Grant Williams did the math.
The Massachusetts Millionaire’s Tax didn’t add up and now the feisty Celtic forward is reportedly heading to Texas to play for the Dallas Mavericks for $54 million over four years.
“In Boston,” he was quoted as saying in The Athletic, “it’s really like $48 million with the Millionaire’s Tax, so $54 million in Dallas is really like $58 million in Boston … It was a little strategic on that end.
“So to come out with this makes me feel very comfortable,” he added.
Williams played for Tenessee but almost went to Harvard. The Mavericks’ owner is also “Shark Tank” gazillionaire Mark Cuban. You can bet the two discussed the Millionaire’s Tax. Now the Celtics have lost a key spark off the bench to the Lone Star State where Williams will team up with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.
“The talent on this team is absurd,” Williams told the Athletic. He’s also saved on winter heating bills, but that’s nothing compared to the added 4% hit on earnings above $1 million. Everyone already pays a 5% tax on earnings below a million.
Now with the Celtics suffering, some are saying I told you so.
“Surtax proponents specifically told us things like this wouldn’t happen. That was clearly a lie. However you feel about Grant Williams, the Boston Celtics, or Boston sports in general, it would be hard to argue that the successes of our local teams don’t have a huge impact on our state economy,” said Paul D. Craney, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “Grant Williams just gave us a concrete example of how our state’s new tax code is making it more difficult to compete in Massachusetts.”
Bay State voters passed the tax last year by slightly more than half.
Revenues from this tax will be used for public education, public colleges and universities; and for the repair and maintenance of roads, bridges and public transportation — subject to appropriation by the state Legislature. This change may increase annual state revenues by an estimated $1.2 billion in the near term.
The Pioneer Institute recently crunched 2021 data from the IRS, and its analysis revealed that net out-migration from Massachusetts is speeding up and is greatest among affluent residents who pay the most in state taxes. Between 2019 and 2021, Massachusetts rose from ninth to fourth among all states in net out-migration of wealth, behind only California, New York, and Illinois.
They are heading to New Hampshire and Florida — by 67% — with the Sunshine State becoming more popular in the past few years, Pioneer added.
Pioneer says a combination of the state’s estate tax, non-deductibility of state and local taxes beyond $10,000, and the passage of a 4% tax on incomes over $1 million which was “manipulatively titled the Fair Share Amendment,” combined with the rise of remote work while jurisdictions compete for talent, has returned Massachusetts to its “Taxachusetts” roots.
Craney put it succinctly.
“Massachusetts cannot afford to continue to be hostile to success,” he said.
“There are people at companies making decisions like this every day,” he added. “There are small business owners and retirees doing the math out and coming to similar conclusions.”
