Florida raking in billions as Americans abandon high-tax states
New mansion tax could push more New Yorkers to Florida
DeBianchi Real Estate’s Samantha DeBianchi gives her take on the new mansion tax in NYC and the great tax exodus.
State governments can benefit greatly from an influx of movers – enjoying everything from increased tax revenues to new business activity.
Recently, changes to the U.S. tax code have encouraged an increasing number of people to move – taking their cash to lower-tax states like Florida.
As it turns out, however, Florida has been banking on moving trends even prior to the implementation of the new tax law.
According to a new study from LendingTree, which analyzed IRS data from 2016, Florida is the number one largest beneficiary from relocations out of all 50 states – by a landslide.
The Sunshine State drew in a net influx of about $17.7 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI) – 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.
Florida's $17.7 billion in net AGI dwarves the remaining 19 states that saw a positive net influx of income – which combined for a total of $19.4 billion.
South Carolina and another no-income tax state – Texas – trailed Florida, with net adjusted income totals around $2.25 billion apiece.
Florida is unique in that it also draws a large proportion of higher net-worth individuals – more than 85 percent of its net inflow of income came from people earning at least six-figures.
On the flip side, New York lost the largest amount of adjusted gross income from migration, about $8.8 billion.
Another high-tax state, Connecticut, had the largest income loss relative to its overall economy – at $2.6 billion. Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois and New York lost about half of their income from people earning more than $200,000 – indicating the wealthy were picking up and leaving.
While the study analyzed data from 2016, this trend has likely only intensified thanks to recent changes to the U.S. tax code. A $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions has caused an exodus from states like New York, Connecticut and California – where tax burdens were already onerous – to low-tax states like Florida, Texas and Nevada.
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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.
Individuals earning $650,000 can save more than $69,700 in taxes per year by moving from New York to Florida.