from American For Tax Reform,

54 percent of the 116 Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) and 60 percent of players with no-trade clauses who changed teams picked teams with lower taxes according to a new report released jointly by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) and Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) and compiled by CTF Research Director Jeff Bowes.

The study, entitled Major Penalty for High Taxes examines the interaction between low tax rates and player movement in the NHL by analyzing federal, provincial, state, and local income and payroll taxes of NHL players. The report also ranks teams on their “true cap” by comparing how tax rates of different teams interacts with the NHL salary cap.

“Successful hockey players can choose their team in free agency and thus, their hometown for tax purposes. So can millions of Americans and Canadians who move from high tax areas to low tax areas. Better than any poll, this tells us what taxpayers want: Lower taxes and less government,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

Key findings include:

• The American teams with no state income tax have the lowest tax rates in the NHL. In 2015 Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning are tied for first at 40.6%.
• The Montreal Canadiens have the highest tax rate at 54.2%, beating out the California teams. The Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks are tied for second-last at 53.1%.
• Having a no-trade contract clause gives players the power to avoid being sent to high tax jurisdictions. Tyler Myers saved the most, at $474,146, by moving from Buffalo to Winnipeg.

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