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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowRetired Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday won a refund from the Ohio Supreme Court Thursday after he challenged the way in which Cleveland taxes football income.
Saturday and former Chicago Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer argued that they were improperly taxed for games played in Ohio even if they never set foot in Cleveland.
The court’s rulings overturned decisions by the state Board of Tax Appeals.
At issue was an Ohio law allowing cities to levy a so-called “jock tax” on professional entertainers or athletes no matter how long or short a time they're in the state.
Saturday and Hillenmeyer sued over Cleveland's interpretation of the law, saying Cleveland unfairly imposes a 2-percent income tax based on games played in the city as a percentage of total games played.
The city uses a “games-played” calculation that divides the number of contests in the city by the number of games in a season. The players prefer “duty days,” or dividing days in the city by days in a season.
The three-member Ohio Board of Tax Appeals ruled in February that Cleveland’s per-game method of calculating taxable income didn’t violate state law. Saturday and Hillenmeyer appealed the case to the Ohio Supreme Court.
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