Power Play to Lower Pro Athlete Tax Bills in Tennessee

The Tennessee privilege tax charges both home and away teams $2,500 per game for a maximum of three games per year. Photo courtesy Nashville Predators

Hockey players from all corners of the NHL have been hit by Tennessee’s so-called “jock tax,” one of the highest in the country. It effectively costs them $7,500 a year to take the ice in the state. But a power play is in the works to ban the state from the back pockets of professional athletes.

“It’s unfair,” Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) says of the privilege tax, which also includes NBA players. “It’s very narrow and targeted, and we just shouldn’t be doing that in the tax code.”

Johnson, who says he has constituents who play for the Nashville Predators, has sponsored a bill to repeal the tax on athletes. It was created in 2009 and charges both the home and away teams. As many as 18 states have similar taxes, though at lower rates.

The full weight of the NHL Players Association is behind the legislation. The union called out Tennessee’s privilege tax in the most recent contract and committed to getting the levy repealed.

The tax generates roughly $3.5 million a year, according to a fiscal review. The money is supposed to be used for recruiting events to arenas in Nashville and Memphis.

Johnson’s legislation has been approved by a tax subcommittee. The panel also considered a competing bill from Sen. Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville).

He wants to lower the rate on NBA and NHL players, while also applying the tax to the National Football League. He asked fellow senators for their support, in what could be a tough sell.

“They are big,” he said. “And they are scary.”