#LegalBytes: The Official Podcast of Cummings & Cummings Law

Washington State has long been known as one of the few states without a broad-based personal income tax. That may be about to change. In this presentation, attorney and CPA Chad Cummings examines Washington’s proposed 9.9% tax on income above $1 million under Senate Bill 6346 and the economic consequences that may follow if the measure becomes law.
The discussion explains how targeted millionaire taxes depend heavily on a very small group of taxpayers remaining in place. When a tax applies to roughly 0.5% of residents, the entire revenue model assumes those individuals will continue to live, invest, and operate businesses in the state. The presentation explores why that assumption often fails when the taxpayers affected have the financial resources and professional advisors necessary to relocate quickly.
Recent events already suggest the behavioral response policymakers must consider. Within days of the bill advancing, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz announced that he and his wife are leaving Washington after more than forty years in Seattle and relocating their family office to Florida.
The presentation also examines how states such as Florida and Texas have structured their tax and regulatory environments to attract precisely the type of capital that high-tax jurisdictions risk losing, and why business owners considering relocation must also evaluate whether their company’s legal domicile should follow them. Learn more: https://www.cummings.law/redomestication/

According to the LA Times, California’s proposed 5% billionaire wealth tax has triggered a visible migration of capital and high-net-worth individuals to South Florida. In this presentation, I examine the growing movement of technology founders, hedge fund managers, and investors relocating to Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, along with the economic forces driving that shift. The discussion reviews the policy environment behind the proposal, the potential behavioral response of ultra-wealthy taxpayers, and why Florida’s absence of a state personal income tax has become a powerful incentive for individuals whose income flows through pass-through entities such as LLCs, S corporations, and partnerships. The presentation also explains why relocating personally does not automatically relocate your business, and how properly executed statutory redomestication allows an existing company to change its legal home state while preserving its EIN, contracts, credit history, and tax attributes. Learn more: https://www.cummings.law/redomestication/

Howard Schultz spent more than four decades building Starbucks in Seattle. Now he has joined a growing list of billionaires relocating to South Florida alongside Jeff Bezos, Ken Griffin, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Peter Thiel, and others. In this presentation, attorney and CPA Chad Cummings examines why high-net-worth individuals and family offices are concentrating in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties and what this migration signals about tax policy, capital flows, and the future of the American business landscape.
The discussion explains how Florida’s absence of a state personal income tax, combined with a pro-business legal environment and strong property rights protections, creates powerful incentives for entrepreneurs and investors whose income flows through pass-through entities such as LLCs, S corporations, and partnerships. The presentation also addresses a critical issue many relocating business owners overlook: moving your personal residence to Florida does not automatically relocate your company to Florida.
Finally, the presentation explains why properly executed statutory redomestication is usually the correct method for moving an existing company to Florida while preserving the entity’s EIN, contracts, credit history, and tax attributes, and why common alternatives such as dissolution, merger, or foreign registration frequently create unnecessary legal risk and tax exposure. Learn more: https://www.cummings.law/redomestication/

Exxon Mobil has been incorporated in New Jersey since the nineteenth century. After 144 years, the largest publicly traded oil company in the United States has asked shareholders to approve moving its legal domicile to Texas. In this presentation, I examine why a corporation of Exxon’s scale would pursue redomestication and what that decision reveals about litigation risk, corporate governance, and the broader shift of major companies toward Texas.
The discussion reviews the surge of corporate relocations into Texas, including companies such as Tesla, Oracle, Chevron, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Caterpillar, and CBRE, along with the policy environment that continues to attract them. These factors include Texas’ absence of a state personal income tax, constitutional tax reforms benefiting businesses, targeted economic development incentives, and a regulatory and judicial climate widely viewed as more predictable for directors, officers, and shareholders.
The presentation also addresses a question many business owners face after relocating to Texas: what to do with an existing company formed in another state. It explains the four primary legal paths available to business owners—dissolution, merger, foreign registration, and statutory redomestication—and why most companies choose the wrong approach due to incomplete or inaccurate advice.
Finally, the presentation explains how statutory conversion allows a corporation or LLC to change its legal home state while preserving its EIN, contracts, credit history, and tax attributes, and why improper filings or incorrect sequencing can create costly tax consequences and legal complications. Learn more: https://www.cummings.law/redomestication/

More than 300 companies have relocated their headquarters to Texas in less than a decade, including major corporations such as Tesla, Caterpillar, and Chevron, all drawn by a combination of zero state personal income tax, favorable treatment for many business entities, expanded property tax exemptions, and aggressive economic development incentives. In this presentation, I explain why Texas continues to attract large employers and entrepreneurs from high-tax jurisdictions and addresses the practical question many business owners face after relocating operations: how to legally move the company to Texas. The presentation walks through the four common legal paths often discussed when a company relocates, dissolution, merger, foreign registration, and redomestication, and explains why most advisors recommend the wrong option. You will learn why statutory conversion, commonly known as redomestication, is usually the correct solution for companies that permanently relocate to Texas, allowing the business to change its legal home state while preserving its existing name, federal employer identification number, contracts, credit history, and tax attributes, while avoiding the costly compliance problems and tax consequences that frequently arise when the process is handled incorrectly. Learn more: https://www.cummings.law/redomestication/

California’s proposed billionaire wealth tax has triggered a visible migration of ultra-high-net-worth individuals to South Florida, particularly Miami neighborhoods such as Coconut Grove, Indian Creek, and Biscayne Bay. In this presentation, attorney and CPA Chad Cummings examines a recent Business Insider report detailing how technology founders and billionaires are purchasing luxury properties in Miami while preparing to relocate assets, trusts, and business operations out of California. This shift highlights the broader redomestication trend as entrepreneurs and investors move companies to Florida and Texas that impose no state income tax and offer stronger asset protection, efficient business courts, and more predictable regulatory environments. The presentation explains how business owners can legally transfer the home state of an existing LLC or corporation while preserving the entity’s name, EIN, contracts, and credit history, and why attempting the process without proper legal guidance can trigger costly tax consequences and structural mistakes that require expensive corrective work. Learn more: https://www.cummings.law/redomestication/

In this presentation I will provide you with recommendations on how to consider investment market volatility as it relates to your 401(k) plan account.  I will also provide an overview on investment risk tolerance and then wrap up with recommendations for this time of market volatility. Learn more: https://www.cummings.law

As reported by Forbes, Larry Ellison’s move from Hawaii to Florida signals more than a change of address. It reflects a broader redomestication trend among high-net-worth individuals and technology founders seeking zero state income tax, stronger asset protection, and business-friendly courts. In this presentation, we examine the legal and tax mechanics behind relocating a primary residence, transferring trusts, and redomesticating corporations from high-tax jurisdictions such as Hawaii to Florida or Texas. We explain how strategic planning can preserve your existing entity name, EIN, credit history, and contracts while avoiding unnecessary conveyance taxes, income tax exposure, and structural mistakes. We also address common and costly errors, including improper filings with the Secretary of State, incomplete conversion documents, and do-it-yourself approaches that can trigger federal tax consequences. Redomestication is a technical legal process. Done correctly, it can protect assets, reduce recurring tax burdens, and strengthen long-term positioning. Done incorrectly, it can create expensive clean-up work and unintended tax liability. If you are considering relocating your business to Florida, this presentation outlines what you must understand before taking action. Learn more: https://www.cummings.law/redomestication/

In this presentation, I examine two recent Oklahoma sources describing Devon Energy and Expand Energy relocating headquarters to Houston and the broader warning that Oklahoma’s oil and gas leadership can erode when taxes rise and bureaucracy expands. I connect the reported decline in rig counts, reduced in-state drilling activity, and industry criticism of Oklahoma’s 2018 gross production tax increase to a larger pattern of companies shifting executive control, investment, and jobs to Texas. I then explain how redomestication can provide a structured way to move an existing LLC, corporation, or partnership to Texas while preserving continuity, including the company’s name, contracts, credit history, and federal EIN, rather than creating a new entity or maintaining dual compliance. Finally, I outline why Texas remains a recurring destination for energy and industrial businesses and what owners should consider to execute a clean relocation that reduces ongoing tax and administrative friction. Learn more: https://www.cummings.law/redomestication/

In this presentation, I analyze Public Storage’s announced headquarters relocation from California to Texas, and explain why this type of move signals a broader trend of companies shifting executive functions to jurisdictions with deeper talent pools, lower compliance friction, and more predictable operating costs. I discuss why a headquarters relocation is only effective when the facts follow the announcement, including where management decisions occur, where contracts are executed, where books and records are maintained, and how corporate domicile and operational footprint must align to avoid dual burdens. I then explain how redomestication can change a company’s home state while preserving continuity of the existing entity, including its name, contracts, and EIN, and I outline the practical considerations and common mistakes that cause relocating businesses to lose continuity or recreate exposure in the state they intended to leave. Learn more: https://www.cummings.law/redomestication/