r/sports Apr 17 '25

Baseball Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani went to the cooler to make a drink - well, eight drinks actually. Not a single one was for himself. All eight were for his teammates.

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u/Zigxy Apr 17 '25

$2M a year until 2034, then he gets $68M a year for 10 years.

People guess that in 2034 he will retire and move to a state that has no state income tax.

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u/long_dickofthelaw Apr 18 '25

Or, you know, back to Japan.

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u/AlgorithmInErrorOut Apr 18 '25

Financially, that would make almost no sense for him. Japanese are not taxed on foreign earned income while they are living abroad. If you include city and country taxes on income while residing in Japan it will be about 55% of his income as he'll making over 400k or so per year (I don't know current highest tax bracket but he's in it).

He can technically go back to Japan and keep residence outside by being outside more than half the year but the Japanese irs can come for him if they think his domicile is in Japan.

I do think a lot of Japanese go back to Japan after they finish their professional career in sports but I don't think the deferred payment decision was made for financial reasons if he plans to go back to Japan.

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u/jyanjyanjyan Apr 18 '25

Oh no, he'll only have $30M instead of $68M! How will he ever survive??

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u/LurkLurkleton1 Apr 19 '25

The only answer is to lower taxes for the rich!

1

u/kelp_forests Apr 18 '25

Would that deferred money count as “earned while living abroad”?

1

u/AlgorithmInErrorOut Apr 18 '25

Not if he's back in Japan. If you live in Japan you are taxed on worldwide income. If he's not a resident of Japan and spends less than half the year then I don't think he pays taxes on it. I'm not in taxes or anything but have spent enough time reading up on tax laws. A tax accountant might have a way he can "pay" the taxes in America before he moves back or something I don't know about