 This is billionaire Steve Ballmer. He owns the LA Clippers. He pays a way lower tax rate than millionaire LeBron James. He even pays a lower rate than Adelaide Avila, a stadium worker. He's basically dunking on the tax system. Welcome to Planet Tax Avoidance. This is a magical place where sports team owners can tell the government they make tens or even hundreds of millions less than they actually do and pay very little in taxes. And it's all perfectly legal. How? Amortization. Pro sports teams are like unicorns in the business world. They pretty much always increase in value. But our tax laws allow the owners to claim that their team's assets lose value, like a machine that wears out over time. So after buying a team, the owners allowed to write off almost the whole price from their future income. In just five years, the Clippers reported $700 million in losses, reducing Ballmer's tax bill. In 2017, Ballmer reported a $140 million loss to the IRS. Leaked NBA financials around then showed the team $2.1 million in the black. And Ballmer's not alone. Many sports team owners take advantage of this tax break. If an owner dies still owning the team, the taxes they'd avoided will probably never be paid back. In the event the owner sells the team during their lifetime, they do owe the taxes they'd avoided. But they still got a freebie. Because for years, they could take the money they would have paid in taxes and invested for personal profit. That's like an interest-free loan from you, the federal taxpayer. We estimate Ballmer has saved about $140 million in taxes from his ownership of the team. The tax write-offs of pro sports teams cost the government billions.