<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> In the United States, the jock tax is the colloquially named income tax levied against visitors to a city or state who earn money in that jurisdiction . Since a state cannot afford to track the many individuals who do business on an itinerant basis, the ones targeted are usually very wealthy and high profile, namely professional athletes . Not only are the working schedules of famous sports players public, so are their salaries . The state can compute and collect the amount with very little investment of time and effort . </P> <P> The modern "jock tax" originated in 1991, when California imposed the tax on the earnings of Chicago Bulls players who traveled to Los Angeles to play the Lakers in that year's NBA Finals . Illinois soon retaliated, imposing its own "jock tax" on out - of - state players--although Illinois' tax is only imposed on athletes from states that impose jock taxes on Illinois - based players . Other states followed suit; by 2014, the only U.S. jurisdictions with major professional teams without a jock tax were Florida, Texas, Washington state, and Washington, D.C. (the three states do not impose personal income taxes, while the U.S. Congress specifically prohibits the District of Columbia from imposing its income tax on non-residents who work there). </P> <P> The following is an in - depth analysis of modern - day examples and criticisms of the jock tax . </P>

Do nba players pay taxes in every state