I have been working on a little tax swap bill that, to me, makes perfect sense. Currently, NBA and NHL players who come and play games in Tennessee pay a professional privilege tax. One of the reasons they were asked to pay the tax is because they are seldom true Tennessee residents and yet make a huge chunk of money off of Tennessee residents without paying anything into the state in taxes to help the state run. They come in, play a game, collect a huge paycheck and leave.
Exempted from the bill at the time was the NFL, I don't think The NFL had yet begun to play games in Tennessee so it made no sense for them to be part of the equation when the professional private tax was created in the heat of the income tax wars.
Also paying the professional privilege tax are several other groups, doctors lawyers and other types of professional people. Some of the groups made to pay the tax left me guessing as to why they were added at all other then they sounded somewhat professional when the income tax battle was raging so they were probably lumped in with all the others. The three groups that most left me guessing were the speech pathologist, audiologist and landscapers.
Speech pathologists and audiologists, landscapers (think they guys that mow your grass) make on average 30 to 50k a year or less. Not anywhere near what medical doctors or NFL players make. Not even close.
My legislation would add NFL football players to the list of other professional athletes that pay the professional privlage tax (I could find less then a dozen that actually call Tennessee home) and remove the over 2,300 Tennessee audiologist, speech pathologists and landscapers from the $400.00 professional privilege tax.
I do not like tax increases so I worked it out so there was no new overall tax income for the state.
By adding in the NFL players and removing those other three groups I was actually even able to lower the tax on the NHL and NBA players and have the bill remain revenue neutral.
So far, the Titan's have been fighting the bill, Jimmy Haslam (owner of the Cleveland Brows and I think also part of the Pittsburgh Steelers) is said to be monitoring the bill and Governor Bill Haslam (brother of Jimmy Haslam) has flagged the bill saying he is in opposition to the idea.
To me its a no brainier swap. Less then a dozen Tennessee resident NFL players, many making millions a year who pay in little to nothing to Tennessee tax coffers or 2,300 Tennesseans who make 30-50k a year or less, pay all the other state and local taxes and live hear year round.
Who would you rather see pay the tax?
Exempted from the bill at the time was the NFL, I don't think The NFL had yet begun to play games in Tennessee so it made no sense for them to be part of the equation when the professional private tax was created in the heat of the income tax wars.
Also paying the professional privilege tax are several other groups, doctors lawyers and other types of professional people. Some of the groups made to pay the tax left me guessing as to why they were added at all other then they sounded somewhat professional when the income tax battle was raging so they were probably lumped in with all the others. The three groups that most left me guessing were the speech pathologist, audiologist and landscapers.
Speech pathologists and audiologists, landscapers (think they guys that mow your grass) make on average 30 to 50k a year or less. Not anywhere near what medical doctors or NFL players make. Not even close.
My legislation would add NFL football players to the list of other professional athletes that pay the professional privlage tax (I could find less then a dozen that actually call Tennessee home) and remove the over 2,300 Tennessee audiologist, speech pathologists and landscapers from the $400.00 professional privilege tax.
I do not like tax increases so I worked it out so there was no new overall tax income for the state.
By adding in the NFL players and removing those other three groups I was actually even able to lower the tax on the NHL and NBA players and have the bill remain revenue neutral.
So far, the Titan's have been fighting the bill, Jimmy Haslam (owner of the Cleveland Brows and I think also part of the Pittsburgh Steelers) is said to be monitoring the bill and Governor Bill Haslam (brother of Jimmy Haslam) has flagged the bill saying he is in opposition to the idea.
To me its a no brainier swap. Less then a dozen Tennessee resident NFL players, many making millions a year who pay in little to nothing to Tennessee tax coffers or 2,300 Tennesseans who make 30-50k a year or less, pay all the other state and local taxes and live hear year round.
Who would you rather see pay the tax?
This bill is a great idea. My wife is a licensed audiologist, but currently is a stay at home mom. She does some contract work, but by the time we pay the professional privilege tax and pay for the continuing education to keep her license current, it's almost not worth her taking the time to work. Is there a House sponsor for this bill?
ReplyDeleteMakes total sense to me. If it is revenue neutral, what is the Governor's objection to it???
ReplyDeleteThis law makes no sense. It is another tax the rich bill. I would expect a Democat to support this bill, not a Republican.
ReplyDelete