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New York Will Probably Make Old People’s Lives Difficult If They Move to a Low-tax State

There’s a state fiscal crisis after all. Plus, old people have all the money.

[H]igh-tax states do not like to lose high-income emigrants, and will check to make sure that former residents really have moved and are not simply pretending that their winter home is their permanent domicile.

“New York is the most aggressive, probably followed by California,” said Bob Meighan of TurboTax. “New York has a long reach and will go after retirees, in particular.”


And one more thing – keep those receipts!

David Moise [of] WeiserMazar[s], said that there are two forces at work there. “More people are leaving because of the disparity in income and estate taxes, and New York is becoming much more aggressive about examining those people because there’s much more of a need for revenue,” he said.

“The state will come in and ask for ‘clear and convincing evidence’ that a person who keeps his New York ties has really moved to Florida, or elsewhere,” he said. At WeiserMazar[s], clients have had to produce phone bills, credit card statements, apartment measurements and EZ pass receipts to prove that they no longer spend most of their time in New York.

Low-tax states attract budget-conscious Americans [Reuters]

‘Swashbuckling Industrialist’ Tom Petters Is Going to be Responsible for Putting Senior Citizens on the Street

petters_plane.jpgFor those of you that were maybe developing a soft spot for Tom Petters because, among other things, his own lawyer doesn’t think too much of him, the latest testimony in TP’s trial should help squash your sympathy.
Janet Leck, a 79 year old widow, was convinced by Frank Vennes, Jr. — an evangelist who “steered unwitting investors to [Petters]” — to invest her money with Tom Petters. At one point Vennes, apparently having reconnected with the Almighty, told Leck that he was ending his business relationship with TP because of ‘things he was seeing in Mr. Petters’ personal life’ and was returning her money.
Now, one could assume that Vennes was getting the creeps from Petters because either: 1) he realized that Petters was a complete man-child that couldn’t finish a copy of Go Dog Go! or 2) typical hooker/llelo chicanery.


Two years after dumping Petters for his sinful ways, Vennes decided redemption was in order (or, most likely, he just missed the hookers) because he went back to TP and got the Lecks to invest with him again:

She re-mortgaged her home and drew out $190,000 in equity to invest with Petters, she said. Leck said she relied on the $3,400 monthly payments from that loan for living expenses until September 2008, when authorities raided Petters’ home and business looking for evidence that he was running an alleged $3.5 billion Ponzi scheme.
Now, unless she can restructure her mortgage, Leck said, “I’m looking at foreclosure. …I will move from my home of 30 years.”

In other overwhelmingly convincing testimony, investment banker Michael Liss described Petters, “as a ‘swashbuckling industrialist’ who had an arsenal of ‘ridiculous’ excuses for not paying his debts on time.”
Ridiculous excuses like, “Do you treat your other swashbuckling industrialist clients this way?” or “I’m busy ripping off senior citizens. Do you mind?” OR “My ass is going to end up in dumpster any second, sorta busy.”
Petters trial: Retired widow fears losing her home [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]