IRS says almost 1.3 million *fewer* taxpayers from California in 2023

 

Every so often a conservative website or blogger has noted that U-Haul reports more rentals leaving California, Illinois and New York than are   arriving.  Bloggers called this a sign that more Cali residents are sick to death of the insane Democrat-ruled state government, which throws billions of dollars on "high-speed rail" original sold to voters as linking LA to San Francisco, but now--after staggering cost overruns, is just (eventually!) gonna connect two small cities just 183 miles apart. 

Back in the early '70s I was an Air Force pilot and lived just north of San Francisco, a short drive from the Napa Valley.  Absolutely loved it--great climate and scenery, and as a resident of another state I didn't have to pay California's obscenely high state income tax (though it was a LOT lower back then!).  Gasoline didn't cost much more than it did in the rest of the nation.

So it's easy to see why people who've lived there for years want to stay there.  As long as you live in a sane smaller town instead of a Democrat-ruled cesspool like San Francisco, Oakland or LA, anyway.

So why does the IRS say that in 2023 it got almost 1.3 million fewer tax returns from people listing California as their residence?  That figure is from an outfit called "Truth in Accounting," and I'm guessing they could only have gotten this figure from the IRS. 

The official estimate of the state's population--from the Census Bureau--is 39.4 million.  If 1.3 million adult, productive, taxpaying families left in 2023, that would be about 3.2% of the adult, taxpaying population.  If we assume another two percent each for 2021 and 2022, that would be a total drop of about 7% in just three years.  And suddenly the story of people fleeing the high-tax, high-crime, highly mis-governed cesspool starts to become more real,  

Cali Democrats: "NOOooo, dis not true!  Dis FAKE NEWZ!  Pipo are flocking to ouah state, because we offer jobs that pay way more than the national average!  And did we tell ya how great the climate was?"  Okay, maybe gas costs a couple of bucks more, but dat jus' cuz Big Oil is ripping off Americans!  Besides, all the cool kids are driving those zoomie EVs anyway!  So who cares about the price of gasoline, eh?"