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LeBron James’ state income tax attorney might have saved LeBron millions of dollars a year by employing one of the best state income tax strategies around. Lets take a peek at the King James playbook of state income tax strategies.
CHOICE OF STATE INCOME TAX STRATEGIES
Like LeBron James and others you can likely better play the game of state income tax strategies.
HOW STATE INCOME TAXES ARE CALCULATED
In fact, in the clip above from the Decision, LeBron said one little thing that might cost him over $2 million a year.
So what does LeBron make? On average, about $32 million a year in endorsements. This might go up if he wins a championship or might go down if he is caught with his pants down like some other athletes, but we will assume it stays the same. His contract with Miami was for about $110 million for 5 years. Of course there are bonuses, different options, buy outs etc., but we will assume a simple average of $22 million each year in salary, 1/2 of which will be played on his home court.
So, if you are keeping score at home, that is about $44 million a year that will be taxable in LeBron’s state of domicile.
COMPARISON OF STATE INCOME TAX STRATEGIES
What would LeBron’s income tax strategies have cost him if he picked one of the other teams?
Cavaliers – (Ohio) 6% state income tax rate – $2.6 million per year in state income taxes.
Bulls – (Illinois) 3% of Federal AGI – $1.65 million per year in state income taxes.
Knicks – (New York) 7% state income tax rate – over $3 million per year in state income taxes.
Clippers – (California) 10.5% state income tax rate – $4.6 million per year in state income taxes.
Nets – (New Jersey) 11% state income tax rate – over $4.8 million per year in state income taxes.
So what is his state income tax bill in Florida as a Miami Heat? Z-E-R-O. That means that by simply playing for a team based in a state with no income tax he will be saving anywhere from $1.65-$4.8 million per year! SCORE! Over the course of his 5 year contract he could be saving anywhere from $10 – $22 million without considering compounding interest.
This is of course assuming that LeBron properly changes his tax domicile to Florida. Ohio will not be a gracious loser of more than $2 million a year in tax revenues. You can bet that they will pressure King James to make sure his state income tax attorney crossed the t’s and dotted the lower case j’s to be domiciled in Florida rather than Ohio. In fact, in the clip above from the Decision, LeBron said one little thing that might cost him over $2 million a year. So much for clutch play. I don’t want to tip off the state of Ohio so I will let you discuss what that was with your income tax attorney.
OTHERS EMPLOYING STATE INCOME TAX STRATEGIES
LeBron isn’t the only person to change domicile to save a ton in taxes. Tiger Woods moved his tax domicile from California to Florida very early in his career. He is estimated to have earned about $1 billion over the course of his career so far, a savings of about $100 million. He might want to use that $100 million to buy a giant “I’m sorry” diamond for his wife, or maybe an “I’m sorry” island. Lots of wealthy New Jerseyans have also “vanished” from New Jersey.
HOW CAN REGULAR FOLKS USE THESE STATE INCOME TAX STRATEGIES?
So what if these guys are saving millions of dollars a year. Most people don’t even make as much as those guys are saving, so why bother? You may not make $54 million a year, or even $4 million a year but it is likely that you are making closer to the NBA league minimum of $475,000 a year. If you earn that much being domiciled in Ohio you might be spending about $28,500 a year in state income tax, in New York $33,250, in California, even in a lower tax bracket of 9.55%, you would owe about $45,000, and in New Jersey $52,250. Still not worth your trouble to think about where you are domiciled?
CONCLUSION
Like LeBron James and others you can likely better play the game of state income tax strategies. Your tax domicile can mean thousands of dollars more in your pocket each year. But states hate losing milk when their cows escape from the pen. Talk to your state income tax attorney to make sure you correctly and legally change your domicile.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
It is really irritating to hear people like you tell people to go elsewhere instead of fighting for the elimination of their state taxes. We have fought dearly for years to keep our state from having these taxes. Now we have people selling their rat dens for hundreds of thousands of dollars and moving to my state only to buy or build a mansion and put the rest in the bank. Then they bring with them,their liberal haughty attitudes and before you know it they want to change the way we do things in my conservative state. They bring with them their liberal voting habits and scream for changes to suit their own lifestyle. We are facing more pollution,traffic, higher taxes, rising cost of housing (to us but maybe not to them) and water problems because of this migration. Let them stay and fight for their own relief of taxes. Let them carry on their own way of life in their own native state. I wouldn’t want to live in their state and that is why I stay in my own.
You have neglected to consider the effect that the state income tax would have on reducing his federal income taxes.
The LeBron saga was poorly played as far as fans go except for the Miami Heat, but he seems like a fairly ept individual regarding his earnings. It’s not just what you make, but how much you keep.
Nice article!
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