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Today was a bad day. After meeting with my tax accountant, I am now cutting a very large check to the State of California, all of which resulted from Proposition 30 and the “retroactive tax” that was levied on my 2012 income.
This despite the fact that I already paid my 2012 taxes back in September.
While the law stipulates that I must surrender this money, I refuse to acknowledge this as a tax at all. This is not a tax. This is an asset seizure plain and simple. The term “retroactive tax” is a despicable euphemism. It is no different than when Hugo Chavez used the benign-sounding “nationalize” to describe his seizure of private property in Venezuela.
Now before I go any further, let me tell you what I am not.
I am not a Tea Party member. I am not even a Republican. Twice I have voted for Barack Obama, and I was supportive of his tax compromise earlier this year. I am not a person who opposes paying taxes, even higher ones. I am a very reasonable person who respects the great opportunity that America has given to me.
But there is a very clear and unambiguous line between taxes — regardless of how high they are — and asset seizures. The State of California has taken money from me. Money that I already earned and paid taxes on, and I will not tolerate this act of theft.
So what am I doing about it, other than speaking up?
Well, I am moving my new company — which is now closing a round of venture funding from world-class investors — to the East Coast. Because my last company created almost 200 jobs, most of which were in San Francisco, this is not good news for the State of California.
As I write this, I am hiring people on the East Coast who might otherwise have been hired in California. Some have already been hired. My California employees will be relocating to New York by early next year.
I will also be leaving California next year and de-establishing residency to be with my new company. No more 13.3 percent of my income for you, California. How does 0 percent sound? That sounds good to me.
