Did LeBron James Shun New York Due to High Taxes ?

In a much anticipated move, LeBron James announced that he was indeed headed to Florida.

One has to wonder if New York's exorbitant taxes played a role in his decision to play in Florida where there is no state tax. Lebron's 5 year contract is worth an estimated 96 million dollars. Out of that 96 million, LeBron would pay over 12 million dollars in New York Tax as opposed to no state tax in Florida.

Even though New York's taxes are some of the highest in the nation, Lebron would have a pretty stiff bill if he chose some of the other locations as well. He would have paid over 5 million in Ohio and over 10 million in New Jersey. Lets face it, many of the regular folks have fled to states like Texas and Florida for years. Who could blame the guy if the high taxes played a part in Lebron's decision to head south?

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It has been estimated that Cleveland businesses stand to lose over 48 million dollars with the loss of LeBron
James. That makes you wonder what LeBron's presence in New York would have meant to local businesses. This begs the question, do higher taxes really bring in more money in the long run? If you subtract the potential taxes from all of the "fleeing millionaires", might the government actually benefit from lower taxes?

If this proves to be a trend, you might want to place your bets on the sports teams residing in tax free states like Florida and Texas.