For decades, California represented the American Dream.It was the state where entrepreneurs built companies like Apple and Google, innovators changed the world, and families sought opportunity.But today, a growing number of Californians are packing up their moving trucks and heading east across the state line to Nevada.The reason isn't hard to understand.Many residents feel like California's government sees successful taxpayers not as citizens to attract, but as revenue sources to tap.TAX AND RUN: HOW NY AND CALIFORNIA ARE BLEEDING PEOPLE AND PROSPERITYWealthy and successful California residents are opting to move to neighboring Nevada.
(Getty Images/iStock)Nevada, on the other hand, is becoming the "Golden Nugget" of the American West.A place where people can keep more of what they earn, enjoy a lower cost of living, and escape an increasingly aggressive tax environment.The tax differences are staggering.California's top state income tax rate sits at 13.3%, the highest in America.
Nevada's state income tax rate is zero.TEXAS EMERGES AS THE TOP DESTINATION FOR COMPANIES LEAVING BLUE STATESFor a business owner earning $1 million annually, that difference can mean more than $130,000 per year.For someone earning $5 million, the annual savings can exceed $650,000.
Over a decade, that can translate into millions of dollars that stay in a family's investment accounts instead of going to Sacramento.But it isn't just the income tax that has many Californians concerned.Several California cities have adopted so-called "mansion taxes" on high-value real estate sales.In Los Angeles, for example, sellers of expensive homes can face an additional transfer tax that can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions on a single transaction of real estate, on top of the seller commissions.HIGH-SPEED RAIL ISN'T CALIFORNIA'S ONLY EXPENSIVE BOONDOGGLEFor successful entrepreneurs and investors, these taxes feel like another signal that the state is increasingly focuse...