Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce engagement news highlights hidden tax burden on everyday entertainment workers

Jock taxes require professional athletes and entertainers to file tax returns in every state they work, affecting not just celebrities but lower-paid support staff.

Andrew Wilford is director of the Interstate Commerce Initiative at National Taxpayers Union Foundation. 

Now, before you shed too many tears for the happy couple, it’s unlikely that either Swift or Kelce has filed their own taxes in many years. Neither the gridiron nor the stage has ever been deprived of either’s presence because they were too busy figuring out how to credit taxes paid to another state against their home state’s tax liability.

But jock taxes apply to more than just mega-celebrity lovebirds. While Swift and Kelce are busy counting zeroes on their paychecks, many people of far more modest means who make what they do possible are expected to file just as many tax returns as Swift and Kelce are.