Russ Steele
No not me, but Erica Douglass who writes at erica.biz. Here is what she had to say about leaving California:
But one thing I’ve struggled with about California for years is the government. (Yes, I’m going to break my own unspoken rule and wax political on my blog.) The government is notoriously business-unfriendly–with everything from high taxes on business earnings to badgering businesses into more work.)
Examples of the Crap California’s Government has Put Me Through Okay, you want examples. Here are a few things I’ve had to deal with:
1. The State of California arbitrarily decided that all businesses that gross over $100,000/year should have an account where you have to report quarterly on the sales tax your customers pay you for goods sold. The only problem? My company only sold services–not products–which aren’t taxed in California. When I closed the account (by going into a local office and spending nearly an hour explaining my situation), they forced it open again and sent me a nastygram explaining that I would owe fines for not filing the quarterly report. You have to file it 4 times a year, and it takes time to fill out, even if you haven’t sold any products and owe the state nothing.
2. The state charges an income tax of 10% on all income over $47,055. This is in addition to the Federal income tax of 25% on income over $34,001. This is also in addition to an 8.25-9.25% sales tax (depending on where you buy products.) I paid enough in income tax for 2010 to the state of California alone to hire another new worker for my business. I’d bet a lot of money that I’m far more efficient at creating jobs as a small business owner than the state is given the same amount of money. I’d rather have that money to hire someone.
3. And a really dumb law for small business owners, which Meg Whitman promised to repeal: An annual fee of $800 just to have a corporation in the state of California. (Most states don’t charge you, or only charge you a few dollars, as an annual fee to set up a business. California’s is exorbitant, and it applies as long as you, the primary officer of the corporation, live in California…no matter where you incorporate.)
The Final Straw
But the final straw came recently. I had an inkling that if California voters elected Jerry Brown that I’d end up leaving the state. I campaigned hard for Meg Whitman, as she is extremely supportive of small businesses like mine. Alas, she didn’t win, and California elected a governor for another term who was a ridiculously weak governor in his first term.
And he managed to royally screw things up for small businesses again. Here’s what happened: I have a side income selling products on Amazon. Recently, I’ve invested far more time and money in building niche sites to help bolster my Amazon side income. It’s steadily gone up, from a few hundred dollars a year to what will amount to a few thousand dollars this year. Sure, it’s not a ton of money, but I get the payments in Amazon credit and use them to buy many everyday items.
And then Jerry Brown, our idiot governor, signed a budget that included what many have come to call an “Amazon tax”. Basically, the law says that if Amazon has affiliates (people like me who drive traffic to Amazon in exchange for a cut of sales made from people who click through our links), that Amazon has a “presence” in the state of California–and therefore must collect sales tax here. (Kind of like forcing small businesses to file ridiculous quarterly paperwork based solely on our earnings, not on whether we actually sell taxable goods…)
Amazon made the right decision: Instead of kowtowing to California, they immediately cut off all affiliates here in the state.
And that day, I decided to move. It was a “straw that broke the camel’s back” sort of thing.
The problem is Erica only one voice and there are hundreds, if not thousands that are leaving as well for many of the reason Erica gives for her departure. Where is she going? Texas! Austin, one of the fastest growing cites in Texas. If I was moving to Texas, Austin would be at the top of my list. We lived in Ft Worth for two years in the 1970s.
