The state of Washington also wants to fleece the rich and has passed a new law intended to ensure this. The law comes into force in 2028, but the rich are already preparing to move.
Already now, the new millionaire tax appears to be succeeding in proving that incentives play a decisive role. Many of Washington’s most successful residents are increasingly relocating to states without income tax, writes Wall Street Journal.
One of these is Rich Barton, co-founder of the property website Zillow, who writes on X:
We are now officially residents of Las Vegas. The children have moved out, we have an empty nest, and we are looking forward to starting this new chapter.
Officially a Las Vegas resident. Kids are launched, empty nest achieved, and we’re excited to start this next chapter.
— Rich Barton (@Rich_Barton) June 5, 2026
Las Vegas is located in Nevada, which is one of the states in the USA with the lowest tax burden, with no capital gains tax, inheritance tax, or income tax. The Governor of Nevada is Joe Lombardo (R).
Alexis Weisend reports for Seattle Times:
Zillow and a representative for Barton declined to comment on the matter.
Washington has decided to introduce an additional tax of 9.9 per cent on all income above one million dollars. Just as in California, this will probably result in a reduction in total tax revenues, since the wealthiest are mobile.
Howard Schultz has moved from the same state to Florida. He is the former chief executive of Starbucks, and wrote in an article in the WSJ that “the decision to step back had much to do with family circumstances and the stage of life I am in”.
The headline says it all: Seattle turns against the major businesses the city itself created. Starbucks, for its part, has expanded its operations in Tennessee, another Republican-governed state sensible enough to avoid taxing the rich too heavily.
Seattle looks idyllic from the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle. The reality on the ground is different.
The Mayor of Seattle, whom the WSJ describes as the socialist Katie Wilson (D), may now regret that she was one of the advocates of a boycott of Starbucks. Now Starbucks is responding with a boycott of Seattle and the state.
Wilson is a self-declared Democratic Socialist and belongs to the far left wing of the Democrats, just like Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Wilson also supported Defund the Police.
Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, who ranks fifth on the list of the world’s richest people, has also moved out of Washington and settled in Miami, Florida.
As in most areas governed by socialists or social democrats, it is not only revenues that create problems. Expenditure also plays a role.
The Office of Financial Management of Washington Governor Bob Ferguson admits in a letter to state agencies:
“To put it plainly: Significant budget deficits will arise in the next biennium, in both the operating and transportation budgets.
Among the primary causes of our budget challenges are the costs of providing essential services, which are increasing far more rapidly than revenues.”
This is written by the Director of Financial Management, K.D. Chapman-See, who goes on to place the blame on everything under the sun except Governor Ferguson and his Democratic predecessors, who created this economic mess.
Much of this is due to Washington being a so-called sanctuary state, which protects illegal migrants from the federal authorities. As a result, crime is increasing, while at the same time the state’s costs are growing dramatically.
How does a budget problem arise in a state that imposes some of the country’s heaviest tax burdens on its residents? The letter admits:
“This year’s revenue forecasts are unlikely to provide a sufficient basis for maintaining current programmes, let alone expansions, despite the recent changes in tax legislation.”
In addition, the President of the United States is threatening to halt federal support for the state. This includes an earlier measure to freeze federal grants related to DEI and climate policy, as well as the cancellation of 1.1 billion dollars in state grants for energy projects connected to what Trump and his team call “The Green New Scam”.
Just over 30 per cent of the state’s expenditure is financed by federal contributions. And even though Democratic judges are doing their best to block this, some of these contributions will disappear, while at the same time the state is losing the segment of its population responsible for most of its revenues.
The same thing is happening in Norway, but for the time being our authorities can cover it through massive withdrawals from the Government Pension Fund Global.