Enacted into law on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is the biggest set of tax law changes since the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The provisions discussed in this article impact individual taxpayers for tax year 2025 and must be considered immediately for proactive tax planning purposes, future tax withholding, and estimated tax payment calculations. Clients have questions, and we can generally give them the answers they seek; however, some will require future IRS guidance for complete clarity.
The NIL Tax Playbook
Timalyn Bowens, EA
Regardless of where you stand on the issue, student athletes have been able to tap into a new revenue stream since July 1st, 2021. This is when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began to allow students to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Which leads to new tax implications for a group of taxpayers who may have never filed a tax return before. As this has unfolded, it reminded me of taxpayers who were on the forefront of making money online. It was something new, so not many taxpayers or even tax practitioners knew how to handle it. It was real money, but was it really a business? I’ve loved seeing it evolve. Now, right off the back of COVID-19, we have student athletes who are able to take advantage of their online presence and also make money. But the income people were making 20 years ago online is pennies compared to what some students can make through NIL deals. In 6 short years, students have gone from not being able to profit monetarily from their likeness while competing as a student to now potentially making millions.
