NHL monitoring low income tax state advantages: Changes coming?
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Photo credit: CTV News
In an article written by Michael Russo, the reporter for The Athletic pointed out that four of the past five cup winners are in states with no income tax, and so are seven of the last ten finalists.
The NHL states it is 'monitoring' the salary cap advantage that certain teams enjoy thanks to being in states that don't have income tax - but Canadian fans hoping for that to change shouldn't hold their breath.
Teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers have seen several of their star players sign contracts perceived to be below market value, and many fans say the lack of taxes are the primary reason for that competitive advantage.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told Russo that it's an issue that keeps coming up, but downplayed how big of an impact it has, and there appears to be no solution on the way.
There are no easy fixes. It's not like we can just pick from Column A and fix the problem overnight. Players make decisions on where they want to play for a variety of reasons. Their bottom line is one of them, but the quality of life and the communities they live in is probably more important.
Russo continues that the NHL doesn't see this as much of an issue, but some players, especially in Canada, do see it as a disadvantage and think something needs to be done.
While there are a number of factors, the tax rate certainly does have an impact.
For example in Vancouver, while a $5 million player would lose a little more than $2.6 million to taxes, they'd lose just over $1.8 playing for Tampa.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 12 | 127 ANSWERS NHL monitoring low income tax state advantages: Changes coming? Do you think the NHL should do something about tax advantages? | ||
| Yes, it's too big of an advantage | 110 | 86.6 % |
| No, it's too complicated a change | 8 | 6.3 % |
| No, the impact is overstated | 9 | 7.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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