Taxation of NIL Athletes, Influencers, and Content Creators

This course is a practice-focused, four-module program on the federal tax treatment of name, image, and likeness (NIL) income, influencer and content-creator income, and the family, self-employment, and deduction issues that arise around it. It goes beyond an overview of NIL taxation to build the practical skills a preparer needs at the desk: correctly characterizing a payment as compensation for services or a royalty based on the actual contract and activity rather than its label, determining trade-or-business status and self-employment tax exposure, applying the assignment-of-income and kiddie-tax rules to minor athletes and family-managed arrangements, and assembling a complete, well-documented return.

This course assumes general familiarity with individual federal income tax preparation. Course content is grounded in IRC §61 and general gross income principles; the assignment-of-income doctrine (Lucas v. Earl); Commissioner v. Groetzinger; IRC §§1401, 1402, and Treas. Reg. §1.1402(a)-1(c); IRC §1(g) and Form 8615; Form 8814; IRC §§162, 195, 263(a), 263A (including §263A(h) and §263A(i)), and 280A; IRS Chief Counsel Advice Memorandum AM 2023-004; and IRS Publication 5774 (Entertainment Audit Technique Guide). Where authority is non-precedential, sub-regulatory, or narrower in scope than commonly assumed, the course says so explicitly.