Let’s even the playing field…after tax payroll cap

[BrokenFace]

The elephant in the room is that a big reason players don't like playing in Canada is because Canadian media and fans are so intense. It's much easier for NHLers to blend in in an American city.

 

[DuklaNation]

Tennis players have a Monaco residency for a reason. I'd bet it all its for one major reason.

 

[BLONG7]

The elephant in the room is that a big reason players don't like playing in Canada is because Canadian media and fans are so intense. It's much easier for NHLers to blend in in an American city.

Huge.............but it seems agents are steering their clients to tax friendlier states, in the US too.
It's a mixed bag that's for sure. It is absolutely easier for the guys to blend into a big city in the US as compared to Canadian markets........it just is.

 

[SniperHF]

Guys the topic of the thread isn't what the tax rates should be, it's the effect of those tax rates on NHL teams and using the salary cap to potentially compensate for those effects.


Discussing your preferred tax rate is politics and will end up getting you thread banned going forward.

 

[Pia8988]

typical canadian whining.

Can't accept Canadian teams don't win for reasons other than evil taxes.

 

[Windy River]

Players are paid in USD, so factor that in too as a pro for players playing in Canadian markets.

Someone making 1mil walks away with 1.28 CAD.

Tax loopholes, charity etc. Thered ways to minimize the discrepancy.

Also, I believe when Tampa plays in OTT, MTL, TOR, they get taxed by the canadian tax code.

There is a slight difference but not as big as people make it out to be. I think weather and media and quality of life play more of a role. The States are just a better place to live if you're rich.

That last sentence, particularly the last phrase, basically sums it up. I believe the reverse also to be true - that Canada is a better place to live if you’re not rich. I say this having lived in both Canada and the US for significant numbers of years.

 

[zcaptain]

typical canadian whining.

Can't accept Canadian teams don't win for reasons other than evil taxes.

How about no more equalization payments for poor attendance US teams.........I am sure Boston, NYR and Tampa would love that.

 

[Bankers Box]

That last sentence, particularly the last phrase, basically sums it up. I believe the reverse also to be true - that Canada is a better place to live if you’re not rich. I say this having lived in both Canada and the US for significant numbers of years.

I disagree.

If you have good skills in most industries then Its better to be in the US as well. You don’t have to be rich.

Pay is better and the American companies on usually on the cutting edge while Canadian companies often lag behind.

There is a reason that Canada had a brain drain to the US.

Also, the housing market in Canada is insane. People pay $800k in Canada to live in a boring town with one crappy Tim Hortons.

I work with many international folks and many just went to Canada first but left to go the US at first chance.

Immigration stats don’t back up the myth that some Canadian propagate.

 

[ColbyChaos]

Not a coincidence that the states with no income tax are consistently icing teams that excel:

Tampa Bay Lightning
Florida Panthers
Las Vegas
Dallas

Also not a coincidence that Canadian teams, with a much higher income tax rate aren’t coming close to winning a Stanley Cup, a 29 year drought.

Time for the NHL to even the rather lopsided playing field and consider after tax income when setting the payroll cap

Literally all of those teams save for Vegas have been asscheeks for the better part of the 2000s. Contention is or at least should be cyclical. Tampa, Dallas, Florida spent a large chunk of the early 2000s being a bad team and all 3 teams (save for 2011 Tampa) were bad for a while.

 

[ColbyChaos]

I remember back when the arguments were that big market (and also high tax) teams had an unfair advantage over teams like Florida due to free agents supposedly always wanting to sign there

 

[biturbo19]

I certainly endorse the sentiment of trying to do something to "even the playing field". But there's no way to even viably enforce this. Players making that kind of money have access to all sorts of financial loopholes that completely alter their tax situations from the "on paper" rates. And the contributing elements of those loopholes are multivariate and constantly in flux, depending on a number of individual, market, and political factors.

And then there's the other aspect of this conversation, where certain markets also have potential earning advantages/disadvantages when it comes to things like endorsements and the popularity of hockey in general. There's also a pretty wide range of "real estate costs" associated with the different markets. It shouldn't be an issue, but you know darn well some brilliant minds would bring that up as another "equalization factor" to weight in the Salary Cap...and then turn it into another loophole to manipulate the tax situation or whatever.


It's a nice sentiment. But it's also an absolutely endless Pandora's Box of potential "but what about...".

 

[Soundwave]

Isn't there already some kind of loophole where in Canada if your contract is structured largely in signing bonuses then that amount is taxed at a much lower rate (like 20%)? I would assume that's only to a certain amount. But I'm not certain about that stuff at all.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Isn't there already some kind of loophole where in Canada if your contract is structured largely in signing bonuses then that amount is taxed at a much lower rate (like 20%)? I would assume that's only to a certain amount.

Yes if you have US permanent residence. Matthew’s perfect example.
Not sure about Europeans.

 

[GapToothedWonder]

Not a coincidence that the states with no income tax are consistently icing teams that excel:

Tampa Bay Lightning
Florida Panthers
Las Vegas
Dallas

Also not a coincidence that Canadian teams, with a much higher income tax rate aren’t coming close to winning a Stanley Cup, a 29 year drought.

Time for the NHL to even the rather lopsided playing field and consider after tax income when setting the payroll cap

If you're a young, super fit, filthy rich athlete, you're thinking way more about how much fun you could be having in Tampa, Vegas, Dallas, New York or LA, then you can in Edmonton.

Canadian cities are at a disadvantage the same way Minnisota is. Nobody wants to be a millionaire in some small bo dunk town when they can be a millionaire in a major metropolis.