I have zero knowledge when it comes to the inner workings of the mind of a major league pitcher. Luckily for you readers I do have some basic knowledge of taxes and the cost of living.
Rather than bore everyone with a long talk on tax planning I'm going straight to the visuals.
Using
http://www.bestplaces.net/col/?salary=21000000&city1=54804000&city2=53651000 I generated the following information.
Excuse me a moment while all my friends living in New York figure out a way to move to Arlington, Texas.
I know major league players don't HAVE to live in the city the team plays in (so feel free to put in the zip codes of the surrounding towns). What I do know from once upon a time of living in New Jersey and working in Brooklyn is that major league players have to pay New York City taxes. Don't ask me how it works just know that from a legal perspective it does.
The cost of living calculator did not seem to include the 11.3% New York State and New York City employment taxes that would be taken from Cliff's paycheck. Simply put Texas does not have a state income tax and New York does.
(There are some additional adjustments based on how many home games v road games, for simplicities sake I'm going to stick with 11.3% in taxes across Cliff's entire paycheck).
Presuming Cliff and his wife file jointly the pertinent tax information is as follows:
In New York pays more money in state taxes and offsets the 830K in federal taxes. So not only does Cliff Lee's cost of living go up he also pays an additional $1,542,750 to pitch in New York. I'm sure someone will comment that you can deduct states taxes paid from your federal taxes amount.
I already included the deduction in my calculations.
Yankee fans take heart. Know that if Cliff Lee does come play for the Yankees it will be because he probably thinks it is the best chance to win the World Series and it won't be because he is a pitching mercenary. Despite what people are sure to say if he signs.
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