Florida officials are hoping state taxes continue to skyrocket.
As long as the taxes are in New York, California, Connecticut, and other blue states where squeezing the taxpayer is official government sport.
Fox Business found, "Data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that while Florida received more movers than any other state last year, New York's outflows to the Sunshine State were the highest – 63,772 people. New York had the third-largest outflows of any state, with 452,580 people moving out within the past year."
Those numbers were from 2016.
In the wake of the Trump tax bill that implemented a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, these caravans of one-percenters fleeing to lower tax states like Florida will "likely only intensify," according to Fox Business.
The story then put the numbers into a form anyone can understand.
"Individuals earning $650,000 can save more than $69,700 in taxes per year by moving from New York to Florida.” The tax savings alone pay for the entire move, with enough money left over for new furniture, beachwear, and a heavy-duty HVAC system.
New York politicians — when not cursing at civilians during casual public encounters — evidently believe rich people are as fixed as a traffic bollard.
That is not the case.
Wealthy economic asylum migrants to lower-tax states cost New York $8.8 billion in adjusted gross income. Under New York’s highest-in-the-nation tax burden of 12.97 percent, those tax refugees represent roughly $1.1 billion dollars in lost tax revenue.
A LendingTree analysis proved that being the landing zone for tax migration pays off in a big way: "The Sunshine State drew in a net influx of about $17.7 billion in adjusted gross income — most of which (72 percent) came from those aged 55 and older. It is consistently one of the most popular destinations for retirees due to affordability and low taxes."
Texas and South Carolina are also doing quite well from tax asylum applicants moving south. Although not in Florida’s league, both states saw an increase in income of approximately $2.25 billion each.
What this injection of revenue does for all low-tax states is obvious.
These new residents are buying homes, renting apartments, shopping for cars, buying groceries, and contributing to the local economy. They also contribute to job creation each time they open their wallets.
It’s discretionary spending income that won’t be spent in their former states.
There’s a lesson in this for greedy politicians who don’t think your money really belongs to you. One can’t squeeze blood from a turnip and politicians can’t squeeze every last dollar from residents as long as there is a moving company still in business.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker’s bureau. Read more reports from Michael Reagan — Go Here Now.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)." Read more of Michael Shannon's reports — Go Here Now.