Athletes' League Fines Are Tax Deductible

    When Kobe Bryant uses a homophobic slur or Ndamukong Suh stomps on a guy, and they get fined by their respective leagues, they can deduct those fines from their taxes. That seems odd.

    Kevin Lincoln
    by Kevin Lincoln

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Tax time! What fun. Tax time is even more fun — funner? — for two categories of people:

    1. Those with no money

    2. Those with a lot of money.

    Athletes fall into that second category. In the Sports Business Journal, financial adviser Steve Piascik has some fascinating tax-related tips for those guys, and one of them stood out to us more than the others:

    Fines: Some leagues, including the NFL, contribute their fines to charity. This makes them tax deductible. So if an NFL player gets fined for nailing a wide receiver with his helmet, he can deduct the fees associated with this fine.

    The NBA and Major League Baseball also donate fines to charity.