For referees juggling assignments across multiple leagues, tax season can be a headache. Between collecting income statements, tracking expenses, answering tax questions, and preparing forms, it’s easy to lose hours—if not weeks—just trying to stay compliant. Fortunately, there’s a better way.

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Why Taxes Are Tricky for Referees

Most referees operate as independent contractors. That means:

• You're responsible for reporting your own income.
• You're often not issued traditional employment forms like W-2s.
• You may receive multiple 1099s—or none at all—from leagues or assignors.
• You’re expected to track deductible expenses such as mileage, uniforms, and equipment.

The result? Dozens of hours spent collecting W-9s, manually issuing 1099s (if you’re an assignor), and preparing records for your accountant or tax software. And if you’re managing a large group of referees, this complexity compounds quickly.

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How Refr Sports Makes Tax Management Easy

Refr Sports was designed with referee operations in mind—including the tax burden. Its end-to-end platform simplifies every part of the tax process, saving time and reducing errors.

Here’s how Refr helps:

1. W-9 Collection & Storage

Instead of chasing referees down for tax forms, Refr enables them to securely submit and store W-9s directly in the platform. No more disorganized email chains or physical paperwork.

2. Automatic 1099 Generation

Refr streamlines 1099 preparation by automatically tracking payments and generating forms when tax season rolls around. This eliminates the need to manually calculate totals or worry about compliance.

3. Built-In Tax Reporting Tools

Assignors and admins can view detailed earnings summaries, filtered by date, sport, or official. Everything needed to support clean reporting is at your fingertips.

4. Referee Access to Their Own Payment History

Referees can log in and view their complete payment records—no need to field individual tax-related questions. This saves hours of back-and-forth communication between assignors and officials.

5. Error Reduction and Audit-Readiness

Since all data is centralized, traceable, and stored securely, you dramatically reduce the risk of human error or lost information. If you’re ever audited or need to verify payments, Refr provides a clear trail.

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Real-World Impact

Organizations like Dream Big Officials and the Minndak Officials Consortium are already saving hundreds of hours every year using Refr. What used to be a frantic scramble at year-end is now a smooth, automated process.

In fact, referee assignors often spend 60–1,000 hours annually managing tax-related tasks across their pool. That’s multiple workweeks lost to paperwork—time that Refr can give back through automation.

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Conclusion

Managing taxes as a referee doesn't need to be a solo act filled with spreadsheets and stress. Whether you're an individual official or a large assigning organization, Refr Sports offers a streamlined, secure, and scalable solution.

Less paperwork. Fewer errors. More time back.

Start managing taxes the easy way—with Refr.