how much do professional athlethes pay on income tax?

Question

like say a football player who makes 7 million a year how much does he actually clear?

Answer 1

35% goes to taxes
$2,450,000 to taxes
$4,550,000 is cleared

(Actually, after the first $336,550, the tax payer has to pay $97,653. Everything over $336,550 is taxed at 35%.
$2,298,028 to taxes and $4,701,972 is a more accurate representation of what the athelete would take home.)

Answer 2

Let's make some basic assumptions. First, he has no other income (including any interest, dividends, etc.). Second, he lives in Texas, Florida or Tennessee (no state income taxes). Third, he's single.
He would pay $2,428,058 in Federal Taxes alone.
That does NOT include the $5,840 he paid in Social Security taxes (6.2% of the first $94.200 for 2006), nor the $101,500 he pays in Medicare taxes (1.45% of any wages, no limit).

Take the $7 million, minus all of those amounts, and he nets $4,464,602, or a little less than 64% of his gross.

His employer would also pay the $5,840 and $101,500 amounts as matching employer contributions to Social Security and Medicare.

Answer 3

recreating_eve's answer of about $2.5 million dollars is good, but that's just for Federal taxes - it doesn't take into account state income taxes, which would probably amount to another $500,000, and Social Security and Medicare taxes for another $500,000 netting the athlete $3.5 million dollars. But this is assuming that the athlete does not have significant deductions that would reduce his income and thus, reduce his taxes, which most of them do have. So the figures above are THE MOST taxes that an athlete earning $7 million would pay.

Answer 4

Someone making $7 million would be in a 35% bracket. Exactly how much they clear would depend on their filing status, exemptions and deductions, but they'd most likely pay over $2 million in federal income tax. They'd also pay social security and medicare, and state and local income taxes if applicable where they live.

Answer 5

Also remember, athletes have to pay taxes whereever they play. This includes not only there home state but every state where they played an away game (including preseason). NFL player's returns aren't too bad as they play in only 10 states or so in any given year. I would hate to see a return for a MLB player (162 games spread out coast to coast).