Newly released IRS migration data from 2013 shows that Florida was the greatest recipient of new wealth of any other state in the nation. That year, more than 74,000 new residents brought with them $8.34 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI) to spend in the Sunshine State.
Between 1985 and 2013, nearly 1.8 million new residents brought with them more than $116.36 billion in annual AGI. Taxes likely have played a large role in this mass migration to the Sunshine State. Florida is one of nine states that do not tax earned income, and one of only seven that do not tax any form of personal income. On top of that, Republican Governor Rick Scott has worked with the Republican legislature to provide an additional $2.6 billion in tax relief since taking office in 2011.
In 2013, Florida had the largest population gains from the following states:
New York 20,465 ($1.35 billion)
New Jersey 12,457 ($945 million)
Pennsylvania 9,092 ($644 million)
Illinois 7,749 ($1.1 billion)
Connecticut 5,686 ($1.09 billion)
Not only has the Florida legislature worked with Gov. Scott to aggressively reduce the tax burden in Florida, Scott has worked to poach businesses like General Electric and Hertz from other high-tax states like Connecticut and New Jersey. Hertz, which relocated their world headquarters to Florida in 2013 planned to bring 700 jobs paying an average of $102,000 to Florida that year, data that will be reflected in the 2014 tax filings.
Corporate income taxes have also faced significant reductions, with the exemption increasing from $5,000 to $50,000 between 2011 and 2012.
This June, Gov. Scott signed a $427 million tax cut for the upcoming fiscal year. This most recent tax proposal cut cell phone and TV taxes, reduced business taxes, eliminated sales tax on textbooks for college students, and implemented a 10-day sales tax holiday for school supplies.