Should the NHL salary cap adjust for local income tax?

[DanM]

If I'm an NHL player, I want to make the most amount of money to support my family in a safe neighborhood with great weather. Not everyone wants to be a celebrity.

I do agree, and that's very very important.

I don't mean celebrity in the sense of walking down the street and being recognized. I mean statues and legendary status. It helps with HOF resumes, and you have jobs for life after hockey based on that status. Your kids and family would be taken care of for 10 lifetimes after you are done playing. Just look at the legends (and even non legends) in Tor and Mtl. Talk about support for your family lol

 

[Bear of Bad News]

I think the easiest thing would be to have all teams have an office in a no tax state like Florida

Would that work?

No, for a variety of reasons. If this worked, then why wouldn't every Fortune 500 company do the same thing?

 

[StoneHands]

That's a slippery slope. Should cost of living be factored in too because that's going to have just as big of an affect? A 2 million dollar home in NYC is a 2 bedroom condo in a high rise, in Tampa it's a 6 bedroom sprawling mansion in a gated community with a massive pool.

 

[Sypher04]

As long as they account for cost of living, sales tax, desirability of location, nightlife, endorsement contracts, etc. as well

Not a single one of the items you've listed here has to do with income so it's outside the scope of the salary cap.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Really interesting idea. I’d never considered it before.

 

[treple13]

Not a single one of this has to do with income so it's outside the scope of the salary cap.

And local income tax is also outside the scope of salary cap as it should be. But since OP wanted to make things more equal, we should be taking all those things into consideration.

 

[joestevens29]

No.

Each City has their list of pros and cons. If you adjusted it for one thing then you have to adjust it for everything else.

 

[Legion34]

No, for a variety of reasons. If this worked, then why wouldn't every Fortune 500 company do the same thing?

But why not? If players have to pay out of state tax for earning their money while playing on the road, why can’t they earn their money in Florida ?

 

[Sypher04]

And local income tax is also outside the scope of salary cap as it should be. But since OP wanted to make things more equal, we should be taking all those things into consideration.

Taxes directly effect take home income, so they are not even remotely the same thing.

A lot of people want to equate them with things like desirability and cost of living and alike, but you simply can't.

 

[DanM]

I don't want to see a league where the southern markets and low tax states are the front and centre destinations, and the teams who literally built the NHL and are heritage franchises, are second rate.

I am not saying media wise that this is happening, or that it will indeed happen in general, but some franchises should be special and have real significance.

In saying that look at the knicks in the NBA lol but at least the players still recognize how special it is to play for the lakers, celtics, or knicks, and want to play there.

Regardless, this topic has a lot of variables, and all markets have so many factors to look at.

 

[Legion34]

No.

Each City has their list of pros and cons. If you adjusted it for one thing then you have to adjust it for everything else.

No you wouldn’t. The league has a Salary cap. Not a cost of living, cap, endorsement cap or weather cap.

The problem isn’t the cap. It’s that the whole thing was put in to stop players from having unfair salaries. Only to allow other teams to have unfair salary advantages.


People in Toronto have to pay 1500 for a family of 4 to sit in the last row. This money goes through revenue sharing to teams like Florida who used to give away tickets with movie rentals. Then those same teams who already charge less get to in theory sign players for less using the money that the fans of bigger teams spend.

 

[Erndog]

I heard Marc Methot on the radio. He was brutally honest. He said when he got to Dallas it was eye opening how much larger his paycheques were (than when in Ottawa).

He said they (the players on the team) joke that they have the highest paid player in the NHL (*he was referring to Benn and his take him pay).

They then asked Marc about this very topic and whether he'd like he see it changed and he jokingly said "well not in the next year" (referring to his contract still having 1 year left). But then did kind of say its prob something to look at in the future.

I think it's clear this should be something discussed/reviewed in the next CBA.

 

[Seventyx7]

A better salary cap fix would be to have players sign for a percentage of the cap. If Doughty signs for $7M/ year which corresponds to 10% of the cap in 2012, his salary should rise or fall depending on what the cap does each year.

 

[kilowatt]

But then everyone would have to spend to the cap?

In this scenario entirely made-up scenario, as a team, you wouldn't have to spend 100% of the cap.

 

[Butch 19]

I heard Marc Methot on the radio. He was brutally honest. He said when he got to Dallas it was eye opening how much larger his paycheques were (than when in Ottawa).

He said they (the players on the team) joke that they have the highest paid player in the NHL (*he was referring to Benn and his take him pay).

They then asked Marc about this very topic and whether he'd like he see it changed and he jokingly said "well not in the next year" (referring to his contract still having 1 year left). But then did kind of say its prob something to look at in the future.

I think it's clear this should be something discussed/reviewed in the next CBA.

No, it's not clear. LOL

How far do you go: compare the price of pizza and beer in OTT vs DAL? You go to check it ALL, right?!

 

[Erndog]

No, it's not clear. LOL

How far to you, the price of pizza and beer in OTT vs DAL? You go to check it ALL, right?!

What?

 

[ziggyjoe212]

Every NHL city has its own pros and cons.

NY has some of the highest taxes in the NHL yet the Rangers are almost always a desirable destination for UFA's.

Perhaps a team like Dallas has much lower taxes but chances are they can't/won't spend to the cap.

 

[Cor]

This goes down such a slippery slope.

Should we adjust for property taxes in a city?

Should we adjust for Goods and Services taxes in a city?

Shouldwe adjust for any Harmonized Sales taxes in a city?

 

[joestevens29]

Every NHL city has its own pros and cons.

NY has some of the highest taxes in the NHL yet the Rangers are almost always a desirable destination for UFA's.

Perhaps a team like Dallas has much lower taxes but chances are they can't/won't spend to the cap.

This is exactly the problem. Really want teams such as the Rangers getting a tax break? They already have a lot of benefits.

 

[TGWL]

A better salary cap fix would be to have players sign for a percentage of the cap. If Doughty signs for $7M/ year which corresponds to 10% of the cap in 2012, his salary should rise or fall depending on what the cap does each year.

What happens to teams that don't sign to the cap limit? Teams can't just sign a cap % to everybody and not have it relate to their actual cap.

 

[Gnashville]

Just another way to gripe about the Salary Cap’s existence IMO. No free agents choose low tax cities over others. It’s a myth. Also the Cap would give Governments free reign to raise taxes on hockey players. 100 million dollar contract taxed at 90% equals a 10 million dollar contract taxed at 0%

 

[Seventyx7]

What happens to teams that don't sign to the cap limit? Teams can't just sign a cap % to everybody and not have it relate to their actual cap.

Then spend to 85% of the cap instead of 100% of it...

 

[treple13]

Taxes directly effect take home income, so they are not even remotely the same thing.

A lot of people want to equate them with things like desirability and cost of living and alike, but you simply can't.

I agree they are not the same thing. That's the whole point. Just the same as how take home income and the amount a team signs a player for are not the same thing either and only one of those is what the salary cap is for.

 

[Sypher04]

This goes down such a slippery slope.

Should we adjust for property taxes in a city?

Should we adjust for Goods and Services taxes in a city?

Shouldwe adjust for any Harmonized Sales taxes in a city?

huh? We're talking about player income. Literally nothing here is relevant.

 

[Sypher04]

Just another way to gripe about the Salary Cap’s existence IMO. No free agents choose low tax cities over others. It’s a myth. Also the Cap would give Governments free reign to raise taxes on hockey players. 100 million dollar contract taxed at 90% equals a 10 million dollar contract taxed at 0%

I'm sure some free agents probably do actually, even if they don't talk about it. It's naive to think they don't. It's not a myth simply because you don't believe it.

As for you second point, it's utter nonsense, this wouldn't change anything with how players are taxed by the government.