The NBA Finals continue Saturday evening, when the New York Knicks have an opportunity to conclude their series against the San Antonio Spurs. If the Spurs extend the series, then they’ll face additional New York “duty days” for Game 6. By contrast, Texas has no income tax and no jock-tax regime. This asymmetry affects players—and they garner the biggest headlines—but New York’s jock tax also affects the Spurs’ traveling personnel. Some coverage, past and present, below the fold.
Kelley R. Taylor, Knicks Vs. Spurs NBA Finals Puts the “Jock Tax” Back in the Spotlight, Kiplinger (June 4, 2026):
[P]rofessional athletes aren’t the only ones affected by the levy. . . .
Anyone connected to a professional or semi-professional team who earns money while visiting another state [such as trainers and coaches] can be subject to the tax.
Related TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Law360: The Top Tax Cases of 2025 (Dec. 27, 2025) (on the invalidation of Pittsburgh’s Facility Usage Fee by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court)
- Taxes And Athletic Performance: Why NBA Players Perform Better In Low-Tax States (June 28, 2023)
- The Jock Tax: How The NFL Can Level The Playing Field (Sept. 25, 2020)
- Usain Bolt Sprints From the British Tax Man (Aug. 16, 2012)
- State Taxation of Professional Athletes (July 1, 2009)
- The “Jock Tax”: Fair Play or Unsportsmanlike Conduct (May 30, 2008)
- Who’s Going to Win the Super Bowl? Michigan (Feb. 1, 2006)
- Winnie on A Separate International Tax Regime for Nonresident Athletes (June 12, 2005)
- Tax Foundation Releases Report on “Jock Taxes” (July 13, 2004)
Other related coverage:
- Nathan Goldman, Sam Darnold Won the Super Bowl—But Lost Money Due to the Jock Tax, Forbes (Feb. 10, 2026) (on the Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl in California)
- Sam McQuillan, NBA Finals Is a Tale of Two Tax Opposites, Daily Tax Report State (Sept. 30, 2020) (on the Heat-Lakers series in the Florida COVID-19 pandemic “bubble”)
- Mary Pilon, The Jock-Tax Man, The New Yorker (Apr. 10, 2015) (on the history of jock taxes)
