Tax Rates for NHL Players By City 

I posted a comment on your channel when McDavid signed his contract. A player who signs with a Canadian team is going to take a real bite out of his earnings. In Ontario you also pay tax on the purchase of your home as well as tax on the real estate fees. I think your 100% right Shannon when you point out a player is willing to take home less money to play in a region where the cost of living is higher. Remember that they are offered these large sums of money for their services, they don't demand them(in most cases). Congratulations Shannon. I'm sure you hit the 50k subs. this weekend!!

"There's no such thing as a free lunch." Milton Freidman

I would be signing with the Pathers, the Stars, the Coyotes or the Lightning XD Those numbers are astounding. I surprisingly loved this video.

2 things in life are certain " Hockey and Taxes "

Keep up the hard work! Definitely doesn’t go unnoticed! 👍💪😆

Very interesting to learn about the business of sports.

God 30% sales tax in Canada that's bad. Maryland is 6% sales tax, and Delaware is 0% sales tax I believe. BTW in most states in the US grocery's are tax exempt meaning you pay no taxes on grocery's.

This is why I love your channel. Topics like these don't get the type of media coverage that they're due, thank you THG!

But if you live in a Canadian city you get paid in USD so you can take advantage of that.

Great video. I've talked about this with people over the last couple years in particular and always received a lot of resistance to the idea that the taxes should be normalized/balanced among the markets because it creates cap imbalance. The system values money in a location more than elsewhere, which causes differences in buying power. But, your video actually presented an angle I've never tried coming at this from. How is it fair that an athlete agrees to a contract with an organization that sees him make and take home x amount of money per year, to then be traded to a market where taxes exist or just much higher. This is effectively changing the terms of their contract. I feel like there's a lot of good reason on both sides that this should be changed.

I kind of forgot these nhl players even get taxed lol

Very informative video. Thanks much.

Not to mention inflated property taxes as well.

Maybe the cap should be subsidized for each team depending on the local tax rates.

Shannon, I can't believe you did not include Vegas with Florida, Tampa, Nashville and Dallas in the tax discussion in this video. The state of Nevada has no city or state taxes either.

And this is why all the stars should come to Vegas! 🤣

Housing costs would be a huge factor also, a 4000 sq foot McMansion in Vegas will start around $500,000, the exact same house in most of California will be at least $1.5 million. That’s a $60,000 a year difference in mortgage payments.

This is the kinda stuff big networks don’t even acknowledge and you go super in depth with it. Much appreciated.

Dallas, Taxes

I'm afraid if you used CapFriendly's calculator, all your US federal income taxes are inflated by 2%. CapFriendly did not adjust tax rates after the tax cuts were signed into law last year.

If teams like Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and some others would make a common front to the league and governors and ask for a Cap adjustement proportional to the taxation by team, that would help a lot for the league parity

And that’s why the cap hit should be calculated on the salary after taxes.

I can't wait for a player to publicly admit he chose one team over another on the basis of the taxes he would pay. I know its more complicated than simply comparing the city and state taxes, but Tavares could make another $6.5 million+ from investing the additional $1.5 million he would get in Dallas verses Toronto into an index fund over the life of the contract, and thats not even taking into consideration that it will probably be front loaded.

Great video. Great breakdown. Awesome work. I'm a caps fan and I lost hope after the millionth time we lost in the playoffs. But winning this year and watching your videos has rekindled my love of hockey. Thanks again!

Thanks for this video Shannon

The lack of state income tax is going to be a big boast for Seattle.

Been saying this for a long time before I found your excellent channel. Very glad to see you made a video about it.

I have met a fr. NFL player named a Marvin Jones. He played 11 years for the NY Jets. He spoke at an event I was at and admitted that when some guys on IR would not attend home Jets Games (or road games if they played for a Florida team) because the taxes might be 10k more for the game. It's also why most players make a home in Florida so they can pay no state income tax during injuries or if they have a 12 month payment plan (though rare, you do see it with a baseball or soccer).

I was just thinking of suggesting a video like this the past few days. Love it

I don't blame hockey players or think they are greedy because any given contract could be the last contract you sign. Even mcdavid in his young age could get hit in the head too hard and than be stuck paying medical bills for the rest of his life.

As an accountant, I love this!

Very informative and a factor fans don’t acknowledge when passing judgement on signings. Thanks for this.

I don't mind taxes as long as their not really high but what I do care about is how it's spent which is managed pretty bad

Tax Rates by city....let’s just give the winning trophy to Vancouver! 😂

Great video but it may be a good idea to do a video with this info with cost of living rates formulated in, as well. There are stark contrasts in the US, and I'm assuming Canada, with the cost of living from one NHL market to another. You can buy a palace in Dallas, Tampa, Nashville, Phoenix, and I'm sure other markets for what a tiny house or condo would cost in NY, LA, Chicago, etc. The point is that these numbers could be even more extreme than just looking at only taxes.

Los Angeles resident since 1989 here, Shannon. You can take either take the 101 or the 5 North to San Jose and the Bay Area. The 405 is only in LA. Now for an LA/So Cal joke: do you know why they call it the 405? Because you're only moving at 4-5 mph the entire length of your trip. Looking forward to the Caps making their annual trip to Staples Center next February. I usually take a half day or work remotely on game days due to the insane afternoon rush hour traffic on the 10 into downtown. The joys of living in bright, beautiful, sunny, overpopulated, and overtaxed Southern California.

Great topic Shannon well done.

I think the both Florida teams have an unfair advantage. Like if I worked for the Lightning and was making a pitch to a player it’s, “you keep more of your money, some of the best beaches in the US, you can grab a bear and fish from your back yard, and if you have kids Bush Gardens is in town and Disney is an hour away.” How are other teams supposed to compete with that

I-405 is an offshoot or a bypass for certain parts of the I-5. You were right the second time though, normally people take the I-5 from Socal to Norcal and vice versa : )

Here's the thing about Toronto. If you are a Hockey star you can make that money lost through taxes from endorsements. Not to mention if you win the cup here there will be a statue made of you.

It is important to note that those southern states that do not have a state income tax make up for that with some of the highest state sales tax rates. For example, Tennessee has a sale tax rate of 9.50%, which is the highest in the U.S. However, there is no federal sales tax rate, so the state sales tax rate is all you pay. Not sure how these sales tax rate compare with some of the Canadian provinces, but they may not be that much different.

Taxation is extortion.

Also read that player agents try to get 30% of the players contracts as signing bonus. That way the signing bonus is taxed at 15% as opposed to 47.98% in Toronto.

Texas, Florida, and Nevada have the lowest income tax rates, and they also have snowless winters, BONUS!

not to go political but, if you look at this then also compare which states are traditionally conservative/liberal you'll see the clear correlation that the conservative states are much friendlier options.

Very informative video.

Shannon it’s the I5 if you’re going up through the center of California, the 101 or the PCH if you want to hug the coast

Enjoy your videos very much.

I never thought about this in sports, interesting video Shannon. If i was a player there's no way i'd play for those high tax teams. I also wonder why the Panthers haven't been getting more free agents because of this.

It’s no wonder pretty much every player has a charity 😆

I did a calc earlier today and if JT plays in NY vs FL the additional tax will come out to about a little over 500,000 a year. It is not as big as some people think for the states

This is interesting but i completly ignores the fact that players are paid by GAMES PLAYED not Annualy...that means yes you can get a lot less taxes if you play in Tampa but only on home games...when you play against Montreal in the Bell center, you actually pay Montreal taxes

No one's taking cost of living into consideration as well. According to Zillow average home value in San Jose is 1.1m, new York 788,000 and Toronto 737,000. Compare to Dallas 188,000 and Tampa 172,000.

Congrats on 50 thousand subs shannon!!!!

Sponsor deals are bigger in Canada. They make it anyways

Nice concise video. Thanks.

I was hoping to see a a ranking of the least to most taxed cities, while factoring the jock taxes in some U.S. cities/states.

Clicked on this video because of the picture of Stammer. What an absolute man rocket

Great vid, Johnny T took the haircut and as a Leafs fan I am mega grateful

There are also investments that players probably use to reduce their taxable income, and if there’s any deductible charitable donations. That does reduce a bit more. But that’s why players have accountants, and financial planners.

Philadelphia has a ~4% wage tax if you work in the city limits. Then property taxes are high in PA and NJ.

I made a tiny fraction of what they make as a nurse. After commute costs, professional fees, insurance, taxes...I took home 51% of my gross pay.

Very interesting video. Good job

I think you're missing out on a few things here. Pretty sure they structure the players salary as the vast majority of it is in the form of a bonus. If I'm not mistaken, I saw Johnny T's salary structure. And his actual salary was something like $650 G's And the rest was in the form as a bonus. Since bonuses are taxed alot less. Could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure. I know that's what they do in some areas in the corporate world. My Bro in law, well he's a Vice CEO of a rather large Oil and Gas company. And his base salary is 350 G's. But he get's 7 figure bonuses every year.

I wonder if it'll be a part of the next CBA that cap hits are tax adjusted. That could help level the playing field for a lot of teams that higher taxes.

I'm shocked that Texas, Florida and Nevada are lower than New Jersey, New York and California.

I love this video idea. I agree with the other comments, maybe the cap should be net salary instead of gross. It's not a perfect solution but at least it levels the playing field from the players point of view. Every player would know that getting traded won't impact take home salary. My question is: why was the salary cap, the way it is now, not shot down by all of the Canadian teams and the American teams in high tax cities such as New York and LA as it seems to have a strong negative impact on attractiveness for free agents? Even if they weren't greedy at all, a term I don't like, the fact that a 27 year old ufa player contemplating a 7-8 year contract which will realistically be the most lucrative and the last big one of their career, is pitting a doubly uneven field. Preference of team and difference in take home salary. Making the cap net salary/ take home salary, removes one of the factors making Canada an unattractive place for players to go play. While preference of team is more linked to odds of a cup being won, geography, wether friends play for that team already, etc. It's a more pure choice because it removes the consideration of money almost entirely (except for teams under the cap who can't afford it). It will hopefully remove that ugly word from the conversation: "greedy "

But players on Canadian teams are paid in U.S. currency. Also there is no requirement to pay health insurance (diminished factor considering the high salaries).

405 and 5 are both interstate highways in Cali so you are correct sir!

I think the difference is a bit less because aren't players taxed in the state/province they play in, so half the games wont be in the state they play in

Those states with no Income tax didn't attract many of these big name players until they became contenders. I remember years when most of those teams were the laughing stock of the NHL. Some of them built their teams the hard way through drafting, development, and lucky trades or having money to burn before the cap (which they still tended not to do). I believe a lot can be said for a team being a contender and a player wanting to go there. Also last I looked the States with no Income tax have some of the highest sales and property taxes in the country. Most states have something that balances it a bit.

What are your thoughts on the rumors that Tavares could sign a 1 year $15 million max deal in Toronto?

How does STL have a higher tax rate then Chicago

interesting video. how r the taxes for players in the khl?

That tampa jersey in the thumbnail was fucking sick keep it up bud

Not just a jock tax, the company I work for sends crews all over the US, and their tax returns are a mess.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by all the 'tax is theft' comments, but I am. Maybe y'all went to private schools, took private jets from personal airports everywhere, avoiding driving on public roads, have never been enrolled on a federal health insurance plan, etc. Is there room to improve? Sure, but saying that taxes are unnecessary is ridiculous.

Great video!

So basically tavares wants to play for a winner as his narrowing down of teams consists of leaving money on the table. Interesting.

See and that's stupid it gives a huge disadvantage to some teams the league needs to implement something to stabilize this they should equal it out by taxing all of the teams so everyone making 3 million dollars would make the same ammount. so they all the taxes are the same it would make it more fair to alot of teams and the league would make more money

Someone has to pay for the free shit everybody wants for free.

Congrats on 50k!

If I am in the ball park I'm heading FLA-Tampa. He would join a very powerful team, stay in the East for travel, tax friendly, beaches.

Anbody read the Athletic's article on workarounds that can be used like an RCA? It was pretty good.

Atlanta Flames jersey? When are you breaking out some of those great California Golden Seals jerseys?

Fantastic video

That hat is incredible.

This is a really good video

why is the cap hit tied to contracts before taxes ? the problem with overpayment for high taxation would not exist as a cap problem if a contract would hit the cap after taxation.

Great informative video . It’s not as much as the media made it out to be when stamkos stayed in Tampa for less .

Don't forget that an american dollar goes a lot further in Canada because of the conversion

Great video.

Hold on, so in Canada you buy stuff and then you add tax on the sale price? Thats dumb. Here in Sweden the tax is included in the price. If you buy stuff for 10 dollars...it cost 10 dollars when you pay.

The cap should be reflective on these numbers

I think salary cap should adjust to taxes. So for example Tampa has a 70mill cap and Toronto has an 80 mill cap (not accurate just as an example)

But players are paid in USD and the exchange rate is really advantageous to live in Canada with USD .

Would be interesting to see a video of the cost of living in each NHL city

Your board says the $11M low take home is 5.15 but on your board Toronto and Ottawa has 5.14

Property taxes, health insurance, and crime is way, way higher in the U.S. so it all evens out in the end.

What about the cost of living factor?