FOR PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES
He paid a tax preparer every year. Three states still sent notices for games he had nearly forgotten.
In July a second-round pick we will call Devon was doing exactly what rookies do: minicamp behind him, the first bonus installment cleared, a few weeks at the lake before camp. Then his agent forwarded an email. Three state tax notices, $34,000 in penalties and interest, for games he played the season before.
Book Free ReviewPhoenix · August 25, 2026 · 6 min read
One rookie. Eleven states.
11
states taxed in one season
“I'd been paying someone for four years and had no idea I owed three states money. Amadae found it in a week and had a plan by the next one. I finally feel like someone's actually watching this instead of just filing it.”
Devon · NFL rookie contract player
The Story
Devon was not hiding income. He was paying, every year, for tax preparation. It just was not built for someone who earns a paycheck in eleven different states before the leaves change. His exact words to us: I figured if I am paying someone every year, it is handled. That sentence is the entire industry's problem in one line.
The Problem
That is not a metaphor. The jock tax slices a player's income up by every state, and sometimes city, where he suits up, on top of his home state. A signing bonus is taxed under different rules than salary. Agent and advisor fees come off a paycheck with nobody checking the deduction. A generalist preparer does not track a 17-game travel schedule against a state-by-state filing calendar, and if you are skeptical that anyone does, you should be, because most do not.
11
states one rookie season was taxed in. Three of them never got a nonresident return.
Devon's 2025 schedule against his filed returns, Amadae review
What We Tried
Devon tried the obvious fixes first: the national tax franchise his agent recommended, then a solo CPA a teammate swore by. Each one produced a return every April. Neither tracked the schedule, treated the bonus differently from salary, or audited the fees. You can be diligent, pay someone every year, and still be exposed because nobody was watching the calendar in between.
What two preparers actually did across 11 states
Sound familiar? A 30-minute call tells you exactly where you stand.
Book Free ReviewFree 30-minute review. No pitch deck.
The Discovery
When Amadae's team mapped Devon's actual game schedule against his filed state returns, three away states had no nonresident return on file at all. Two had already sent notices. One had not yet, which meant the penalty clock was still running. The number that got his attention was $34,000 in combined penalties and interest, tied to an estimated tax penalty compounding quietly since the prior season. The rules are not exotic, just numerous, and numerous is exactly what generic prep is not built to catch.
Devon's rookie season, state by state
$34,000 in penalties and interest across the three, and climbing
The FixAMADAE
Amadae builds for athletes, so the jock tax is the default assumption, not an edge case. The schedule goes in once, every away-game state is mapped against filing thresholds and due dates, and a dedicated tax team files each nonresident return before it becomes a penalty. Bonus income is treated as supplemental wages from day one. Fees get reviewed line by line, and the I figured it was handled feeling gets replaced with a dashboard he can check from a hotel between games. Real accountants, one flat monthly price.
A filing versus a system
| Tax franchise | Solo CPA | Amadae | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Files the federal return | |||
| Every away state mapped to a deadline | |||
| Bonus taxed as supplemental wages from day one | If asked | ||
| Agent and advisor fees audited | |||
| Quarterly estimates against the real schedule | Extra fee | ||
| Checks in between Aprils |
The Proof
The three missing states became a tracked filing calendar. The unaudited fees got reviewed. The notices got answered before the third one compounded any further. Four years of paying someone had not produced what one week of actually looking did.
“I'd been paying someone for four years and had no idea I owed three states money. Amadae found it in a week and had a plan by the next one. I finally feel like someone's actually watching this instead of just filing it.”
Devon
NFL rookie contract player
3 missed state filings caught, $34,000 in penalties stopped compounding
Why NowAMADAE
The next estimated tax deadline lands September 15, right as most players are deep into camp with zero bandwidth for state filings. That is not a scare tactic, it is the calendar. Every quarter without a real filing system is a quarter closer to a penalty letter arriving mid-season the way Devon's did. The review starts with exactly what caught his three states: your last two years of filings matched against your actual game and travel schedule, free, no obligation, no contract.
Sep 15
next estimated tax deadline. It lands mid-camp, and the penalty clock starts the day after.
IRS Form 1040-ES schedule
11
states taxed in one season
3
nonresident returns never filed
$34,000
penalties and interest, still climbing
1 week
to find what four years of prep missed
One client, with permission. Your numbers will differ.
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No long-term contract. Cancel any time. The two-year filing audit is free.
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Straight answers
The problem is not effort, it is specialization. A preparer with a broad client list files what is in front of them once a year. A team built around a live filing calendar is checking constantly, which is the only way multi-state exposure gets caught before a notice.
That is exactly why the setup happens now, in the offseason. Send the schedule and the last two returns once, and the filing calendar is built before the season locks it in again.
Then you will know for certain, at no cost. The review matches your last two years of filings against your real travel schedule, and if every state is covered we will say so.
Your last two years of filings, matched against every game you played. Free, no obligation, and done before camp.
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