15 posts shown.
I’ve been sitting here staring at my screen for the last twenty minutes, just trying to wrap my head around how we even define "amateur" anymore. It feels like every week there’s a new headline about some athlete getting caught in a technicality that feels more like a bureaucratic trap than actual rule-breaking. It’s getting harder to tell where the spirit of the game ends and the sheer, pedantic paperwork begins.
I remember when being a student-athlete meant something very specific. There was a clear, almost sacred boundary: you play for the love of the game, for the school, and for the experience. If you took money from a professional source, you were out. It was simple. It was black and white. But now? It feels like we’re living in a grey zone that never ends. We’ve opened the floodgates with NIL, which was a massive, necessary shift, but in doing so, we’ve created this chaotic landscape where the rules change depending on which way the wind is blowing.
Think about the logic we’re applying lately. We have players signing million-dollar deals with local car dealerships or appearing in commercials, which is fine—that’s the new reality. But then, you have these hyper-specific instances where a single, relatively small transaction or a bit of assistance from someone in the professional sphere triggers a massive hammer from the governing bodies. It feels incredibly inconsistent. If a kid is basically a professional in every sense of the word—handling endorsements, managing brand deals, and navigating agent conversations—why are we still policing the "small stuff" with such extreme prejudice?
It feels like we are punishing people for the reality of their situation. If a player has already signaled they are moving toward the professional ranks, the concept of "amateurism" is essentially a ghost. It’s a relic of a different era. When the authorities swoop in to hand out suspensions over minor logistical help or small-scale assistance, it doesn't feel like they are "protecting the integrity of the sport." It feels like they are just asserting dominance over players who are already halfway out the door. It’s like trying to enforce the rules of a playground on people who have already graduated to the adult world.
I look at it from a wider perspective, too. This isn't just about college sports; it's about how our institutions handle transition. We love to create these rigid silos—student vs. professional, amateur vs. paid—but the real world doesn't work in silos. People transition. They move from one phase of life to another, and those lines are always blurry. When we try to enforce absolute rigidity in a fluid situation, we end up with these bizarre, headline-grabbing punishments that seem disconnected from common sense.
I can’t help but feel a bit cynical about the whole thing. Is the goal actually to keep the game "pure," or is it just about maintaining a control structure that is increasingly out of touch with how the modern world operates? If the goal is to prevent players from profiting unfairly, it seems like we should be focusing on the massive, multi-million dollar discrepancies, not whether someone received a little help getting from point A to point B.
It feels like we're losing the plot. We’re so focused on the technicalities of the "rules" that we’re ignoring the actual human element and the changing nature of the industry. It makes me wonder if the very concept of a "student-athlete" is even sustainable anymore, or if we’re just clinging to a definition that died a decade ago.
What do you guys think? Are these types of suspensions necessary to keep the system from collapsing into total chaos, or is the governing body just being overly aggressive with rules that don't make sense in the modern era?
Yeah, once you cross $100 you’re actually required to notify the IRS and the RNC, then file the appropriate registration form to join the sales tax system. From the very first day of the following month, you have to start maintaining formal business books and issuing invoices that include sales tax. If you hit that threshold on the very last day of the previous month, there's a good chance the IRS won't have processed your RNC paperwork by the time the new month rolls around, but you're still legally obligated to start bookkeeping and charging tax regardless of whether you've received your official approval yet...
Emily Myers8 said:From what I get, you just notify the IRS or your agent via message or call once revenue hits $100000. If the IRS already issued a ruling for flat taxation, does that ruling need to be canceled? I already asked this, but I'll ask again—if it needs canceling, is there a specific process? If so, the basis would be filing an SD for the period when they still qualified for the flat tax. Anything over 300,000.00 counts as taxable income from the moment they started keeping books, and any expenses tied to that income are deductible.
In my experience, the IRS doesn't care if you know your rights, hire a pro to manage your business, or just wait until the end of the year and claim you didn't know or were misinformed without proof.
At the end of the day, taxpayers are expected to know the rules, or they're just looking at a fine.
Quincy:| Believe it or not, there are actually scenarios where you can be in the sales tax system and still be a small flat-tax business at the same time. |
Obviously, there are different ways to handle sales tax versus those who aren't even required to collect it.
Usually, a solo entrepreneur isn't aware of these obligations, so they end up getting hit with a penalty and a massive bill they never planned for.
Quincy:| It’s not the case here, obviously, but I'm trying to show how insanely complex these laws are. This user's situation is actually one of the simplest ones out there. Any other accountant or tax advisor will tell you exactly what I'm saying. |
The bookkeeper here can confirm it, and the IRS will back me up too. Just post the response from the IRS right here.
If what you're implying is that a small business owner who enters the sales tax system mid-year doesn't need to file their SD form until January 15th of the next year, then I can guarantee the local Police Department won't be agreeing with you at all. Honestly, maybe the folks at our local branch are just losing their minds, because they've been demanding we submit those forms for years, processing them regularly, and assessing our taxes based specifically on those filings...
Emily Myers8 said:What's the basis for the IRS to cancel a flat tax assessment?
How can someone be registered for sales tax if they were paying under the flat tax system?
The tax might stay the same as last year or even go up depending on the previous year's revenue, so that determined tax gets paid once they meet the requirements to register with the RNC.
Just a heads up, 1430 and 1619 aren't the same thing; prepayments toward the tax are made to 1430 until the annual return is filed.
To put it simply, it's because their total deliveries exceeded $100 and they received an official notice from the RNC.
Emily Myers8 said:What's the basis for the IRS to cancel a flat tax assessment?
How can someone be registered for sales tax if they were paying under the flat tax system?
The tax might stay the same as last year or even go up depending on the previous year's revenue, so that determined tax gets paid once they meet the requirements to register with the RNC.
Just a heads up, 1430 and 1619 aren't the same thing; prepayments toward the tax are made to 1430 until the annual return is filed.
Like I mentioned before, while they were operating under the flat rate, they pay that specific amount, but starting from the first of the month they begin keeping formal business books, they switch to paying standard self-employment income tax... I really don't think I need to keep repeating myself here.
Believe it or not, there are actually scenarios where you can be part of the sales tax system while still being a small business owner on a simplified tax plan... In this particular case, that isn't what's happening, but I really want to convey just how incredibly complex this whole legal landscape can get, which makes our colleague's situation one of the most straightforward ones out there... Any other accountant or tax advisor you talk to will tell you exactly what I'm saying is correct...
Emily Myers8 said:Filing a regular return isn't the same thing as filing when someone changes their tax status. Once the SD form is submitted, the old ruling is voided and it gets updated in the RNC; you can't be taxed under two methods simultaneously.
They pay via SD, settle the difference for the current year, and the monthly amount becomes a tax prepayment for the next period.
Making assumptions about people isn't the point here and you shouldn't bring it up. You could have just answered the question and explained why this is routine business—it wouldn't have been that hard.
Let me try to break down the whole process one more time just to be clear... You have to file the SD by January 15th, regardless of when the business owner officially started generating income, and in this specific scenario, it covers the period from January 1st through August 31st. Then, the annual tax return is due by February 28th for the full year, but in section 4.3.1.1, you only report the business income earned from September 1st to December 31st—which is when they started keeping formal books—plus the difference between their total receipts and the amount over $100 earned up until August 31st. The SD is sent for the amount of $100, showing the flat tax obligation for the highest bracket pro-rated for those eight months... On top of that, if there's any remaining balance for the flat tax, that needs to be paid too. If there happened to be an overpayment sitting in account 1449, you can manually transfer those funds to account 1430 or 1619 if needed, though the system doesn't handle those transfers automatically...
Emily Myers8 said:So when does the SD get submitted in this scenario?
If there's just one SSN involved, you can't be paying taxes under two different systems at the exact same time.
Nobody mentioned anything about official rulings being out yet, so I think our assumptions are pretty much spot on.
The SD is submitted just like any other filing by January 15th, but the flat-rate income tax obligation is calculated proportionally for those eight months. You can't have two different tax payment methods running simultaneously, but that isn't actually the case here; rather, from January 1st through August 31st, the taxpayer is under the flat-rate system, and then from September 1st through December 31st, they transition to keeping full business books.
I'm guessing you aren't coming from an accounting background, so you probably haven't run into a situation quite like this before, but honestly, this is pretty routine work for us, and those of us who handle this professionally deal with several cases like this every single year where we file both the SD and standard income tax for the same taxpayer, so I really do know what I'm talking about...🙂
Emily Myers8 said:First off, you pay the flat tax according to the ruling, and to change your status, that ruling actually has to be rescinded through the proper channels. Basically, what you were paying monthly as a flat tax turns into an income tax prepayment that gets settled when you file your final tax return. There's nothing in the rules saying otherwise.
Income tax prepayments are just based on whatever the total amount was under that flat tax setup.
Your status shifts once you submit the necessary sales tax filings and the official reports, after which the IRS issues a new determination, but honestly, that's not really what we're debating here. The person explained they were under the flat tax regime until August 31st, and then switched over to standard income reporting and sales tax requirements starting September 1st. We have to assume they reported everything accurately and received their updated notice. I already went into detail above regarding how to handle this specific scenario involving SD and CDC, specifically which portion of the receipts goes toward the SD and which part belongs to the CDC. In 2023, those prepayments will naturally be applied strictly as income tax credits (Account 1430) rather than flat tax credits (Account 1449), but you still have to settle any remaining balance on Account 1449 if there's a discrepancy based on what was filed in the SD forms...
Emily Myers8 said:The SD is specifically for sole proprietors under certain tax rules, which isn't your situation anymore since you hit that limit.
Income tax reporting is annual, even if your operating period was shorter.
You'll need to submit the CDC form covering all income received in 2022, from 01/01/2022 to 12/31/2022.
You include your salary, pension, business income, and any other side income.
Actually, that isn't quite right. You submit the SD based on an amount of $100 by August 31st, and then you pay the flat tax for the highest bracket proportionally for those eight months. Then, in the CDC, you report the business income from September 1st through December 31st, which also factors in any excess income over $100 earned before August 31st. Furthermore, if you held a standard W-2 job alongside your business at any point, you have to disclose that non-self-employment income and the income tax prepayments made on it in the CDC (following the IP form)... If there was employment alongside the business for part or all of the year, the CDC also requires calculating social security contributions at the reduced rates based on those specific months and the highest base, while you'll also still need to cover the contributions for the sole proprietorship itself... You'll eventually get a formal notice from the IRS, but by the time that arrives, they've likely already tacked on interest, so it's better to just settle up immediately...
Sean Ruiz33 said:I was told I have to handle this removal myself... (honestly). I don't exactly have the luxury of time to drop by in person right now. I don't use online banking, and from what I can see, trying to navigate this through their website is a complete circus. It would be much more efficient if they could just send the confirmation directly to my email. Has anyone actually managed to pull that off yet?
Since January 1st, 2018, the responsibility for "issuing" employee tax identification documentation has shifted over to the accountants, so those old-school physical red tax cards that people used to carry from one employer to another simply don't exist anymore...
Sean Ruiz33 said:Greetings, everyone. I need to pull my tax certificate for a new employer, but I'm hitting a wall with the IRS website. Every time I try, it tells me, "Taxpayer has no return form or account is closed." Does anyone know how to bypass this to get my documentation sent directly to my email?
Actually, your employer should be the one handling that by pulling your withholding info directly from the IRS once they've officially processed your onboarding paperwork.
urbanpilot9 said:Hello,
We run a small business, and since we aren't set up on the federal e-filing systems yet, I have a quick question. Is it enough to just physically submit a new employee's registration to Medicare, or do I still need to drop off a separate application at the local health insurance office afterward? Thanks!
In that specific situation, once you've filed everything with Medicare, you'll still need to go ahead and submit a physical application to the health insurance provider as well...
Edward Stewart said:I’ve been pouring over the IRS instructions, and even though this was touched upon earlier in this thread—specifically on page 223—I’m still feeling a bit lost regarding 🤔 where exactly one is supposed to enter the depreciation amount within Part II ("Expenses") of the PPI form.
Item II.9. states that the total expenses are calculated as 1+2+3-7-8. Now, Item II.4. ("write-off rate expenses") seems like the logical place for depreciation, but since it isn't added to the sum, the figure doesn't actually impact the total expenses, which ultimately means it doesn't touch the net income. So, where (and more importantly, why) should the depreciation amount be recorded? Should it go under II.3 ("in-kind expenses") or II.4 ("write-off rate expenses")? (I recall a fellow forum member previously suggesting it belongs in II.4)
I didn't have any depreciation to deal with in previous years, so I never really noticed this quirk, but I seem to remember from a few years back that the breakdown of receipts and expenses was much more intuitive—it showed subtotals alongside depreciation, making the total expense figure, and consequently the final total (income = receipts - expenses), perfectly clear.
Since I’m already burning through my ink 🙂 I have one more question... when entering the depreciation percentage into the DI form on the IRS website, does the number of decimal places matter? (For instance, I have 7 months of a 2-year depreciation cycle, which would work out to 29.16666% of the value). Does that mean next year I'll be entering 29.17 + 50, or just a flat 50% for 2019?
Because of that mathematical inconsistency you pointed out, I personally feel like depreciation ought to be listed under non-cash expenses, because if you try to put it under write-off rate expenses, the form just throws an error message at you...
Regarding the depreciation percentage on the DI form, you just enter the standard 50% rate without doing any manual conversions. Since the form asks for the asset purchase date, it’s implied that you've already calculated the depreciation proportionally based on the specific number of months...
Keith Martinez5 said:Hey everyone,
does anyone know where I can find the Democratic Party attachment within the CDC form on the e-tax portal? I’ve gone through the whole form, but I just can't seem to locate that specific section—even though it's supposed to be a standard part of the CDC filing... For the other attachments, I know you just upload them as PDFs once you've submitted everything, but this one feels invisible... Any help would be much appreciated!🤷
They actually phased it out starting this year, so if I'm reading this correctly, it's now just an optional attachment rather than being a mandatory part of the CDC form itself...
Betty King7 said:Has anyone here actually dealt with registering an employee from Canada? How exactly do you report them for Social Security under the "foreign national employee" section for the insurance base? And what’s the deal with filling out the JOPPD form for this?
We ran into this exact situation last year when we hired someone from Canada, and even though we had all their valid work authorization paperwork ready, we filed them under the foreign national code, only to have the agent at the IRS reject the filing and insist we just list them under the standard employee code... ever since then, we've had two more cases just like it, and both times we simply used the regular code and everything went through perfectly fine without any hiccups...
Benjamin Phillips75 said:Just doing a quick double-check for this year... If we're talking about paying out those vocational training measures—you know, the fifty-fifty split—does the payment from the U.S. Department of Labor go straight into the contractor's account? Seems like it does to me, but I need a confirmation.
From what I understand, yes, it definitely does...