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Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

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Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#91

Post by mosdl »

gautamcgoel wrote: post #48

What I'm really curious about is what happens to Austin (and to a lesser extent, Atlanta, Raleigh, Denver, SLC etc). Does Austin become the next Bay Area/next Seattle? Crazy high housing prices, and high homelessness/crime? If so, how long does that take, and what happens to native Austinites? If not, what prevents history from repeating itself?

Austin already has plenty of homeless people, and the #s are quite comparable to san jose for example - they are just more visible in the bay area due to lax rules for them (plus weather).

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#92

Post by bsagdiyev »

jeffbee wrote: post #59
dlp211 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Taxes are much better Only for the upper-middle class and rich. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-19/wait-c...

Right. People don’t get this because tax policy is dominated by right-wing memes but tax load for median families is way higher in Texas. Property tax rates on the median house are higher, while the effective income tax on the median income in California is very little. Median income tax burden in California is ~$350/yr.

That seems way off… when I earned $16/hr way back in my early working days my CA state income tax was a hell of a lot more than $350/yr. $16/hr is under the median CA income afaik.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#93

Post by [deleted] »

danhak wrote: post #34

California's tax regime is really backward. I suspect Tesla's departure is just the tip of the iceberg and that the repeal of the SALT deduction in 2017 really hastened this trend. High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50%. They are partially picking up the slack from Prop 13, which artificially distorts the housing market by allowing longtime homeowners to pay property taxes based on decades-old assessed value…

[deleted]

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#94

Post by [deleted] »

prepend wrote: post #81
guardiangod wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50%. Musk has not paid any tax because he hasn't cashed out any of his stock options yet. Some of his options will expire next year so he will pay tax then, but I am sure California will get the lion share of the tax revenue (as Musk lived in California up to 2021.)

Tesla employees lots of people who pay income tax. Capital gains is taxed on the residence at time of sale, not time of purchase. So if Musk sells when he’s not a resident of CA, he won’t pay CA taxes.

[deleted]

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#95

Post by nabaraz »

danhak wrote: post #34

California's tax regime is really backward. I suspect Tesla's departure is just the tip of the iceberg and that the repeal of the SALT deduction in 2017 really hastened this trend. High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50%. They are partially picking up the slack from Prop 13, which artificially distorts the housing market by allowing longtime homeowners to pay property taxes based on decades-old assessed value…

I think the exodus from California to Texas is overblown. The choice is between

Earn above average salary and enjoy good weather, politics, and outdoors.

Earn a median salary and enjoy okay weather and lower taxes.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#96

Post by abduhl »

jeffbee wrote: post #59
dlp211 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Taxes are much better Only for the upper-middle class and rich. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-19/wait-c...

Right. People don’t get this because tax policy is dominated by right-wing memes but tax load for median families is way higher in Texas. Property tax rates on the median house are higher, while the effective income tax on the median income in California is very little. Median income tax burden in California is ~$350/yr.

Does the median family own their house? If not, then property taxes are not a relevant issue and if your argument is “median income tax gains are offset/overshadowed by median property tax losses” then you’re just wrong.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#97

Post by outside1234 »

prepend wrote: post #81
guardiangod wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50%. Musk has not paid any tax because he hasn't cashed out any of his stock options yet. Some of his options will expire next year so he will pay tax then, but I am sure California will get the lion share of the tax revenue (as Musk lived in California up to 2021.)

Tesla employees lots of people who pay income tax. Capital gains is taxed on the residence at time of sale, not time of purchase. So if Musk sells when he’s not a resident of CA, he won’t pay CA taxes.

That's not actually true - California will probably consider this California income because he earned it while in California.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#98

Post by ricardobeat »

pdq wrote: post #57

This is mostly symbolic so far as Tesla doesn’t even have the factory ready. Elon has options to exercise in Q4 before they expire, which will realize a substantial capital gain. By moving both personally and his business to Texas, he is likely avoiding California state income tax and capital gains, since Texas has neither. I’d say that’s bad faith, given how much California has subsidized his companies.

How much has California subsidized his companies?

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#99

Post by AmericanChopper »

prepend wrote: post #81
guardiangod wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50%. Musk has not paid any tax because he hasn't cashed out any of his stock options yet. Some of his options will expire next year so he will pay tax then, but I am sure California will get the lion share of the tax revenue (as Musk lived in California up to 2021.)

Tesla employees lots of people who pay income tax. Capital gains is taxed on the residence at time of sale, not time of purchase. So if Musk sells when he’s not a resident of CA, he won’t pay CA taxes.

Isn’t any equity he is awarded for the period of work he did as a tax resident of California, taxable in California, regardless of whether those gains are realized today or in 20 years?

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#100

Post by ironmagma »

CheezeIt wrote: post #37
danhak wrote: post #34

California's tax regime is really backward. I suspect Tesla's departure is just the tip of the iceberg and that the repeal of the SALT deduction in 2017 really hastened this trend. High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50%. They are partially picking up the slack from Prop 13, which artificially distorts the housing market by allowing longtime homeowners to pay property taxes based on decades-old assessed value…

The public schools aren’t pitiful at all. California has great schools.

As long as you consider changing the school name to be a great use of effort.
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