Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
This is not necessarily true. High salary players in California pay more tax than any canadian city, as much as 52.9% If you are an American playing in Canada, your bonus dollars are only taxed at 15%.
If you live in Manhattan, your state taxes will be 4% higher than non-manhattan residents. Philadelphia has a local education tax tied to income. I believe one of the incentives towards philadelphia flyers players living in southern new jersey is the ability to file a tax return for the state they live in but not work in, saving them 3-6% in tax per year.
Based on location and salary Anze Kopitar may have paid the most tax in the NHL last year, but it might have been Lundqvist.
Calgary and Edmonton are no longer the two lowest tax jurisdictions for NHLers but I believe they are still top 10. It's not like big name free agents were flocking to the Alberta capital or to the Flames for that matter, even with the low taxes.
wooooooooo, friday night tax discussion!
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True, but instead of just dismissing the fact, I would look at it the other way and suggest that enticing free agents only becomes that much harder if you take that advantage away.
Tax rates matter. They aren't the only thing, for sure. And as you say, some US cities have high taxes as well. But the idiosyncrasies you mentioned don't change the fact that taxes are a big factor and Alberta has lost what was once a plus.