As we outlined in our glossary entry on luxury tax penalties, an NBA team is subject to more punitive “repeater” tax rates if it finishes a season in luxury tax territory after having also done so in three of the previous four seasons.
If a team is a taxpayer after having stayed out of tax territory for at least two of the previous four seasons, it pays the “standard” tax rates. In 2024/25, those standard tax rates start at $1.50 per dollar in the first tax bracket and increase as a team moves deeper into the tax. By comparison, the repeater rates begin at $2.50 per dollar and are always one dollar higher than the standard rates.
In practical terms, this means that when the Warriors finished over $40MM above the luxury tax line in 2023/24 and were subject to the repeater rate, their tax bill was worth an estimated $177MM. If they had been paying the standard tax rates, that bill would have come in a little under $137MM, saving them $40MM+.
The gap between the standard and repeater rates will further increase beginning in 2025/26, when the NBA tweaks its rates to implement more punitive penalties for repeater taxpayers and teams that operate deep in tax territory. If those new rates had been in place for the 2023/24 Warriors, their tax bill would have exceeded $260MM.
With all that in mind, it’s worth keeping tabs on which teams are subject to the repeater penalties in each NBA season.
In the space below, we’ll monitor which NBA teams have been taxpayers in each of the previous four seasons, updating the list each offseason to ensure the four most recent seasons are accounted for. If a team shows up three of these four lists, they’ll be subject to the repeater tax rate in the current season, as noted at the bottom of the article.
This list can be found anytime under the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right sidebar on our desktop site, or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu.
Updated 7-8-25
Here are the taxpaying teams for the past four seasons:
Note: Teams marked with an asterisk (*) paid the repeater tax rate for that season.
2024/25:
- Boston Celtics
- Dallas Mavericks
- Denver Nuggets
- Golden State Warriors *
- Los Angeles Lakers *
- Miami Heat
- Milwaukee Bucks *
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Phoenix Suns
2023/24:
- Boston Celtics
- Denver Nuggets
- Golden State Warriors *
- Los Angeles Clippers *
- Los Angeles Lakers *
- Miami Heat
- Milwaukee Bucks *
- Phoenix Suns
2022/23:
- Boston Celtics
- Brooklyn Nets
- Dallas Mavericks
- Denver Nuggets
- Golden State Warriors *
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Phoenix Suns
2021/22:
- Brooklyn Nets
- Golden State Warriors
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Utah Jazz
Based on the lists above, the following teams will be subject to the repeater rate in 2025/26 if they finish the season in the tax:
- Boston Celtics
- Denver Nuggets
- Golden State Warriors
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Phoenix Suns