https://jeffjacoby.com/27330/jeff-bezos-moves-to-florida-leaving-washington

Jeff Bezos moves to Florida, leaving Washington — and its rising tax burden — behind
by Jeff Jacoby  — The Boston Globe  — November 8, 2023

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But as the Tax Foundation’s lead researcher, Jared Walczak, immediately observed, Bezos is almost certainly going to save money — a lot of money — once he is no longer subject to Washington’s tax laws.

To begin with, Washington has a new capital gains tax, which was upheld by the state’s highest court in March. The tax takes a 7 percent bite of all investment gains above $250,000. In 2020 and 2021, when Bezos sold several million shares of Amazon stock, the proceeds totaled $15.7 billion. Assuming he disposed of stock he had owned since Amazon went public in 1997, Walczak calculated, Bezos “saved nearly $1.1 billion in taxes by selling those shares before the new state capital gains tax went into effect.” By relocating to Florida, he ensures that future stock sales will likewise remain untouched by Washington’s new capital gains levy.

That’s not all.

Washington had no estate tax during the years when Bezos was building Amazon into a commercial giant, but that changed after 2005. Now Washington has the steepest death tax in the nation, with a top rate of 20 percent on estates worth more than $9 million. Florida, on the other hand, has no estate tax at all. For a man with a personal fortune of more than $160 billion, the move from Washington to Florida could be worth $30 billion or more to his heirs.

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The “rich” can move to avoid taxes; what about the “little” people … …

… … who can’t afford to move.  Don’t think that the taxes are only on the “rich”.  Inflation ensures that everyone is hit.  Maybe not equally, but enough to hurt.  And, they have no choice but to stand and take it.

Argh!

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