I agree and disagree with John Hinderaker about John Kerry, Millionaire (he owns a mansion and a yacht). The basic background: Senator Kerry (D, MA) built and bought a yacht overseas and has parked it outside of Massachusetts so as to avoid paying Massachusetts taxes on it, which are fairly significant. At least, he was: now that he’s been caught Kerry is making it-was-a-big-misunderstanding noises. Of course.
On the general point that John makes, I agree that if you have a choice between a state that puts an onerous tax burden on the construction and maintenance on an item that you wish to own, and a state that does not, it is only rational to pick the state that does not. In this case, Rhode Island decided that it wanted the business more than it wanted an ‘equitable’ tax burden; Massachusetts did not. Both states got what they wanted. RI got the business, and MA got the smug feeling of knowing that the rich would get soaked if they tried to do business in MA. It’s hardly RI’s fault that MA is now realizing that smug doesn’t balance a spreadsheet. Continue reading Kerry’s tax avoiding: right idea, wrong reason.