July 14, 2009
Tax Foundation Intern Kiran Sheffrin Pens Boston Herald Op-Ed on “Jock Tax” Targeting Major League Baseball All Stars
"Game Misconduct: St. Louis Widens Jock Tax"
By Kiran Sheffrin
As the 80th anniversary of the All-Star Game comes to Busch Stadium, the city of St. Louis has publicly rolled out the red carpet and privately sent each All Star a special tax bill.
The city always charges a "jock tax" of 1 percent on the daily income of visiting athletes, and that's on top of almost 6 percent that the state of Missouri collects. It is hard to sympathize with a tax on millionaire ballplayers, but this tax also targets any employee who travels with the team. Even these non-jocks - scouts, trainers or other support staff lugging the ballplayers' equipment around - have to pay the jock tax.
Fourteen of the 17 states with a pro baseball team levy a jock tax, and Massachusetts is among them. Visiting players to Boston have to pay the state income tax on their daily earnings, but the tax rate is lower than Missouri's, and Boston has no city wage tax.
