Local Luminary

[FAA]

Penn State defensive lineman Austin Johnson of Galloway Township, NJ is expected to obtain NFL employment tonight. Hope he avoids the nearby casinos! 

[olds442jetaway]

    A top draft pick can actually end up getting screwed money wise if the team is in a high income tax state. We are not talking peanuts either. Easily a couple of million bucks for some of the draft picks. That would leave plenty of money for a little casino action. If I remember, the State tax rate in California is over 13%. Yikes. Now if one gets Tennessee as their home base, there is plenty of money ( no state income tax ) left over for a little shine if one so desires.

[billryan]

Pro athletes have tax return nightmares. Just because a player plays for a team in a particular state doesn't mean he owes income tax on his whole salary to that state. A player who plays for Tennessee will still end up owing taxes to California if he plays a game there.
Derek Jeter was able to cut his NY State income tax by millions by claiming Florida residence, but it cost him a fortune in legal fees.

[FAA]

Robinson Cano shrewdly went to a tax favorable state when given the opportunity. AJ would certainly stand out at the craps table. I think he'd prefer something with dice rolling, or a ball moving like roulette.  

[billryan]

  That's turned out well for Robby. Hasn't it?

[DaBurglar]

I do not know what you guys are lamenting here......the major sports and all the athletes who earn millions upon millions (and even the lower "peons" who earn league minimums) are all taken care of via the teams business and tax advisers & employees.    They have this well in hand and under control and the vast majority of players simply pay exactly what they are obligated to pay......the only time it gets messy or complicated is when a player stupidly neglects this aspect of his career/life, or he simply lives frivolously (which sadly does happen often enough to make the news and in the case of football at least, does afflict a significant minority of players when they RETIRE!)My point is Pro athletes, like all high income earners, must have sound  advisers and money managers & accountants (or they must be very competent themselves personaly in these areas and fields of expertise) to properly manage their finances so that they maintain both a great lifestyle AND avoid costly legal entanglements particularly LATER in their lives when their best earning days are well past their prime. Bottom line:  DO NOT FEEL BAD for Derek jeter (or any of those athletes LIKE HIM.)

[billryan]

Sports teams hand their employees a check. They don't do squat as far as advice or tax help. The Unions provide a degree of help, steering players to advisers who have been screened. A good friend played football at Hofstra with Wayne Chrebret and through him got a number of pro athletes as clients for tax returns and to reduce their tax burdens. While he never talks about individual clients, he has said its not unusual to spend forty to a hundred hours on one persons returns.

[DaBurglar]

Sports teams hand their employees a check. They don't do squat as far as advice or tax help. The Unions provide a degree of help, steering players to advisers who have been screened. A good friend played football at Hofstra with Wayne Chrebret and through him got a number of pro athletes as clients for tax returns and to reduce their tax burdens. While he never talks about individual clients, he has said its not unusual to spend forty to a hundred hours on one persons returns. Well this aspect I agree with you at least, spending 100 hours on trying to get someone else's tax return correct (in this case, we are talking about PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES)....these are generally people who have been put on a pedestal, who have not had to be as responsible as "normal" everyday people when it comes to the mundane, minutiae of everyday living......ergo, trying to track down things like expense reports, receipts, bank records/statements, investment records, etc. from a professional athlete can be exhausting and grueling.     Hence, the LARGE time spans involved.....But your point about teams simply cutting a "check" and telling  a player he is on his own is not quite what happens in today's typical pro sports team.    You are forgetting that each team (whether its Baseball, football, Hockey or whatever.....) has a vested interest in making sure its ACTIVE roster of players maintains a minimum level of responsibility and compliance with respect to money and finances (as well as solvency and general financial stability)......they do NOT want their players distracted or beset by overwhelming problems during the actual playing season!   This makes obvious sense......therefore, most teams will provide basic financial counseling and advice to players who either request it or obviously need it (although sadly, some players eschew the help that either their teams or players associations offer and end up in deep crapola anyway, but that is not what we are talking about here.......simply put, you ultimately cannot protect people from themselves.

[olds442jetaway]

    We used to have a similar saying at work. You can't protect the government from itself.

[FAA]

Robby saved himself a ton of tax payments. Financially at least it worked out. Other aspects of the decision he may come to regret.