Live data from Hacker News

Tech IPOs could be windfall for California budget

marketwatch.com

1–10 of 25 posts

Re: Tech IPOs could be windfall for California budget

#4

If you know you are about to receive a huge windfall of life changing amounts of money why wouldn't you move to a income tax free state 6 months ahead of time?

Your team is located in San Francisco and is iffy about remote work and the last thing you want to do is jeopardize your job or performance-based compensation by ditching at this key time for the company.

Re: Tech IPOs could be windfall for California budget

#7
post #2

This seems like an interesting moment for the state to invest in infrastructure. Perhaps there is a way to redistribute some wealth for societal progress.

Let’s build the planned Caltrain tunnel into downtown SF and BART tunnel into downtown SJ so the impact on the housing market is distributed more widely and people from more backgrounds can afford to commute to these centers of economic growth. And let’s legalize the construction of high-rises within 1 mile of any BART or Caltrain station and invest in increasing the frequency and hours of the trains.

Re: Tech IPOs could be windfall for California budget

#9
post #5

If you know you are about to receive a huge windfall of life changing amounts of money why wouldn't you move to a income tax free state 6 months ahead of time?

Maybe life is about more than just minimizing tax obligations?

> Maybe life is about more than just minimizing tax obligations?

Life is all about minimizing tax obligations.

Most people don't know about the tax minimization strategies (e.g. Puerto Rico, loss harvesting, etc). Simply tell them and they'll do it too.

For the lower and middle class, life is about maximizing happiness because the most of their life is spent working or worrying about rent/bills.

Re: Tech IPOs could be windfall for California budget

#10

If you know you are about to receive a huge windfall of life changing amounts of money why wouldn't you move to a income tax free state 6 months ahead of time?

Some people absolutely do, but most do not because the trade-off isn't worth it. I know friends of friends who have done so, but they are the exception.

Most people who will be making substantial sums from an IPO, and therefore stand to gain substantially by minimising taxes, likely live comfortably in the area. They may have a strong community of friends and family here, well developed hobbies here, enjoy the benefits of living in California, etc.

Most people who will make that much money from an IPO likely want to be in a position to make new moves, take on new opportunities, and will want to be in the ecosystem where they can take on meaningful challenges. Establishing a new network in a new geography takes time, and there aren't that many great geographies to do so. Only a handful of states have no cap gains tax, so your options are pretty limited, though states like Texas or Washington could be good new starting places.

Post reply on HN