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Comment by chadlavi | Hacker News Reader

It's a tax dodge.

You probably get far more for your money though. (Property/land-wise)

I also remember reading stories years ago about CA/SV businesses that had offices up in Colorado as a back-up for when 'The Big One' hits.

Yes, ironically property taxes are much higher in Texas than California.

And toll roads, etc...

In short, the money has to come from somewhere — if not from income tax then it will be from somewhere else.

>ironically property taxes are much higher in Texas than California.

The rate may be higher, but the total paid will probably be less.

State/Median property tax rate/Median property tax

CA/0.74%/$2839

TX/1.8%/$2275

Source: http://www.tax-rates.org/california/property-tax

Thanks to not having a prop 13 low prop tax house, my prop tax rate was effectively 1.5% in california. Prop tax is cheap in CA, if you're old!

He can just stick a few livestock on a corner of his property and get an Agriculture exemption.

I thought you had to be "grandfathered" (poor word choice, I know) into that.

I think as long as you have enough acreage you can qualify. Texas privileges wealth so I imagine he can gain the privilege if it's limited as you've described.

A 2% tax rate on a home in Texas is much less in dollar terms than a 1% tax rate on a home of equivalent size in California

The challenge is if you need to work in tech and eventually need to commute daily/weekly to headquarters. You'll need to be within 30 minutes of Austin if you want to be in new tech (Apple, Google) or 30 minutes of Dallas/Houston if you are okay with legacy tech (HP, IBM). And you'll want to be in a good school district with like minded high income folks with restaurants options.

You'll likely be paying close at best the equivalent of Silicon Valley housing.

Not at all.

Casually surfing around Austin's future Apple headquarters on Redfin, for a Single Family with school ranking scores above 7-8 , I'm seeing 1M+?

Property Tax rates are higher in Texas. But there is no major city in California near a job center where I am able to get a nice move in ready home for 250k. A comparable home to that house that is 250k in California will be paying more in property taxes annually.

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Houston/9730-Arched-Oak-Dr-77095/h...

The percentage of someone's income that they spend on property/land probably goes down as their income goes up. For someone like Elon Musk, the lower tax rate is probably more enticing than the lower property/land costs.

If you want to do things, it is easier in Texas. That's a general statement, and I mean it generally. It isn't just taxes. There is friction on everything you try to do in California. Life is easier and happier without it.

Are you sure? Anyone remember this? https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/10/elon-musk...

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