When Washington state enacted SB 6346 — a 9.9% tax on Washington taxable income beginning January 1, 2028 — most of the public commentary focused on tech founders, startup equity, and wealthy Washington residents deciding whether to move to Nevada. Understandably so.
But there's an entire category of high earners who haven't been part of the conversation yet: professional athletes. Including, critically, athletes who don't live in Washington at all.
This article is for them — and for the agents, team financial advisors, player associations, and GMs who advise them.
Washington Has Long Lacked a Broad Personal Income Tax. That Changes in 2028.
Washington has never had a broad personal income tax. For decades, that made the state genuinely attractive for professional athletes who play for Washington teams. The Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders, and Kraken have all been able to use Washington's tax position as a recruiting tool. Other things being equal, a $20 million contract in Washington was worth more than the same contract in California, New York, or Massachusetts.
SB 6346 begins dismantling that advantage. Starting January 1, 2028, a 9.9% tax applies to Washington taxable income. For athletes earning at the top of professional sports salary structures — and many earn well above the threshold — this is material money.
One note on timing: the act contains a null-and-void clause providing that if §201 (the core tax provision) is invalidated, other tax relief provisions enacted alongside it would be reinstated or repealed. The statute also directs the Department of Revenue to begin implementing the act regardless of litigation. Legal challenges are expected, and practitioners should track that litigation while planning for compliance as if the 2028 effective date holds.
What "Washington Taxable Income" Actually Means
The 9.9% tax doesn't apply to gross income or salary. It applies to Washington taxable income — a defined term that matters a great deal for how the math works.
The computation starts with federal adjusted gross income, then applies a series of Washington-specific modifications (§§302–308, 401–407) to arrive at Washington base income, and then applies further adjustments (§§309–314) to arrive at Washington taxable income. Critically, §314 provides a $1 million standard deduction — which is how the statute limits the tax to households with income above $1 million.
For spouses or domestic partners, they share one combined $1 million deduction regardless of whether they file jointly or separately.
For nonresidents, §315 prorates the standard deduction based on the ratio of Washington base income to federal AGI. A visiting athlete whose Washington-sourced income is a small fraction of their total earnings will receive only a small fraction of the $1 million deduction. The practical effect is that the standard deduction provides minimal shelter for a nonresident whose Washington activity represents a few days out of a full season.
Washington's Duty-Day Apportionment Rules: How They Work
Every state that has an income tax applies nonresident income tax principles to professional athletes — often called the "jock tax" in tax commentary. Washington's §404 codifies this with a duty-day apportionment formula for nonresident athletes, and for other individuals rendering services to a professional athletic team whose total compensation exceeds $1 million. That scope matters: it reaches not just players, but highly compensated coaches and other team personnel meeting the threshold.
The basic rule: if you earn money working in a state, that state can tax the income earned there — even if you don't live there. For most workers, this creates minimal complexity. For professional athletes who earn millions and play in different states throughout the year, it means filing income tax returns in ten or fifteen states.
Washington-Taxable Compensation = (WA Duty Days / Total Duty Days) × Total Compensation
"Duty days" under the statute run from the first day of official preseason or training camp through the last game the team competes in — or is scheduled to compete in — for that tax year. A team eliminated in the first round of the playoffs will have a lower total duty day count than a team that goes deep, which affects the apportionment fraction in both directions.
The sport-specific duty-day totals aren't specified in the statute — they derive from league CBAs and operating schedules. Based on publicly reported figures, approximate duty-day counts per sport are roughly:
- NFL: ~166 duty days per season
- NBA: ~170–180 duty days
- MLB: ~185 duty days (the longest season)
- NHL: ~170 duty days
- MLS: ~150–170 duty days
Practitioners should confirm current-year figures with the relevant league or player association. A single visiting team's game visit — travel day, game day, travel home — typically accounts for 2–3 duty days.
The Numbers: What Visiting Players Actually Owe
NFL Example — Visiting Team, Regular Season Game in Seattle (2028 onward)
Assume a player earns $25 million in total compensation. Using approximately 166 NFL duty days, a three-day Seattle visit represents about 1.81% of the season.
- Washington-sourced compensation: $25M × 1.81% = ~$452,500
- Prorated standard deduction (1.81% of $1M): ~$18,100
- Washington taxable income attributable to WA: ~$434,400
- Washington tax at 9.9%: ~$43,000
For the $40–50 million quarterback contracts currently moving in NFL free agency, the per-game Washington tax exposure approaches $85,000–$90,000 after accounting for the prorated deduction. Multiply across a 53-man roster and a visiting team's aggregate Washington tax exposure for a single game could easily reach $350,000–$500,000.
NBA Example
For an NBA player earning $35 million over approximately 175 duty days, a two-game road trip to Seattle (roughly 4 duty days, or about 2.3% of the season):
- Washington-sourced compensation: $35M × 2.3% = ~$805,000
- Prorated standard deduction (2.3% of $1M): ~$23,000
- Washington taxable income: ~$782,000
- Washington tax at 9.9%: ~$77,400
For two games.
MLB Example — Series at T-Mobile Park
A three-game Mariners series might account for 4–5 duty days out of roughly 185 for a full-season player (approximately 2.4%). For a player earning $20 million:
- Washington-sourced compensation: $20M × 2.4% = ~$480,000
- Prorated standard deduction (2.4% of $1M): ~$24,000
- Washington taxable income: ~$456,000
- Washington tax at 9.9%: ~$45,100
For a weekend series in Seattle.
Employer Reporting Requirements
Agents and payroll professionals need to flag this immediately: §404 imposes reporting obligations on the teams themselves, not just the players.
Any entity paying wages or compensation to a nonresident athlete or other covered individual must file an annual report with the Washington Department of Revenue by April 15 of the following year. That report must identify each covered team member who may owe Washington income tax, including:
- Total compensation
- Taxpayer identification number
- Duty-day breakdown showing days worked in Washington versus total duty days
This applies to visiting teams, not just Washington franchises. Every NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS franchise that sends a team to play in Washington has a reporting obligation — regardless of where the team is based. Payroll systems need to track Washington duty days starting in 2028, and the infrastructure for doing that needs to be built before the first game of the 2028 season.
What This Means for Washington Teams: Free Agency Math Just Changed
For years, Seattle's teams have had a genuine pitch to free agents: you play in a state with no broad income tax. That matters when comparing a $30 million offer from the Seahawks against a $31 million offer from the 49ers, factoring in California's 13.3% top rate. SB 6346 shrinks that advantage — though it doesn't eliminate it entirely. On a $20 million contract, the gap narrows but remains real:
- California tax on income above the threshold: ~$2.53 million
- Washington tax on income above the threshold: ~$1.88 million
- Net advantage remaining: ~$650,000 per year
That's meaningful, but it's a substantially smaller competitive advantage than Washington teams have enjoyed historically.
There's a further nuance for resident players: §203 gives Washington residents a credit for income taxes paid to another jurisdiction on the same income. This means a Seahawk playing in California, New York, and other high-tax states earns credits that reduce their Washington tax liability. The interaction between away-game taxes and the Washington resident credit means the recruiting math is more complex than a simple headline-rate comparison — and advisors need to model it player by player.
NIL Income and Student Athletes
§407 addresses nonresident student athletes and NIL (name, image, and likeness) income — and it's the messiest part of the statute.
NIL income is allocated to Washington if the publicity services are primarily performed here. That means:
- A photoshoot in Seattle: Washington income.
- A sponsored appearance at a Seattle venue: Washington income.
- A social media post made while physically in Washington for a game: potentially Washington income, depending on where the underlying services are deemed to occur.
For UW and WSU athletes with major NIL deals — and some are now earning seven figures — the analysis is similar to the professional athlete framework, but the income streams are more varied and the sourcing rules are less settled.
One significant provision: §407 directs the Department of Revenue to submit proposed legislation by January 1, 2028 to implement apportionment rules for revenue-sharing payments from institutions to student athletes. That's a legislative punt — the rules for how institutional revenue sharing gets taxed are still being written. Agents and advisors negotiating NIL deals and revenue-sharing arrangements for Washington-based college athletes should treat this as an open question requiring active monitoring through 2027.
How Other States Do It
Washington is not inventing something new. This is standard tax infrastructure in virtually every state with a personal income tax. California is the most aggressive, with its Franchise Tax Board actively auditing visiting athlete returns and collecting substantial revenue from that activity annually. New York is similarly aggressive — a visit to Madison Square Garden costs visiting NBA players real money in state income tax. Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota — every state on any professional sports schedule that has an income tax applies the same duty-day formula.
Washington is simply joining this system. The difference is that Washington is going from no broad income tax to 9.9% in a single step, effective January 1, 2028, with no phase-in period.
Practical Takeaways
For agents and player financial advisors: Begin building Washington duty-day tracking into your 2028 client planning now. Multi-year contracts signed today will generate Washington tax obligations across their entire term for games played in Washington beginning in 2028. Track duty-day totals carefully — the denominator matters, and a player whose team misses the playoffs will have a different fraction than a player whose team advances deep into the postseason.
For team payroll and finance departments: The §404 employer reporting obligation is real and applies to visiting teams, not just Washington franchises. Build systems to capture duty days in Washington. The April 15 annual report deadline will apply beginning with the 2028 tax year.
For GMs and team executives: Update your free agent recruiting math. Washington still holds a tax advantage over California, New York, and other high-tax states — but it is now a measured advantage rather than a categorical one. The §203 resident credit adds complexity that needs to be modeled for each player.
For sports journalists and analysts: Every NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS transaction involving a Washington team now has a Washington income tax dimension that will recur throughout the sports calendar starting in 2028.
The Bigger Picture
Washington's passage of SB 6346 is a significant structural change for the state's relationship with high-income earners — including athletes and those who render services to professional athletic teams. The nonresident athlete tax rules in §404 are consistent with how every other income-tax state operates. But the transition from no broad income tax to 9.9%, effective in a single step in 2028, is abrupt, and the practical compliance infrastructure needs to be in place well before the first game of the 2028 season.
The statute is also subject to ongoing litigation risk — the null-and-void provision tied to §201 means the law's ultimate fate is not yet settled. Advisors should plan for compliance while tracking the litigation closely.
For visiting athletes, agents, and team advisors: this is not theoretical. The games played in Washington starting in 2028 will generate real tax obligations for players above the $1 million threshold, and the compliance machinery — tracking duty days, filing nonresident returns, responding to DOR reporting requirements — takes time to build.
Questions about how Washington's new income tax applies to your situation? I'm happy to discuss.
Nothing in this article constitutes legal or tax advice for your specific situation.
