Shohei Ohtani, a recent signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has won over the hearts of both fans and teammates with his kind nature and impressive baseball skills.
Ohtani won over fans before he ever played a game for the Dodgers by giving pitcher Joe Kelly’s wife, who had pushed for the organization to recruit him, a car. As an additional act of kindness, Ohtani gave Kelly his No. 17 jersey.Thanks to Ohtani’s team-first mentality, the Dodgers have been able to make big acquisitions despite Ohtani’s 700 million dollar mega-contract, which is scheduled to pay only two million dollars in salary over a decade.
His teammates adored him after he gave Dodgers youngster Kendall Williams his signature New Balance spikes.
This touching interaction, which the 23-year-old pitcher documented on Instagram, further cemented Ohtani’s status as a cherished teammate.
salary for OhtaniOhtani will earn a meager two million dollars in 2024, putting him in the lowest wage bracket among Dodgers players.
With salaries of around $30 million and $27 million, respectively, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman will be the team’s highest earners.
Ohtani has been an outstanding member of the Dodgers organization due to his humility and camaraderie, even if he will not be the team’s lowest-paid player just yet. Other rookies who earn the league minimum have not yet joined.
Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million contract sparks concern about taxes on deferred income for high earners
Shohei Ohtani inked a $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball about a month ago, and now the controller of the state of California is demanding “immediate and decisive action” from lawmakers to cap deferred income for the wealthy.
Some have wondered about the potential future state taxability of the Japanese pitcher’s record-breаking agreement, which defers $680 million for 10 years. This is particularly relevant in light of the possibility that Ohtani may leave California. The highest effective tax rate in California will be 14.4% in 2024, with an additional payroll tax of 1.1%.
“The current tax system allows for unlimited deferrals for those fortunate enough to be in the highest tax brackets, creating a significant imbalance in the tax structure,” stated Malia Cohen, California’s state controller, Monday, referring to Ohtani’s deal.”The lack of fair limits on deferral for the richest people makes income inequality worse and makes it harder to distribute taxes fairly,” she stated. “I implore Congress to resolve this imbalance without delay and with firmness.”
The California Center for Jobs and the Economy estimated that Ohtani could save $98 million over the life of his contract by deferring $68 million each year for 10 years. The precise details of Ohtani’s contract are unclear, and the estimate is based on a number of assumptions.According to Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, the problem may not be with deferred income restrictions, even though that is what California’s controller demands.
A Republican-controlled Congress passed a statute prohibiting state taxation of pension income in 1995, he explained. “Ohtani can avoid paying taxes in California by going back to Japan. That’s the rub.”
States are prohibited from taxing “retirement income,” which encompasses deferred compensation, if the individual is not a resident.
Congress has not made deferred income a priority.According to William McBride, VP of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation, politicians have primarily targeted so-called unrealized gains and investment growth, rather than deferred income, even though some Democrats have advocated for increased taxes on the rich.
“Deferred income runs throughout the tax code,” he said, referring to sources like 401(k) and CEO salary income.
According to McBride, “the state in a worse position in terms of its ability to collect revenue from these high earners and star athletes because they wouldn’t be there” if deferred income taxes were imposed by Congress.