Six NHL franchises play in U.S. states that levy no personal income tax: the Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Seattle Kraken, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Vegas Golden Knights. For a player earning eight figures, skipping the state layer on the home portion of a salary can be worth several hundred thousand dollars a year. It is not a full pass on taxes, though. Every road game gets taxed by the state (and sometimes the city) where it’s played, and the federal government takes its cut no matter where a player suits up.
The Six Teams and Their States
- Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning — Florida
- Dallas Stars — Texas
- Nashville Predators — Tennessee
- Vegas Golden Knights — Nevada
- Seattle Kraken — Washington
Florida is the only state with two teams, which makes it the biggest single concentration of tax-advantaged rosters in the league. When free agents weigh similar offers, a club in one of these six markets can put a higher net paycheck on the table without spending an extra dollar of cap space. The edge shows up most clearly in veteran negotiations, where a player chasing a last big contract is watching take-home rather than headline value.
What Players Actually Save at Home
An NHL regular season runs 82 games, split evenly between home and road. But game days are only part of what counts. Practices, team meetings, off-day conditioning, training camp, travel days, promotional appearances, and rehab at team facilities all qualify as “duty days,” and most of that work happens at the home rink. A player on a no-tax-state team can end up with 55% to 60% of total duty days inside their home state, all taxed at zero by that state.
In dollar terms: a player earning $8 million with the Tampa Bay Lightning pays no Florida state tax on roughly $4.4 to $4.8 million of salary attributed to home duty days. A comparable player on the New York Rangers has that same slice of income run through New York’s brackets, which top out at 11.7%.1New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. New York State Withholding Tax Tables and Methods Even at an effective rate well below the top bracket, the gap can exceed $300,000 in a season. Over a four-year deal, the difference easily runs into seven figures.
This is why agents’ spreadsheets sometimes recommend accepting a slightly lower gross contract in Florida, Texas, or Nevada. The net number wins. It’s also why teams in high-tax states occasionally need to pay a premium to land the same free agent.
Road Games Still Get Taxed
Playing for a no-tax-state team does not make a salary tax-free. Almost every state that hosts an NHL game taxes visiting players through what’s known as the “jock tax.” The standard formula divides the season into duty days and taxes a portion of the player’s annual compensation equal to the share of duty days spent in that state.2New Jersey Division of Taxation. Nonresident Athletes, Entertainers, and Performers Six duty days in a state with 200 total duty days on the year means 3% of the annual salary gets taxed at that state’s rates.
The rates vary widely. California’s top marginal rate reaches 13.3%. New York’s top bracket sits at 11.7%.1New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. New York State Withholding Tax Tables and Methods A two-game swing through both produces meaningful nonresident tax bills on just those few days. When the road trip runs the other direction, into Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Nevada, or Washington, the state layer is zero. Most players file nonresident returns in a dozen or more states each season.
Signing Bonuses and Where You Actually Live
NHL contracts are often heavy on signing bonuses, and bonuses are taxed differently than game-day salary. Rather than allocating across states by duty days, a bonus is generally taxed based on the player’s state of legal residence when the bonus is paid. A player who genuinely lives in Florida and receives a $5 million bonus on July 1 owes no state income tax on it, even though the coming season will include road games in high-tax states.
That treatment creates a strong reason for players on no-tax-state teams to establish real residency where they play — not just show up for home games, but actually live there year-round. A player who keeps a home in a high-tax state while playing for a no-tax team risks having the other state claim residency and tax the bonus. States audit athlete residency aggressively, and the numbers on a multi-million dollar bonus make the enforcement effort worth it to them.
What “No State Tax” Doesn’t Cover
The no-tax label only wipes out the state layer. Federal income tax applies to every dollar of NHL salary for U.S. residents and citizens. For 2026, the top federal marginal rate is 37% on income above $640,600 for single filers, a threshold virtually every NHL player clears.3Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
Payroll taxes apply too. The Social Security portion runs 6.2% on wages up to $184,500 in 2026, a cap every NHL player hits early in the season.4Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base Medicare is 1.45% on all wages with no cap, plus an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on wages above $200,000.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3101 – Rate of Tax For a player earning $8 million, the Additional Medicare Tax alone adds roughly $70,200.
Cities can also tax income even when the state doesn’t. St. Louis imposes a 1% earnings tax on anyone working inside city limits, visitors included.6City of St. Louis. Individual Earnings Tax Information Columbus levies 2.5% on income earned in the city.7City of Columbus. General Income Tax Information A Vegas Golden Knights forward still writes checks to those cities after playing there.
The Opposite End: Canadian Teams
Seven NHL franchises play in Canada, and none of them sit in a jurisdiction that exempts personal income from tax. Canada’s top federal rate is 33% on income above roughly $258,000 CAD, and each province adds its own layer on top. Alberta charges the lowest top provincial rate among provinces with NHL teams at 15%. Ontario, which houses two teams, tops out at 13.16%. Quebec’s top provincial rate reaches 25.75%, producing a combined top marginal rate above 53% for a high earner in Montreal.
The U.S.–Canada tax treaty prevents outright double taxation. American players on Canadian teams get credits on their U.S. federal returns for taxes paid to Canada, and the reverse works for Canadian players on U.S. teams. The treaty does not erase the higher overall burden, though. Under Article XVI, signing bonuses paid to non-Canadian residents can be taxed at a flat 15% Canadian withholding rate, which is well below the combined federal-provincial rates that would otherwise apply, and American players on Canadian teams often see their contracts structured with that provision in mind.8Internal Revenue Service. United States – Canada Income Tax Convention
For a player weighing Calgary against Dallas, or Toronto against Tampa Bay, the take-home difference driven by geography alone is real and, over a multi-year contract, large.