Rich People Are Not Stupid When It Comes To Income Taxes

Big Red Car here.  Out early, very breezy here in the ATX but warm nonetheless.

Will be 75F today.  Hey, NYC, how you like them apples?

Phil Mickelson and his taxes

Well  The Boss is chatting about some stuff with a pal of his and the subject of Phil Mickelson and his recent comments about moving out of California come up.  Follow the link to see Phil’s comments.

Phil is catching Hell for his saying that California tax policy may drive him to move out of the state.

To put it into perspective, say Phil made $50,000,000 per year and is looking at a 10.3% California personal income tax rate going to 13.3% — he saves over $5,000,000 per year if he moves to a state with no income tax.  Run that out over 10 years and you are looking at some serious cash.

Can you please catalog all the reasons why YOU would forego that much money to live in California?  Clock is running.

Even when you leave you can still come back

A California residence apparently loses his status as a resident upon being gone from the state for 546 consecutive days.  Thereafter he can return for temporary or transitory visits of up to 6 weeks and not jeopardize his status as a non-resident.

Read here for a better explanation.  It is complicated.  Surprised?

So Phil will be able to play some golf tournaments nonetheless.

Tiger Woods leads the way

Of course, Tiger Woods is already on record saying that he moved to Florida from California n 1996 for just that reason.  Florida has no personal income tax.

Say Tiger has made $200,000,000 for each of the last 6 years — how much has he saved already?  Does $120,000,000 sound close?

Again, can you please catalog all the reasons why YOU would forego that much money to live in California?  The clock continues to run.

Politicians continue to think that rich folk are not mobile and will not react with their feet to changing tax policy decisions.

States that have no personal income tax

Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wyoming

I don’t see Phil picking Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota, Washington or Wyoming — so, it is either Florida or Texas.

Phil has access to excellent transportation — private jet — so I see him making the move.

But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway?  I’m just a Big Red Car.

Be good to yourself.  You deserve it.

 

7 thoughts on “Rich People Are Not Stupid When It Comes To Income Taxes

  1. Can’t blame Phil at all even if the media is crucifying him. I’d get a summer home in Wyoming and a winter home in Florida. Maybe Phil will see BRC’s post about whip out.

  2. Don’t forget Tennessee. I moved from Virginia to Tennessee, and did not regret the lower taxes and cost of living.

    Now if we could only improve air travel to the northeast, the move would be a slam dunk.

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