Comment by beloch
2 days ago
The effectiveness of other taxes aside, the argument that billionaires will leave if taxed at a higher rate isn't compelling.
Billionaires are not struggling to meet their expenses. If you raise their taxes, they aren't suddenly unable to afford things. They don't need to change their behavior just to get by. A carbon tax forces average people to drive less, but doesn't affect billionaires at all.
Billionaires live where they want to because they can afford to. They're not going to let themselves be chased from jurisdiction to jurisdiction because of numbers that have zero impact on their daily lives. That's what happens to poor people. If California raises taxes on billionaires, very few will actually leave. They're where they want to be and they can afford to stay there. What's the point of having a really big number in your bank account if you have to move to the middle of nowhere in Alabama to keep it from falling just a little?
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Edit: Yes, some billionaires have changed their tax residency, but not necessarily their physical location. They likely still own properties in California and can likely be found on them rather a lot. This is evasion, in spirit if not law. Taxing land is just one way to make them pay. Others should be pursued as well. The argument that we shouldn't tax billionaires because billionaires are good at not paying taxes is complete hogwash.
The article quite literally states the opposite, showing that almost half of the taxable base left because of the Jan 1, 2026 cutoff.
It may not be logical, but money effectively turns into a scoreboard at a certain point. The ultra-wealthy care whether they show up to the yacht club in a 100m or 150m yacht.
That individuals won’t optimize their wealth beyond $100m, $1b, or really any number just doesn’t square with observable behavior.
Starting a business self-selects for people that desire money (over other benefits).
The purpose of a business is money (otherwise you start a hobby or charity or something non-businessey).
Being very successful at business is a selection bias for people that are highly competitive at chasing money.
There's a bunch of traits in very wealthy self-made people due to the filter they have run through.
Tax too much, and we kill the golden geese of the economy. Examples abound around the world of crappy economies that can't afford good socialist stuff because they've demotivated the rain makers.
If you are rich, you want to be in places where you can enjoy and show off and well be rich. Living in some third world or second world hell hole or some deep red state with no mountains or beaches where you can’t drive and enjoy your fancy car just would not be fun it’s basically the reason why you wouldn’t want to be rich from America and live in Mexico or further south.
Not to mention your businesses need to be in relatively affluent areas where most people can afford your products and from an educational standpoint, most of the better schools are on the west coast or are in the upper east coast.
Worry. about the other 99% maybe more precise, the other lower 90% of American Society.
The article claims that 6 individually named billionaires already left (presumably recently), and another is likely to leave if he loses his court challenge.
This is a strange argument coming from the side of the argument that usually talks about billionaires being greedy and doing anything to make the numbers go up even though they can't feel the difference.
They can certainly afford it but they obviously like their money to stay theirs and like getting more of it, not less.
Why move to Alabama, do you know Austin is very good
so what if they do leave?
they're bad for the world around them, and you can add an exit tax if you want to
A dozen billionaires already left California.
> the argument that billionaires will leave if taxed at a higher rate isn't compelling
I agree with this. California’s climate and culture will keep many a billionaire within tax nexus reach of the state. Of course, this isn’t a strategy every locale can pursue, but I don’t see a reason for California not to exploit its advantages.