A Georgia legislator introduced a bill that would exempt college athletes from paying state income tax on their NIL earnings.
Brandon Beach, a Republican state senator in the metro Atlanta region, introduced the bill to the Senate’s finance committee this Tuesday. He informally dubbed the bill the ‘Kirby Smart’ bill, namesake of the University of Georgia’s head football coach who led the Bulldogs to two NCAA championships in 2021 and 2022.
The objective of this bill, Beach explained, is to financially incentivize top athlete recruits to go to Georgia schools. The University of Georgia is in the SEC competing against universities in Tennessee, Florida, and Texas where collegiate athletes pay no state income tax on their NIL deals.
“…we’ve got to get Kirby and these football coaches and basketball coaches, these coaches a tool in their toolbox to be able to compete,” Beach said.
The state income tax level in Georgia currently sits at a flat rate of 5.39%. This is well below the top marginal tax rates in states such as California, New York, or Hawaii, which all go above 10%. However, it is also higher than several other states, including the seven states with no income tax.
U.S. states that have no state income tax:
- Alaska
- Florida
- Nevada
- New Hampshire (interest and dividends are taxed)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Washington (capital gains are taxed)
- Wyoming
USA Today sports columnist and Georgia resident Dan Wolken slammed the bill, saying its supporters want to “coddle rich college athletes with tax relief.”
If passed, Georgia would not be the first state to instate such a law. In fact, Beach says he got the idea from the state of Missouri who instituted a similar law in 2023. The bill would have to pass Georgia’s Senate, its General Assembly, and then be signed into law by Republican Governor Brian Kemp. The Republican Party holds a majority in both legislatures.
If I had to guess, diddly poo.
Long past time for some adults to step up and say enough.
The federal government is about to gut the research institutions and all these idiots are worried about his football. They’re a lot bigger things in the university level in college athletics people need to wake up see what’s happening around them.
We’re watching Swimming get destroyed around us. NIL is the single worst thing to happen to college athletics. We were better off when they were just pay football players under the table, giving them cars and not worry about the rest of it because all the other sports that anybody cares about her gonna get killed
America is being quickly dismantled from within.
But, hey.. that’s what Americans who voted want.
Student athletes want to make money then they need to learn to pay taxes! Some will make more money than many Georgians so why should they be exempt?
Clearly this bill was drafted by a UGa alum/football fanatic that wants to get any dogleg up on the competition after striking out this season in the playoffs! Pathetic use of legislative time and energy.
I’d be curious if there’s any data about voting patterns when UGA has a good football team versus when they don’t.
Same with wait staff. Many servers make more than teachers. Why is their $50k tax free and a teacher’s isn’t?
That’s just a way for the rich who pay proportionately little in taxes to make the average American lose focus on that bigger tax fairness issue. If the middle class or poor are fighting about who is getting the relatively small tax handout, we don’t see them getting away with not paying their fair share and hoarding billions!
Why just for NIL? Why not to get rid of state income tax altogether to make Georgia more competitive.
Tax student loans / Tax exempt NIL. Cool priorities.
Are student loans taxed in Georgia? I don’t believe they are federally.
He’s on a roll, let him go
hes probably referencing house republican plans to remove existing student loan interest tax deductions and add new taxes on scholarships as payfors in their upcoming reconciliation package
@Braden Keith do you think the recent nih cuts to major research universities will have any spillover effects on college athletics? intuitively id think any any unplanned financial shock like that would lead to cuts (like the financial fallout from covid) but also idk…
Ohhhh gotcha.
I think that a lot of these cuts are going to be a big shock to the financial system. Everyone (including the president) seems to agree that there’s going to be negative economic impact in the short-term. We’ve never really tried this approach, so any long term prospective outlook is pretty theoretical at this point.
I agree that major research university budgets are going to get hit pretty hard, probably by design.
Great policy. Let China get an even bigger leg up on the US in the tech/science world. I guess the goal of having an uneducated public is the end game.
Yes, referencing republican tax plans.