Washington Millionaire Tax Drives Rich to Florida Real Estate
Left 50%
Center 0%
Right 50%
1 left · 0 center · 1 right
What happened
Washington's Democratic-controlled Legislature passed, and Gov. Bob Ferguson signed, a 9.9 percent tax on annual adjusted gross income above $1 million. The tax is set to take effect on January 1, 2028, with initial returns due in April 2029, and it is a major change for a state that currently has no individual income tax; Washington already applies a capital gains tax of 7 percent on the first $1 million of taxable capital gains and 9.9 percent on amounts above that, with real estate exempt. The income tax faces a court challenge over its constitutionality and is the subject of a statewide initiative that will let voters accept or reject it. Luxury real-estate professionals in Florida and a survey by the Association of Washington Business have reported increased interest among high earners and business leaders in leaving the state, including for Florida, which has no state income tax.
Sourcing check · Mostly on the record · 2 articles
1 of 2 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
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Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage frames the millionaire tax as a repeal fight headed to voters and never mentions a single household leaving Washington. Right-leaning coverage reports closed Florida purchases and a business survey on moving, and it raises the ballot only when a senator's spokesperson refuses to comment. The Times never mentions Florida, relocation, or any survey of executives thinking about a move. Fox never treats the accept-or-reject vote as the fact that decides whether the tax will stand.
Left-leaning coverage leads with the chance to accept or reject a 9.9 percent levy. Right-leaning coverage leads with a Florida real estate surge and buries the ballot in a spokesperson's refusal to discuss it.
How many Washington millionaires have actually established legal residency in Florida?
Bottom line
The Times never mentions anyone leaving Washington. Fox News treats flight as real on a 55 percent survey of business leaders plus a broker's closed Florida deals, with no count of millionaires who actually changed residency.
The receipts — 6 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Washington high earners have closed Florida real estate deals and are setting up life there
- 55% of surveyed business leaders are considering moving their personal residence to another state
- Comprehensive data tracking millionaire migration after the tax are not yet available
- The millionaire tax takes effect January 1, 2028
- The tax is facing a court challenge over its constitutionality
- The levy broke the state's taboo against levying income taxes
The Left View
The New York Times presents the story as one in which the Legislature taxed millionaires, breaking the state's taboo against income taxes, and "the rich" now want the tax repealed. It highlights that voters will have the chance to accept or reject the levy.
The Right View
Fox News frames the tax as already pushing Washington high earners toward Florida real estate. Luxury property specialist Margit Brandt told the outlet that "the first thing is taxes" and that lawmakers had "created this really punitive tax environment that's unappealing to the high-net-worth individuals who are the high earners in Washington State." She said her market had seen "actual deals — big deals" and that "this is not hypothetical," describing "closed transactions with people setting up a whole new life here in Florida." An Association of Washington Business survey found 24 percent of respondents considering moving their businesses out of state, up from 17 percent the prior quarter and nearly triple the rate of 16 months earlier, while 55 percent were considering moving their personal residence (67 percent in Spokane County). Fox also cites Jesse Proudman, founder of Venice.ai, who said he was leaving a former "startup sanctuary" that had grown "increasingly hostile to business leaders," and Starbucks' plan to invest $100 million in a Nashville support office expected to hold 2,000 jobs over five years. Brandt added that safety, culture, quality of life, the absence of a state estate tax, and proximity to the Caribbean also attract multi-generational wealth. The report notes that comprehensive data tracking millionaire migration after the new tax are not yet available.
Our Take (balanced)
The left's strongest argument is that a democratically enacted tax on millionaires, which broke a longstanding state taboo, is now before voters to keep or kill—so opposition from the wealthy is a political campaign, not a verdict on the policy. The right's strongest argument is that the response is already visible in closed Florida home purchases, a sharp rise in AWB survey respondents considering moving firms or residences, and named departures, even though comprehensive migration statistics do not yet exist. The central unresolved tension is whether those pre-effective-date moves and stated intentions prove the tax will drive out the high earners it aims to tax, or whether they are an early, still-reversible reaction whose real fiscal and demographic effects cannot yet be measured.
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