Death by Taxes. That’s what could happen to Los Angeles if the wealthy flee or stay away from the city due to a “mansion tax.” Many will look to greener pastures—dollar green.
This from thegatewaypundit.com.
TMZ caught up with the real estate mogul and “Shark Tank” star Barbara Corcoran in New York City.
She agrees with the Death by Taxes scenario for Los Angeles.
She told the entertainment news outlet:
People hate to pay taxes on entrances or exits to their homes. They feel like they’re hit upon, taken advantage of.
Last November, Los Angeles voters passed Measure ULA—a new city property transfer tax on real estate sales.
According to the New York Times:
A 4-percent tax on homes selling for $5 million or more and a 5.5 percent tax on properties that sell for over $10 million will go into effect Saturday—April Fool’s Day.
According to TMZ:
The monies garnered from the tax are supposed to fund affordable housing in L.A. and help to alleviate the city’s homeless crisis.
The aptly nicknamed “mansion tax” is projected by some to bring in $1 billion annually.
But the question being bantered about is, ‘How will those projections be met if a slew of wealthy home seekers shies away from the city to avoid the tax?’
No one wants to be a prisoner in their own home.
Corcoran agrees:
The mansion tax is going to give people more motivation for not moving out or moving in.
Escaping L.A. will be tougher and tougher for the wealthy, and those wanting to avoid a self-imposed prison sentence due to a tax burden will avoid the city like the plague.
It’s not that Corcoran is against helping the homeless; just the opposite.
She thinks an affordable housing fund is:
[M]ore than fair because it’s the obligation of people with money to pay for people who don’t have money.
Corcoran continued:
But a mansion tax is the wrong way to do this. [I]t sends tax revenue out of the state. Nobody benefits in the end.
The housing market will be paralyzed and wealthy people will not look to L.A. for a home. They will look to cities and states with more favorable tax laws.
Corcoran said she believes:
[M]any will opt for southern states instead of paradise lost—California.
They should have seen it coming. Beware the ides of March.
According to the Times:
Last month, wealthy home sellers were cutting prices and making last-minute deals in L.A., trying to beat the clock and unload their properties before the mansion tax kicked in.
The selling frenzy saw luxury brokers like Josh Altman, a regular presence on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing, offering agents a $1 million bonus if they brought a buyer in before April 1 for a seven-bedroom Bel Air estate priced at nearly $28 million.
It’s no wonder. The mansion tax has to be paid by the seller.
L.A. is Crazy Town. But it’s not just L.A. The craziness is spreading from state to state and city to city.
Our government—local, state and federal—is spending our tax dollars willy-nilly.
