Soccer Officiating and Taxes

Generally, as a soccer official in Ohio officiating USSF matches, you are considered an independent contractor. That is, you are not an employee, but rather, are your own boss.

You are responsible for maintaining your own records and filing an appropriate tax return, usually on Schedule C.

You are responsible for reporting all income received, whether by cash or check, regardless of who pays you (teams, leagues, tournament, assignor, etc). This is true whether or not you receive a 1099-MISC from the payor.

There are also numerous expenses that you can take to offset some of this income. On various lines, you can deduct the cost of your association dues and assignor fees, uniforms, and equipment. You can also deduct some of your mileage to the matches, although this may be dependent on whether you are going to/from another job, or qualify to have an office-in-the-home .

You are responsible for maintaining records of all income and expenses. Examples of records include receipts and cancelled checks/credit card statements for expenses, and copies of check stubs/game contracts/assignment schedules for income purposes.

It is also wise to maintain a list for each calendar year, in date order, of all games worked, to include the following: other officials, game fee received, deductible mileage (if any), and specific expenses (if any).

One final word on record-keeping: if you qualify to deduct any mileage, ensure you maintain a log of all mileage driven for business, and are able to tie it to specific games you officiate and the income that these games generated.

For further details on any of the above, consult the IRS website at www.irs.gov. Useful publications include the following:

• Pub 535, Business Expenses
• Pub 334, Tax Guide for Small Businesses
• Pub 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, & Car Expenses
• Pub 587, Business Use of Your Home
• Also do a key word search on “recordkeeping” for other useful HTML articles

This is not official, legal, or tax advise. Please consult a competent tax adviser for your specific situation.