Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Media & Entertainment Law Blogs -> Sports Law Blog

Media & Entertainment Law

: Sports Law Blog

Did Derek Jeter Receive Preferential Treatment from the NY Department of Taxation and Finance?

By Rick Karcher, Michael McCann, Geoffrey Rapp, Greg Skidmore, and Howard Wasserman

Professor Edward Zelinsky, a distinguished tax law expert at Cardozo Law School, has a terrific post on the Oxford University Press Blog questioning why Derek Jeter's tax settlement has not been made public.

Jeter recently entered into a deal with the NY Department of Taxation and Finance on income taxes he owed the state. No details have been revealed, and Professor Zelinsky examines potentially troubling implications of this non-disclosure. Here is an excerpt from his post:

I am nevertheless troubled by the possibility that the Department may be implementing a double standard favoring this millionaire celebrity-athlete. The Department takes a persistently hard line toward nonresidents, like me, who are not celebrities. Most notably, New York, under its so-called ?convenience of the employer? rule, routinely imposes its state income tax on nonresidents for days when such nonresidents work at their out-of-state homes. While we do not know the terms of Mr. Jeter?s settlement with the New York Department of Taxation and Finance, it seems possible, perhaps likely, that the final tax treatment he negotiated is more favorable than the treatment we less famous nonresidents routinely receive from the New York tax collector. The mere fact of this settlement suggests the possibility that Mr. Jeter received more reasonable treatment from New York?s tax commissioner than the harsh treatment the New York commissioner routinely dispenses to other nonresidents.

For the rest of the post, click here. It's a fascinating read.

Full post as published by Sports Law Blog on February 19, 2008 (boomark / email).