Pennsylvania’s highest court has declared that Pittsburgh’s attempt to force all athletes who compete in the city to pay a tax, even if they aren’t Pennsylvania residents, is unconstitutional and unfair.
The city had passed the tax more than a decade ago, forcing visiting athletes to pay an income tax just for the privilege of playing there. But the state’s supreme court has ruled that the tax unconstitutionally discriminates against nonresidents, according to Legal Newsline.
The ruling is a win for MLB, NHL, and NFL players who visit Pittsburgh to play the city’s home teams.
The lawsuit was brought way back in 2016 by hockey players Kyle Palmieri and Scott Wilson, and former MLB player Jeff Francoeur, after Wilson discovered he was required to pay the city $6,000 to play a single game in Pittsburgh.
The city claimed it had a right to tax visiting players at a three percent rate because its stadiums and arenas had been paid for in part with tax dollars.
But the court disagreed.
“[W]e must determine whether there exists ‘some concrete justification’ for treating the relevant taxpayers as members of distinguishable classes,” state Supreme Court Justice David Wecht wrote in the decision.
“Absent such a legitimate distinction, the imposition of unequal tax burdens upon similarly situated taxpayers is unconstitutional. Here, the City does not provide concrete reasons that would justify taxing nonresident athletes and entertainers more than resident athletes and entertainers,” Wecht added.
The city lost its case in 2022 and again in the Commonwealth Court in 2024. Now the state’s supreme court has upheld the lower courts.
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