Before basketball player LeBron James even announced he was headed for Miami, TaxProf Paul Caron was sending that message, based in part on a post from the Tax Foundation presciently headlined, "State Jock Taxes: Is LeBron Better Off in Miami?" From TaxProf:
Here are the projected state and local taxes on a five-year, $96 million contract:
- $12.34m: New York Knicks
- $10.32m: New Jersey Nets
- $5.69m: Cleveland Cavaliers
- $2.85m: Chicago Bulls
- $0: Miami Heat
As the Tax Foundation post noted, "Miami has a clear tax advantage." (As the Tax Foundation post, and FutureOfCapitalism reader-watchdog-participant-community member B. via email also notes, he will still have to pay state and local taxes on a lot of road games, so the "$0" isn't a total, just a home game total.)
The American Enterprise Institute's blog/Nick Schulz and Mark Perry/Carpe Diem have more to say on this.