Three former star Blue Jays’ players have made headlines — but it’s not for their performances on the field.
According to an article for the National Post, José Bautista, Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin are reportedly engaged in legal disputes with the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) regarding the extent to which they could claim deductions from their income through contributions to Retirement Compensation agreements (RCA) during the time they lived in Toronto.
Bautista, Donaldson and Martin gained significant recognition while playing with the Jays. Bautista, the team’s former slugger, is set to join the Toronto Blue Jays Level of Excellence in a pre-game ceremony on August 12. Donaldson, who played for the Jays for three years, was named an MVP, made it to the playoffs twice and achieved 116 home runs. Martin was with the Jays for five seasons, and was once called the team’s “most irreplaceable player.”
According to the article, the superstar players made top bucks during the seasons they played at the Rogers Centre.
Between 2014-2017, Bautista earned $33 million US; Donaldson earned $28.65 million US from 2015-2017, and Martin earned $42 million US from 2015-2017.
“Whether the contributions should be deducted before the 60/40 split is calculated — which means paying more taxes on the Canadian portion — or on the Canadian portion after the split, is at the heart of the battle,” Chris Nardi writes in the article. “The CRA argues the former, the players argue the latter.”
Setting up RCAs is common among professional athletes who have temporary stays in Canada. However, the CRA is currently questioning the validity of the player’s contributions in these instances. According to reports, the agency is challenging Bautista’s contributions, potentially disallowing up to $16 million over a period of four years.
In the cases of Donaldson and Martin, the issue in question relates to how deductions should be calculated based on where the players  spent their time considering both are U.S. residents. According to the article, they spent 60 per cent of their time in the United States and only 40 per cent in Canada while they played with the Jays. The CRA is reportedly advocating for the deductions to be calculated prior to  determining the players’ time split. The players argue that the deductions should be calculated after the time split is determined.
The cases involving Donaldson and Martin are slated to be jointly heard in July.
