Legal Question in Entertainment Law in Kansas

''Duty Days''

What is the ''duty days'' rule and how is it applied to professional athletes?


Asked on 12/15/01, 3:38 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Bruce Burdick Burdick Law Firm

Re: ''Duty Days''

A "duty day" is defined as any day where services are performed under contract from the beginning of official preseason activity until the last game played (Joseph Barry Carroll SBE April 7, 1987 ).

It is used to apportion income for taxex. See for example the Califoria rule: A ratio of California duty days to total duty days is then multiplied by the total wages from the team. The result is deemed to be the California source income.

Duty days contrast with game days, and the difference can be significant.

The game day approach is pretty simple: Let's say one of those hated Cowboys makes $1.6 million a year and plays 16 games, one of them at Three Rivers Stadium. He would be taxed here on $100,000 ($1.6 million divided by 16) and would have to pay $1,000.

Duty days refer to the number of days the player is practicing or playing football, including preseason and playoff games. Let's say our Cowboy practices or plays 180 days out of the year. And let's assume he is in Pittsburgh for two of them. His tax bill would be $176.

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Answered on 12/15/01, 7:20 pm


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