Jeff Bezos Will Save At Least $610 Million In State Taxes By Moving To Florida From Washington This Year

Last week, news broke of Jeff Bezos‘ staggering $2 billion stock sale, accompanied by the convenient perk of the absence of state taxes. 

This development comes as no surprise after Bezos’ revealed his decision to uproot himself from his famous home in Seattle, where he resided for nearly three decades, and relocate to Miami. While Bezos cited reasons such as proximity to family and his space exploration ventures at Blue Origin, tax avoidance as an underlying motivation cannot be discounted.

In 2022, Washington state introduced a progressive capital gains tax of 7% on the sale of stocks or bonds that exceeded $250,000.

As Washington lacked a personal income tax, this was the first instance where Bezos would be subject to state taxes on his stock sales. This tax imposition disrupted Bezos’ long-standing pattern of selling billions of dollars worth of Amazon shares annually since 1998. These sales primarily fueled his philanthropic endeavors, investment in Blue Origin and indulgence in lavish luxuries like his $500 million mega yacht and an ever-expanding collection of mansions alongside his fiancée, Lauren Sanchez.

Upon the tax’s implementation, Bezos abruptly ceased his stock sales and in 2022 and 2023 – not a single Amazon share was sold, with a meager $200 million worth of shares gifted at the end of last year. However, after he migrated to Miami, Bezos quickly made up for lost opportunities and a recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing unveiled his pre-scheduled stock-selling plan, which aimed to to unload 50 million shares before January 31, 2025. At today’s market value, this amount translates to $8.7 billion.

Florida boasts a notable absence of state income tax or capital gains tax, which makes it an ideal haven for the wealthy to evade fiscal liabilities.

On his recent $2 billion stock sale, Bezos managed to circumvent a payment of $140 million in taxes that would have otherwise been due to Washington state. As the sale of 50 million shares continues over the coming year, his minimum tax savings will soar to an estimated $610 million. That projection assumes that Amazon shares remain stagnant – if they continue to ascend, Bezos’ stock value and tax benefits will escalate even further.

In essence, Bezos has managed to offset the cost of his opulent 417-foot yacht solely through his tax savings in Florida.

Not content with his nautical extravagance, Bezos has also ventured into the real estate market and acquired two mansions in Indian Creek for $147 million. Reports indicate that he has considered three additional properties on the island, which boasts high-profile residents like Tom Brady and Carl Icahn. Miami’s real estate brokers speculate that Bezos will likely demolish the current homes on the properties to make way for a new, extravagant estate with a projected cost that exceeds $200 million.