News that Jeff Bezos is moving from Seattle to Florida after splashing out on two mansions worth a combined $147 million has triggered a debate over whether he is looking to avoid paying higher taxes.
Bezos, the world’s third-richest person, bought a $79 million, seven-bedroom, 14-bathroom abode in Miami last month — two months after buying the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home next door for $68 million.
After scooping up two of only 40 reported waterfront properties on the ultra-exclusive island Indian Creek, also known as “Billionaire Bunker,” Bezos reportedly has plans to bulldoze the $68 million pad and build a single palatial megamansion with its neighboring eight-figure enclave.
It wasn’t immediately clear if he also has plans to tear down the $79 million, 19,064-square-foot home, though he’ll certainly be paying less property taxes than he did on his former primary residence in Seattle, where he executed a similar teardown project after accumulating a 5.3-acre property in the affluent Medina, Wash., neighborhood — located less than 10 miles from Amazon’s headquarters.
Making Miami his primary residence means Bezos will be dishing out less in property taxes, which are 0.89% in the Sunshine State — less than Washington’s real estate tax rate of 0.98%, according to Rocket Mortgage.
It’s unclear if Bezos plans to sell his sprawling Washington estate, which merged two lots worth a combined $60 million to build a 25,000-square-foot Tudor-style mansion, a second house that reportedly functions entirely as Bezos’ office, indoor and outdoor pools and waterfront access to Lake Washington.
In Washington, deep-pocketed residents with assets valued at $2.193 million or more are also obligated to pay an estate tax ranging from 10% to 20% upon their death.
If Bezos were to keep Seattle as his primary residence and maintain his current net worth of roughly $162 billion, it would mean he’d have to cough up as much as $32.4 billion in estate taxes upon his death.
Florida, meanwhile, does not charge residents estate tax, regardless of asset size, and also does not tax on capital gains.
Washington’s Supreme Court, by contrast, decided in March to uphold its 7% tax on capital gains above $250,000.
Representatives for Bezos at Amazon did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
According to Forbes’ income tax calculator, contributions are similar between Washington and Florida, though the tool couldn’t calculate income tax estimates above annual earnings of $9.9 billion — a far cry from the roughly $78.5 billion Bezos pulls in each year, per Business Insider estimates.
A $9.9 billion salary is subject to a federal effective tax rate of 37% in both states, Forbes’ tax calculator showed, meaning a high earner raking in this ten-figure income would take home just over $6.3 billion in Washington and Florida.
The 59-year-old Amazon founder said he would be leaving Seattle to follow his parents and be closer to Blue Origin’s operations in Cape Canaveral, located about 200 miles north of Miami.
Bezos shared the news of his move in a nostalgic Instagram post on Friday alongside a video of his much younger self showing off the original Amazon headquarters that he ran out of his garage.
However, a flurry of comments suggested that Washington’s hefty taxes also played into the decision.
“This is just a tax move,” one user said, while another commented: “See what the rich do when you levy new taxes? They leave and the middle class is strapped with the bill.”
Some users didn’t seem to mind if Bezos’ move had tax implications, with one commenter saying “everyone should do what they can to reduce their tax liability.”
“I’m sure the new capital gains tax in Washington State had no influence on this decision,” another user sarcastically wrote, referring to Washington’s Supreme Court move in March to uphold its 7% tax on capital gains above $250,000.