Sure, but that’s always been the case. It’s not like Florida recently got rid of state income taxes - we’ve never had them. Which is, in part, why wealthy enclaves in West Palm Beach have been a by-word for rich transplants since…well, nearly forever.
Recently, though, we’ve seen a sharp uptick in transplants of finance and tech high net worth individuals. Part of it was the disruption of Covid - if you’re going to be in lock down, much nicer to spend it in a large waterfront Florida estate home than in even a large Central Park West apartment. But it’s stuck, and we’re still seeing more and more HNWI’s moving down here - and not just retirees, and not ones moving to Boca. There’s been a shift in the past five years - and since taxes didn’t change during that time period, I think it’s something else.
The 2021 Washington State Legislature recently passed ESSB 5096 (RCW 82.87) which creates a 7% tax on the sale or exchange of long-term capital assets such as stocks, bonds, business interests, or other investments and tangible assets.
Will miracles ever cease?
The crazy thing…
Most of the money would not face much in federal or state capital gains taxes. Nothing Bezos would mind much.
Timing matters but not in the way you think. The filthy rich generally move to the filthy rich enclaves of Florida near the end of their productive lives. They tend to build their fortunes (with the notable exception of oil barons) in the high tax states and cities. There is a reason for this. Taxes are high in certain states because that is where the big time economic activity is happening. Those are the places people want to live who are in the productive stage of their lives.
The cost of living is much higher in the Silicon Valley than Lubbock TX and it is not because nerds like to spend more than cowboys.
It’s possible that albaby is right and Zoom reduces the importance of face-to-face management. Connectivity may matter more than location in this brave new world. I have my doubts though. I’m skeptical that type-A control freaks can be satisfied with virtual interactions.
Hey, I’ve seen Suits and LA Law. You can’t fool me. Armani suits, lobster and caviar, making it rain at strip clubs with fashion models.
I don’t necessarily think they’re running the important parts of their businesses through Zoom. If Jeff Bezos has a really important meeting, it will probably be in person. He might make the persons fly to him, rather than fly back to Washington, now that he’s not all that hands-on - or maybe he spends a few weeks in Seattle at a time. He’s ultra-rich - he doesn’t have to have a single place he lives.
But everything else, video conferencing reduces the necessity of having everything in the same spot you are. Charities, foundations, lobbying efforts, trade groups, interviews, meetings with biographers and publicists…and all your hobbies and intellectual interests and a ton of the less important but still necessary work interactions. A lot of that can be done from anywhere now, in a way that wouldn’t have been possible a decade ago. You don’t need to be in any particular city - or in a city that has all that stuff organically nearby - to have all that in your life now. The widespread, near-universal acceptance of video conferencing makes placelessness…easier. So if you’re ultra-rich and already a little placeless, it’s a push towards being able to be somewhere like Miami instead of where your main business is.
Lol. Well, I’ve seen Wall Street. I’m not talking a $1,100,000 a year working Big Law stiff flying first class and being comfortable, I’m talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time.
Bezos has two private jets, which of course can be tracked. It doesn’t necessarily mean he is on them (he can’t be on both of them at the same time, obviously).
Both of his jets make a lot of flights to various Caribbean islands, so I assume he has some interests there that need his attention. Presumably so his interests don’t attract the attention of the revenooers.
His jets also make lots of flights to LA, Miami, and Seattle.
Yep. I knew that wasn’t my strongest point given an original cost basis of a fraction of a penny. I still doubt that bezos would move for the sole or even primary purpose of avoiding a tax that would knock his net worth down from 19o.6 B to 190B.
The Bezos Foundation is smaller with fewer funds and input from his parents.
The Bezos Earth Fund began with $10 Billion. Bezos plans to give most of his money way.
The Fund will possibly see a tax rate of 1.39%. Charities generally do not pay state or federal income tax .
1.39%
For tax years beginning after December 20, 2019, all private foundations subject to the Section 4940 excise tax on net investment income will calculate the tax using the 1.39% rate.Dec 26, 2023
Ayup. The former gang of (L&Ses) in Lansing never met a tax cut it didn’t like. A couple years ago, the state finished with a big surplus. The Gov proposed investing in education and infrastructure (Michigan is notorious for bad roads). The (L&Ses) ignored the Gov and passed their own budget, doling out all the surplus in tax cuts. The Gov vetoed their budget, and proposed her priorities again, which the legislature eventually passed.
Of course the constant whining about taxes continues. Michigan ranks 38th, barely above Alabama, in the US in total tax burden, but taxes are non-zero, so the whining continues.