Most readers of the Gem State Patriot aren\u2019t avid sports fans, and few will lose sleep over the fact that multimillion-dollar athletes owe income taxes in every state and city where they play. But here\u2019s the hidden story: professional sports teams spend staggering sums on accountants and compliance staff just to navigate the tangle of tax codes across fifty states and dozens of municipalities. Just like every business big and small, has to devote resources to figuring out their taxes. The process at all levels is to complex which makes it easier for the \u201ctax man\u201d and harder on the everyday citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recent Forbes<\/em> article and a report on Fox Business highlighted California\u2019s so-called \u201cJock Tax,\u201d which hits athletes whenever they play in the Golden State. For Super Bowl participants, the tab can be astonishing. Take the example of Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold. Because the Super Bowl was played in Santa Clara, California, his tax bill wasn\u2019t based merely on the one-game bonus\u2014roughly $178,000\u2014but also on the proportion of his annual salary tied to \u201cduty days\u201d spent in California. For top-tier athletes, that allocation can produce a California tax liability exceeding their actual game check. Reports estimate Darnold\u2019s bill could run between $200,000 and $250,000\u2014meaning he\u2019ll owe more to California in taxes than he earned for winning football\u2019s biggest prize. Just looking at his take home pay, he would have been better off staying home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, these players certainly aren\u2019t losing money overall\u2014the tax applies to their full-season earnings\u2014but the symbolism is hard to miss. It\u2019s a perfect illustration of how far progressive tax policies can reach when governments see income as an infinitely renewable resource to tap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which brings me to Idaho. If we ever want to host a Super Bowl here (assuming we build a $2 billion stadium first), we\u2019d better be ready for the consequence: higher property and state income taxes on everyday Idahoans. That\u2019s how these things always work. Just as ordinary families pay higher health insurance premiums to cover corporate cost-shifting in the medical world, taxpayers end up footing the bill for the political class\u2019s big dreams. And as usual, government employees and legislators rarely share the burden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why do we keep subsidizing developers with special taxing districts like CIDs, while simultaneously raising property taxes on the people who already live here? If we\u2019re not taxing the corporations or the out-of-state millionaires, why punish the families and small businesses that keep the lights on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a better way. States like Florida, Texas, Nevada, Tennessee\u2014and even \u201cthe People\u2019s Republic of Washington\u201d\u2014have no state income tax, and they continue to attract high-wage earners and businesses that fuel growth through property and sales taxes. Idaho could do the same if we had the vision and discipline to simplify our tax system instead of constantly carving out special favors and subsidies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So why would anyone choose to build a business\u2014or a life\u2014in a state that taxes success and effort? The \u201cJock Tax\u201d may seem trivial to multimillionaire athletes, but it\u2019s emblematic of a deeper problem: when left unchecked, government will tax everything that moves, breathes, thinks, or dies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In truth, the greatest capital America possesses is not gold, land, or technology\u2014it\u2019s human capital: work itself. And that\u2019s precisely what we should tax the least.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most readers of the Gem State Patriot aren\u2019t avid sports fans, and few will lose sleep over the fact that multimillion-dollar athletes owe income taxes in every state and city where they play. 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