I know I have posted several times about the ongoing hunt for taxes by cities, states and even the federal government.   You might ask, why the obsession with exposing this hunt?  Put simply, if you are not aware of it and start to resist new forms of taxes, it will not be long until you are taxed essentially 100%.  If you were taxed at 100% of your income, how motivated would you be to work?  If you are unmotivated, would the rest of society be equally unmotivated?  I think society would break down at that point.

But come on, you protest, we will never get to 100%.  I may agree with you but does it take be taxed at 100% for your motivation to work to be stamped out?  At what rate then?  If you are not aware and take steps to protect yourself, you will eventually find out that rate.

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the 26 year ol baseball sensation, Bryce Harper.  There was  a lot of speculation which team would pony up the crazy high salary he could demand.  There were a lot of offers made, the one he accepted was for $330 million to play for 13 years.  It was the Philadelphia Phillies who won (purchased) his loyalty.

Many people do not know that there were other offers in the same price range.  But did you know that Bryce seriously considered a similar compensation package from the San Francisco Giants?  Why did he choose Philadelphia?  TAXES!

Yes, you read that right Bryce’s choice is clear evidence tht state taxes are affecting the economy. Why did Bryce decline the offer from the Giants? California’s high taxes. Because the bottom line net of what California would take was insane.  There was so much less for Bryce that he simply when with a more sane state government.  Philadelphia will thank California’s short sightedness every time Bryce knocks one out of the park.

Governments (California is just one of them) are only looking at their own survival, and to hell with the people. There is a major shift in migration and California now has more people fleeing the state than desiring to move there. Taxes are a major component and they define the bottom line.

There are several IT firms that are experiencing the same loss of talent all because California already has the highest state income taxes in the country.  Do you know of other businesses?

Questions:

1) Do you want to pay these new taxes

2) Is there a way to protect you wealth from new taxes?

3) What is the single best tax benefit in the tax code?