"Linsanity" has a new name: "Lincome."
With his trade from the New York Knicks to the Houston Rockets, NBA superstar Jeremy Lin, who turned the Big Apple crazy for "Linsanity" last year, is going to cash in during his stay in Texas more than he could imagine in New York.
According to Americans for Tax Reform the trade will save him over $1 million a year in local and state taxes, raising the question why there isn't a line of superstar athletes to play in Texas.
"Fast forward a decade: the most talented baseball players, football players, and basketball players will be leading teams to victory based in Florida, Texas, or the other states with no income tax," ATR President Grover Norquist told Secrets.
He suggested that if President Obama wins reelection, sports stars might seek refuge overseas because of taxes. "If given a second term, Obama's tax increases will push both investment capital and talented individuals to other countries," he told us.
Lin, the 23-year-old point guard who helped the Knicks to wins in his first six starts, has signed a three-year, $25.1 million contract with the Rockets. In New York he would have paid a state income tax of 8.82 percent and a city tax of $3.876 percent. Neither Texas nor Houston have income taxes. As a result, Lin will save $1,040,416.04 a year, said ATR.
ATR highlighted the Lin contract to make the point that low-tax states are having an easier time in the struggling economy. "Nine no-income tax states have consistently outperformed the high-tax states, like New York, over the past decade," said ATR.
