LeBron James Could Owe Philadelphia Up to $150,000 in Wage Tax on $8 Million Sixers Deal
Updated
Updated · The Philadelphia Inquirer · Aug 1
LeBron James Could Owe Philadelphia Up to $150,000 in Wage Tax on $8 Million Sixers Deal
3 articles · Updated · The Philadelphia Inquirer · Aug 1
Summary
$150,000 a year is the rough Philadelphia wage-tax bill if LeBron James lives in the city while earning $4 million annually under his two-year, $8 million Sixers contract.
At a 3.425% nonresident rate, the bill could fall to about $28,000 if he lives in New York and only 41 home games count as Philadelphia workdays out of a 200-day season.
Practice, film review, rehab and games can all count as duty days, and time spent at the Sixers' Camden training facility would affect how much income is treated as earned in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia's wage tax raises more than $2 billion a year, with about one-third coming from commuters, and the city applies the same tax framework to athletes as to other workers.
The tax question adds to earlier doubts about a New York helicopter commute, which already faces Northeast weather disruptions, strict NYC flight rules and roughly $4,000 per trip costs.