Captain_Caveman wrote:Curmudgeon wrote:Florida has no state income tax. That's Miami's first selling point. The Second is that they went 30-11 for the second half of the season: a 60-win pace. And with Bosh off the payroll, Miami has more cap space than Boston,
The taxes doesn't really work like that. They pay state taxes depending on where the games are played, for starters. So it is much less of an advantage than people have claimed.
It's a significant advantge. First, NBA teams play 41 home games. So (in the case of a player on a Florida team) 50% of current earned income is apportioned to Florida. Some is apportioned to other states with no state income tax, e.g. Texas. Second, Hayward almost certainly has income from a portfolio of investments made from the money he earned in prior years (unless his agent is a complete boob). In Massachusetts, cap gains from those investments are taxed at !2%, which is tacked on to the federal rate. (Short-term cap gains are taxed by the feds as ordinary income. Long-term gains are taxed at 20% for taxpayers in the highest brackets.) Third, any dividends from stock or other investments are not taxed in Florida. Neither are royalties or any other form of income characterized as "ordinary" by the IRS. Fourth, depending on where he lives, local property taxes are much lower in Florida. Municipal services are cheaper (e.g. no snow removal, lower labor costs) and per pupil expenditures in the schools are lower.
Of course there are tradeoffs. If he comes to Boston and lives in Weston, Wellesley or one of the other toney Western suburbs, he can send his kids to the public schools, which are outstanding. If he lives in the Miami area, he probably has to put them in private schools if he wants the best education for them. Also, states with no income tax tend to have regressive state sales taxes. He will pay no sales tax in Massachusetts on food purchased in a grocery store (with some exceptions) although he will pay 6.25% on restaurant meals. In Florida the tax is 6% on everything.
"Numbers lie alot. Wins and losses don't lie." - Jerry West
"You are what your record says you are."- Bill Parcells
"Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. Rebounding wins championships." Pat Summit
