50% Taxes When Alive, 50% Taxes When You Die - New York: the “Must-Leave State”

I, Ronn Torossian, am a born and bred New Yorker, who raises a family here, owns a business – and loves all this city has to offer. Yet I would be among the first to advise people not to live or move to New York if they don’t have to. If they have ambition or drive, New York isn’t the place to be. From the non-stop energy to the culture, indeed, this city deserves its title as capital of the world. Yet from a business perspective, there are so many obstacles for living – and dying – in New York that one shouldn’t do it unless they absolutely have to. Why? The issue is really quite simple – while you are alive, if successful, you will pay 54% taxes as a resident of New York City. And if you are successful, your heirs will be taxed on the monies which you kept after the government took their share.

The latest report from the Tax Foundation notes yet again in 2014, New York ranks as the highest taxed state in America. New Yorkers spend 12.6% of their per capita income on state and local taxes, the highest percentage of any state in the nation. 2014 marked the third consecutive year that New York had the highest tax burden in the nation. And New York ranks 50th in the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index. The Index compares the states in five areas of taxation that impact business: corporate taxes, individual income taxes, sales taxes, unemployment insurance taxes, and taxes on property, including residential and commercial property.

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