2026-01-24 The Hardest Part About Being a Billionaire in California: Proving You Left

2026-01-24 The Hardest Part About Being a Billionaire in California: Proving You Left


Advisers recommend leaving breadcrumbs, like a ‘we’ve moved’ note on the Christmas card, and you really do have to quit the country club.
顾问建议你“留下迁居的面包屑线索”，比如在圣诞贺卡上加一句“我们已经搬家了”，而且你确实得退出乡村俱乐部。

A proposed billionaire tax has some of the richest Californians eyeing the exits. First they’ll have to contend with the state’s dogged tax collectors.
一项拟议中的“亿万富豪税”让一些最富有的加州人开始考虑离开。但首先，他们得先应付该州锲而不舍的税务稽查人员。

California has one of the nation’s highest personal income-tax rates on high earners. It’s also home to officials who pore through phone logs, look for country-club memberships and even double-check visits to the dentist—all to figure out what really functions as home.
加州对高收入人群的个人所得税税率位居全美前列。与此同时，这里还有一些官员会翻查通话记录、核对乡村俱乐部会员资格，甚至复核你是否去看牙医——目的只有一个：弄清楚哪里才真正构成你的“家”。

This can be a tricky question. The superwealthy might have a house in the Bay Area or the Hollywood Hills, but also spend time in a Paris apartment, a Florida compound or a yacht off the coast of Greece.
这可能是个棘手的问题。超级富豪也许在 Bay Area 或 Hollywood Hills 有房产，但同时也会在 Paris 的公寓、Florida 的大宅，或停在 Greece 海岸外的游艇上度过不少时间。

Also, California has few hard-and-fast rules on residency. Tax advisers say you’re generally considered a resident if California is your “domicile”—a true home base to which you plan to return. A person domiciled in California who spends time elsewhere is sometimes still expected to pay state income taxes.
此外，加州对“税务居民”并没有太多硬性、明确的规则。税务顾问表示：一般而言，如果 California 是你的“domicile”（住所/法定居所）——也就是你计划返回的真正大本营——你通常会被视为居民。即便一个人把 domicile 设在 California、人在外州或海外居住一段时间，有时仍可能被要求缴纳州所得税。
Idea
这跟中国税务局对税收居民的解释是一样的。
“If you leave, you really have to leave,” said Steven Toscher, managing principal of Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez, a Beverly Hills law firm that advises clients on navigating California residency.
“如果你要离开，你就必须真的离开，”Beverly Hills 律所 Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez 的管理合伙人 Steven Toscher 说。他所在的律所为客户提供有关 California 居民身份问题的应对建议。

Advisers generally recommend that people who want to avoid California’s tax net limit their visits and keep clear records of their purpose and duration.
顾问通常建议：想要避开 California 的税网，就要尽量减少回加州的次数，并清晰记录每次到访的目的与停留时长。

Some advisers also suggest leaving breadcrumbs, such as adding a “we’ve moved” note with your new address to Christmas cards, telling your house of worship in a letter you’ve found a spiritual home elsewhere, and making and keeping appointments with out-of-state doctors, accountants and veterinarians.
一些顾问还建议进一步“留下线索”，例如：在寄出的圣诞贺卡上附上新地址并注明“我们已经搬家了”；写信告诉你的宗教场所（house of worship）你已在外州找到了新的精神归属；并在外州预约并实际就诊医生、会计师、兽医，且保留这些预约与就诊记录。

Learning what it might take to truly depart sometimes proves too much.
而当人们真正了解到“彻底离开”可能需要付出的代价时，有些人会发现这要求过于苛刻。

“You’re a member of the L.A. County Club? Not anymore, you’re not,” said Alan Witlen, a partner in the private client and tax practice at Withers in Los Angeles. “That’s where a lot of these conversations break down. People realize they don’t want to give up these things they love.”
“你是 L.A. County Club 的会员？那你现在就不是了，”Withers（Los Angeles）的私人客户与税务业务合伙人 Alan Witlen 说。“很多讨论就是在这里谈崩的。人们会意识到：他们并不想放弃自己热爱的这些东西。”

The state relies heavily on high earners. In 2023, more than one-sixth of its personal income tax revenue came from the top 0.1% of earners, or about 17,500 filers.
该州对高收入群体的依赖程度很高。2023 年，其个人所得税收入中超过六分之一来自收入最高的 0.1% 人群，约合 17,500 名申报者。

Consciously uncoupling from California has become a hot topic thanks to a proposed, one-time, 5% tax on billionaires’ assets.
由于一项拟议的一次性“亿万富豪资产税”（税率 5%），与 California “有意识地分道扬镳”已成为热门话题。

Supporters say the tax would raise some $100 billion to help address looming federal cuts to Medicaid. The union proposing it has to clear several hurdles, including collecting nearly 875,000 valid signatures to make November’s ballot.
支持者称，这项税收将筹集约 1,000 亿美元，用于应对联邦层面即将对 Medicaid 的削减。提出该提案的工会还必须跨过多道门槛，其中包括收集近 875,000 个有效签名，才能进入 11 月的投票选票。

That prospect has unsettled California billionaires, in part because it would apply to those who were residents as of Jan. 1. The focus on taxing assets—a far bigger financial hit than a higher income tax—has drawn particular alarm.
这一前景令 California 的亿万富豪感到不安，部分原因在于：该税将适用于截至 1 月 1 日仍为居民的人群。其着眼于“资产”而非“收入”征税——财务冲击远大于提高所得税税率——尤其引发警惕。

With its Silicon Valley and entertainment fortunes, California has more billionaires than any other state, according to Altrata, a wealth-intelligence firm. Its estimates are based on business addresses, and not all of these people would necessarily count as residents.
根据财富情报机构 Altrata 的数据，凭借 Silicon Valley 与娱乐产业积累的财富，California 的亿万富豪人数超过任何其他州。其估算基于企业地址，并非所有这些人都一定会被认定为居民。

In a private Signal chat, dozens of Silicon Valley billionaires and other tech elites criticized the proposal and shared alternatives. In the final hours of 2025, a few worked to put daylight between themselves and California.
在一个私密的 Signal 群聊中，数十位 Silicon Valley 亿万富豪及其他科技精英批评该提案，并分享替代方案。2025 年的最后几个小时里，有少数人开始采取行动，努力与 California 拉开距离。

Peter Thiel’s private investment firm Thiel Capital, which is largely based in Los Angeles, said it signed a lease for office space in Miami. And a spokeswoman for David Sacks, the Trump administration’s crypto and AI czar and a longtime San Francisco resident, said he has been a Texas resident since December.
Peter Thiel 的私募投资机构 Thiel Capital（主要办公地在 Los Angeles）表示，已签署 Miami 办公空间的租约。与此同时，David Sacks 的发言人称，这位 Trump 政府的加密与 AI 事务主管（crypto and AI czar）且长期居住在 San Francisco，自 12 月起已成为 Texas 居民。

The “select few billionaires” looking to leave will eventually have to answer to California tax officials, said Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff of the healthcare workers union behind the proposal.
提出该提案的医护工会幕僚长 Suzanne Jimenez 表示，这些试图离开的“少数亿万富豪”最终仍将不得不面对 California 税务官员的审查。

“A billionaire temporarily relocating to their fourth or fifth mansion in another state does not officially mean they avoid paying a fair share to help keep emergency rooms and hospitals open,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez 说：“亿万富豪暂时搬去外州的第四套或第五套豪宅，并不意味着他们就正式避免了缴纳应尽份额，以帮助维持急诊室和医院的正常运转。”

The Franchise Tax Board, the state agency that collects personal income tax, says it doesn’t track what share of its residency audits are for higher earners.
负责征收个人所得税的州政府机构 Franchise Tax Board 表示，其并不统计在居民身份稽核中，高收入者占比多少。

The process for determining whether a taxpayer truly moved away stems from a complex and long-running tax case involving Stephen Bragg, a California crane operator who moved to Arizona to become a cattle rancher.
用于判定纳税人是否真正迁离的流程，源自一宗复杂且历时已久的税务案件：California 起重机操作员 Stephen Bragg 搬到 Arizona 成为牧牛场主的案件。

Bragg worked 70 to 90 hours a week on his Arizona ranch, but also had a wife and children in California, as well as bank accounts, registered vehicles and business interests in Arizona and Texas, according to a state board’s decision on the case. The board concluded Bragg had been an Arizona resident in 1993, and listed 19 factors that officials continue to consult when determining residency.
根据州委员会对该案的裁定，Bragg 在 Arizona 牧场每周工作 70 至 90 小时，但其妻子和孩子仍在 California；同时，他在 Arizona 和 Texas 还拥有银行账户、登记车辆及商业利益。委员会最终认定 Bragg 在 1993 年属于 Arizona 居民，并列出 19 项因素，供官员在判定居民身份时持续参考。

They include where your businesses, spouse and children are based; how many days you spend in California and why; where your credit card transactions originate; where you’re registered to drive and vote; and where you’ve joined membership organizations like country clubs and gyms.
这些因素包括：你的企业、配偶与子女主要在哪里；你在 California 待了多少天、出于什么目的；你的信用卡交易主要从哪里发起；你的驾照与选民登记在哪里；以及你加入了哪些会员制组织（例如乡村俱乐部、健身房）并以哪里为主。
Idea
OECD有一个加比规则：（1）永久性住所；（2）经济关系；（3）习惯性居住，香港税务局举的例子中也有类似的场景，参考：《双重课税宽免及资料交换安排-常见问题》。
If someone stops paying California taxes and gets flagged for an audit, the burden is generally on them to prove they left when they claimed.
如果有人停止缴纳 California 税款并因此被标记进入审计程序，通常举证责任在当事人一方：需要由其证明自己确实在其声称的时间点已经迁离。

“There is no gaming the Franchise Tax Board,” said Jenny Hill Bratt, a partner in Sheppard Mullin’s San Diego private clients and tax practice.
Sheppard Mullin（San Diego）私人客户与税务业务合伙人 Jenny Hill Bratt 表示：“你无法跟 Franchise Tax Board 玩‘钻空子’的游戏。”

Last year, California’s Office of Tax Appeals upheld a finding that comedian Russell Peters owed more than $2.1 million in back taxes for 2012 to 2014, when he had filed as a nonresident or part-year resident.
去年，California 的 Office of Tax Appeals 维持了一项认定：喜剧演员 Russell Peters 在 2012 至 2014 年期间以非居民或部分年度居民身份申报，但仍被判定应补缴超过 210 万美元的欠税。

The tax appeals office reviewed, in part, auditors’ “reconstruction of his physical presence” using his credit card data and found Peters spent far more days in California in 2012, 2013 and 2014 than in Nevada.
税务上诉机构部分依据审计人员利用其信用卡数据对其“实际停留情况（physical presence）的重建”，并认定 Peters 在 2012、2013、2014 年在 California 停留的天数远多于在 Nevada 的天数。

The tax appeals office also looked at a child custody case with Peters’s ex-wife to glean details on their “family abode.” It found Peters’s physical presence and familial abode “more strongly” indicated his domicile was in California and that his physical presence and property “heavily support California residency.”
税务上诉机构还查阅了 Peters 与前妻之间的子女监护案件，以获取其“家庭居所（family abode）”的细节。机构认为，Peters 的实际停留情况与家庭居所“更强烈地”表明其 domicile 在 California；其实际停留与所持房产也“强有力地支持”其属于 California 税务居民。

BYLD partner Peter Smiley, a lawyer for Peters, said his client “relies entirely on the advice of others” to navigate tax law. “Mr. Peters always understood that he had paid the taxes he owed,” Smiley said.
Peters 的律师、BYLD 合伙人 Peter Smiley 表示，他的客户“完全依赖他人的建议”来应对税法问题。“Peters 先生一直理解自己已经缴纳了应缴税款，”Smiley 说。

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