As sure as death & taxes, one pedicatable result of the signing of LeBron James by the Miami Heat was an op-ed by a Manhattan Institute scholar in the NY Post making a claim about New York’s high taxes versus Florida not having any income tax.
Josh Barro wrote –
In addition to sunny beaches and fabulous people, one of Miami’s finest features is its lack of an income tax. Florida’s zero rate compares favorably to Ohio’s top rate of 6.24% (plus 2% local tax in Cleveland). And it looks like heaven compared to the top rate of 12.62% in New York City, which is the highest in the country due to a 2009 “temporary” tax increase.
Barro is honest enough to say that the tax issue may not have been a major factor in James’ decision. But if it meant any difference to highly paid free agents, wouldn’t the tax free paradise of Florida have been attractive to these guys before last week?
You couldn’t tell it by looking at the Florida teams in the 3 salary capped leagues.
Miami Heat’s star player before last week was Dwayne Wade, who was drafted not signed as a free agent.
The other NBA team, the Orlando Sun’s star is Dwight Howard, also drafted not signed as a free agent.
And the Miami Dolphins or Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL nor the Tampa Bay Lighting and Florida Panthers of the NHL have been the leaders in signing free agents.
But Barro doesn’t have to look at sports stars to see that being forced to pay state income taxes doesn’t necessarily affect where someone chooses to live.
He could consider a person much richer than LeBron James, who has businesses all over the world, who could live anywhere he wants and chooses to live in and pay taxes in New York City. The person paying Barro for the op-ed. His name is Rupert Murdoch.