Top New York companies that survived the pandemic are now considering packing their bags for more than $ 7 billion in proposed new state taxes.
According to Kathyrn Wylde, CEO of the business-backed partnership for New York City, at least 20 finance and technology companies are poised to leave for sunny, low-tax Florida.
“The legislature’s proposals will move us in the opposite direction by scaring away the corporations and tax bases required to do so,” said James Whelan, the New York president’s powerful Real Estate Board.
If the Democrat-controlled state legislature approves its proposed $ 208 billion plan in taxes and expenditures, “New York State will be the most taxed state in the country,” Wylde complained.
Engineering jobs – so easily switched to “remote” in 2020 – are particularly vulnerable to relocation. “Technology is our main job creator in New York right now, and they’re already making decisions not to stay in New York,” said Wylde, refusing to name names.
Pols from Albany appear to be planning “to punish the wealthy,” Wylde said.
And the cold new tax climate could also mean that high-income New Yorkers who temporarily fled the city to places like Palm Beach wouldn’t return. “We cannot assume that the millionaires and billionaires will return to New York,” Wylde said.
Big names on Wall Street have already threatened to pack their bags if Albany enacts a transfer tax proposed in an active bill. Under the measure, the state would require a percentage of the proceeds from any purchase or sale of shares or other securities.
“While New York has remained a center of gravity for the financial sector, many employees of ‘Wall Street’ companies are migrating to Florida, Texas and other states with hospitable tax policies,” said Stacey Cunningham, president of the New York Stock Exchange, wrote. last month in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
The New York Stock Exchange belongs in New York. However, if Albany lawmakers get their way, the center of the global financial industry may need to find a new home, ” she warned.
A Nasdaq spokesperson has not returned any word about his plans.
The CEO of Manhattan-based high-frequency trader Virtu Financial, Douglas Cifu, has called a tax on the transfer of shares “foolish.”
“We have an office in Florida and we would just leave New York State,” he said during an earnings call in February. “We would never pay anyone from New York State [stock-transfer] tax. “
Cifu added that the Texas legislature is considering a ban on “ any form of transaction tax. ”
According to reports, Goldman Sachs is considering moving its asset management business to Florida and setting up offices in Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. A Goldman representative told The Post Friday, “We are executing the strategy of finding more jobs in high-value locations in the US, but we don’t have any specific plans to announce at this point.”
Senator Alexis Weik, a Republican from Long Island, said, “Rather than focusing on keeping New Yorkers in New York, this irresponsible tax and spending policy will continue to drive our residents out of the state.”
The exodus may not be limited to asset-light companies whose employees work with a laptop.
JetBlue, the New York-based airline, said in a March 11 memo to The Post employees that it was “exploring” moving “an unspecified number of roles to existing support centers in Florida.”
Whelan, of REBNY, made a doomsday prediction if the tax hikes continue:
“We’ve been down this road before. In the 1960s and 1970s, such policies eventually discouraged investment in New York City and led to a reduced tax base and resources for the provision of government services. The results were devastating: two decades of tax problems coupled with rising crime and an unacceptable quality of life. “