitors - for jobs, money and opportunities. Share information VERY carefully. I am ALWAYS exceptionally excited for this time - to see each of my clients travel overseas to work, explore and make money. I want this next season to be as incredible as ever for my clients and will do everything in my power to see that it is.
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