TurboTax Helps College Students, Including Student-Athletes This Tax Season

This year, TurboTax is stepping it up for Gen Z by providing tax education for all college students, student-athletes, and the greater Gen Z population. College students and Gen Z are experiencing life changes that can impact their finances and taxes. Our TurboTax Tax Trends Report revealed Gen Z changed employers at a higher rate in tax year 2021 and young single filers were more likely to see an increase in their income in both 2020 and 2021. In addition, student athletes are extremely busy practicing, traveling, studying, attending games, and making money using their name, image, and likeness. They have not had time to keep up with new tax laws and what the new streams of income using their name, image, and likeness mean to them. These are just a few trends that can impact Gen Z taxes and why TurboTax is making a concerted effort to help.

Through “edutaining” content, in real-life experiences, on-campus ambassadors, student-athlete influencers, and a new partnership with brand-building and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) business managment platform INFLCR, we are educating students and student-athletes on the importance of understanding their taxes and empowering them to take control of their finances whether they are a college athlete or a student working part-time. Read on to learn more about TurboTax’s efforts to inform Gen Z:

On-Campus College Ambassadors: TurboTax is coordinating peer-to-peer tax education and product awareness through on-campus college ambassadors nationwide. As a trusted voice on campus, these students will lead activities for their classmates and provide tax tips and resources to their peers. 

Meet our ambassadors!

• University of Florida: Teley Laporte & Arianna Alamo
• University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA): Tyler Simpson & Lexia Luna
• Univeristy of Arizona: Zeb Braun & Sophie Malinosky
• The Ohio State University: Kaya Cochran & Lisa Brown
• Texas A&M: Vy Tran

On-Campus Events: TurboTax will visit three U.S. college campuses to reach students actively in an entertaining way through real-life experiences. With a pop-up escape room experience, event attendees’ tax knowledge will be put to the test. Luckily, TurboTax experts are here for you every step of the way and will help you to #UnlockYourRefund in no time.

NCAA and TurboTax Partnership: TurboTax is now the official tax preparation partner of the NCAA. As part of the sponsorship, TurboTax will be featured throughout the March Madness tournament with ancillary programming and content in both broadcast and digital media platforms. 

NIL Student-Athlete Influencers: TurboTax will bring awareness to the tax implications of income earned through NIL activities. These student-athletes will share their personal stories about how this new income stream has impacted their finances and taxes and how TurboTax was able to help them file with confidence. 

Check out our partner content!

• The Cavinder Twins – University of Miami, women’s basketball
• Margzetta Fraizer – UCLA, women’s gymnastics
• Justice Sueing – The Ohio State University, men’s basketball
• Shilo Sanders – Jackson State, football
• Morgan Hurd – University of Florida, women’s gymnastics
• Riley McCusker – University of Florida, women’s gymnastics
• Jaylen Pagues – Furman, men’s basketball
• Mookie Cook – Committed: University of Oregon, men’s basketball

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INFLCR partnership: TurboTax is proud to partner with INFLCR, the leading athlete branding-building & NIL business management app. This new partnership aims to provide financial education, tax tools, and other resources to INFLCR student-athletes through direct communications, webinars, and other content. 

Athletic Department Partnerships: TurboTax is collaborating with university athletic departments across the country to deliver financial education, tax tools, and other resources to student-athletes. With on campus activities and events, we’ll be educating student-athletes from all sports on what they need to know about their NIL income and taxes.

Curated Content: The newly created TurboTax Creator Tax Center features a curated student-athlete hub. Here, student-athletes, parents, coaches, and NIL compliance officers will find a diverse array of digital content, including tax expert videos, student-athlete videos, tax articles, checklists, and more. Check it out now!

TurboTax Has You Covered

If you participated in NIL activities for tax year 2022, here is what you need to know.  If you earned income, you were probably paid like an independent contractor, and you are considered self-employed. If you earned $600 or more, your income will be reported on Form 1099-NEC. If you were paid through a third-party platform like Paypal, you will receive a Form 1099-K if you had more than 200  transactions and made over $20,000 in 2022. Even if you don’t make the income requirements to receive Form 1099-NEC or Form 1099-K, you should still claim your income. Along with reporting your income, don’t forget your expenses directly related to your NIL activities can be deducted from your NIL income, which will lower your taxes.

For tax year 2023 (the taxes you file in 2024), the reporting requirement for Form 1099-K will change and you will receive Form 1099-K for payments processed of over $600. The change to the reporting threshold was initially set to begin in tax year 2022 (the taxes you file in 2023), but the IRS announced a delay to serve as a transition period. Transactions in excess of $600 that occur after calendar year 2022 will result in a Form 1099-K to taxpayers. 

Don’t worry about knowing all of these tax rules. You can come to TurboTax and get your taxes prepared in one meeting while a TurboTax Live Full Service expert who specializes in self-employed taxes prepares your tax return.