During spring training in 2012, Jared Hughes, then a rookie right-handed relief pitcher for the Pirates, piled paperwork on the table, opened TurboTax on his computer and began preparing his tax return, his first since making major-league money for the first time the previous year.
Each time the tax-prep program asked if he had another state to file, Hughes sighed and clicked "yes." Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, California, Arizona, Wisconsin -- on and on he went.
"It was probably a solid week of logging on to TurboTax every night to try figuring it out," he said Saturday by phone. "Immediately after that, I realized it was time to get an accountant."
The popular phrase "more money, more problems" rings particularly true for pro athletes and their accountants at this time of year, as income tax season closed Monday. While most folks pay state and local income taxes only where they reside, athletes must file returns for many of the states and cities where they play.
When center fielder Andrew McCutchen's misplaced pay stub was discovered at Wrigley Field in Chicago last May and posted on the websites Reddit and Deadspin, readers seemed surprised not by the slugger's $820,659 gross income for two weeks of work but by the $427,098 taken away in taxes.
McCutchen, whose $10.3 million salary ranked second on the Pirates in 2015 behind pitcher Francisco Liriano's $11.7 million, was irked by the invasion of privacy but laughed off the incident, saying, "I still got paid."
"It's no surprise what I make," he continued. "It is a surprise, I'm sure, for people to see all those taxes that get taken out. Yeah, I bet they didn't know anything about that. Athlete fee? What is that?"
The athlete fee is a "jock tax" imposed in nearly a dozen cities, most in the Midwest. In Pittsburgh, the Non-Resident Sports Facility Usage Fee imposed in 2005 takes 3 percent on all income earned by players while playing in any arena built or maintained with public money.
K. Sean Packard, tax director of OFS Wealth in Virginia who specializes in returns for pro athletes, was wrapping up the last of his roughly 215 returns Friday when he took a few minutes for a phone interview. When adding new clients, he alerts them in advance that they're soon going to be up to their necks in taxes and deductions.
"The first paycheck comes in," Packard said, "and they're like, 'Whoa, where did all the money go?' "
A rule of thumb, Packard said, is "not taking the W-2 at face value." Often, the W-2 will overstate the number of days worked in a location and tax too large a portion of the client's total income, so OFS Wealth accountants compile a duty-day schedule to determine where their clients were each day of the year. They then put a statement on the tax return explaining the changes.
"I look at anybody filing in only one state, and I call that an easy return," Packard said, laughing.
Other complications can include players making the league-minimum salary, which currently is $507,500. Should such a player be sent to the minors, where pay drops, he still is listed in the top tax bracket but no longer should be. A statement is tagged to the tax return, and money is returned.
Another odd loophole: Hughes is on leave from the Pirates active roster as he rehabs from a back injury at Pirate City, the team's minor league facility in Bradenton, Fla. So, he's still being paid by the team, but he's benefiting financially by being in Florida, which imposes no income tax.
Pirates backup catcher Chris Stewart, the savviest tax man on the roster, claimed tax day is like Christmas Day. Ballplayers have a laundry lists of deductions -- starting with agent and trainer fees, plus union and clubhouse dues -- and Stewart often calls up his accountant, whom he discovered through his in-laws, and inquires about possible write-offs.
After Stewart signed a contract extension with the Pirates in January, he and his wife finally purchased a home just north of Pittsburgh, leaving behind California and its 13.3 percent income tax for Pennsylvania's 3.07 percent. (Add on local and jock taxes, though, and it rises.)
"I was just getting killed by taxes in California," Stewart said. "Fortunately, with the new contract, we had a little more security here. Now was the time to move out here to Pittsburgh."
First baseman John Jaso, who like many pro athletes claims residency in Florida, learned early in his career to save receipts and hand everything over to his accountant. The business side of the game is funny, he said, since you've got to make as much money as quickly as possible, then be smart with it for the rest of your life.
"Our salaries aren't any secret -- they're all over the Internet," Jaso said. "I'm making $4 million, so people say, 'Oh man, you have $4 million?' No, I don't! I have to pay the feds and the state and my agent all that money. You're stuck with 50 percent or less at the end of the day."
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