Super Bowl Sunday may be the year’s biggest TV and advertising payday. But like rodeo riders on a cheap small-town circuit, the Philadephia Eagles and New England Patriots each have to win — or they could end up losing money by playing in Minneapolis.
That’s because Minnesota’s income taxes, including the levies collected from pro athletes, are among the nation’s highest — higher than Philadelphia’s, even with the city’s infamous wage tax.
Minnesota collects 9.85 percent of the money paid to pro athletes and other workers — higher than in any other NFL state except California, which clips 13.3 percent. In Philadelphia, city residents pay a combined 6.96 percent (a little less if they live in the burbs.) Up in Foxboro, Mass., skims 5.1 percent off Patriots’ pay.
To be sure, Super Bowl players on both sides get fat checks. The winners receive $112,000 each, double the losers’ $56,000.
Written by E. Morgan Maxwell
Since beginning his own firm, Mr. Maxwell has continued a tax-law oriented practice encompassing a wide range of transactions, planning and dispute resolution. His dispute resolution experience includes involvement at all levels of the Internal Revenue Service (Examinations, Appeals, Collections, Office of Professional Responsibility, the U.S. Tax Court), the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, the Tax Litigation Section of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, Common Pleas Court and local taxing jurisdictions in southeastern Pennsylvania.
