We'll never know whether it played a role in quarterback Peyton Manning's decision to play for the Denver Broncos rather than the San Francisco 49ers, but the California Taxpayers Association says that it could save the football star millions in state income taxes.
Cal-Tax did some horseback calculations that assumed he would have been paid the same by both teams ($96 million over five years).
It also assumed that he would have paid all of it at each state's highest income tax rate, and in California's case that would be both the current rate and what it would be if Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed income tax hike is approved by voters. It also applied the state Franchise Tax Board's formula for professional athletes, which assumes that roughly 90 percent of the salary is taxable in a team's home state.
Those assumptions would give Manning, Cal-Tax said, a taxable income over five years of $86.4 million, which would mean $8.9 million in taxes for California under the current system or $11.5 million under Brown's proposal, against $4 million in Colorado.
Of course Manning could have opted to play in Florida, which has no state income tax.
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