Florida has no income tax. California still has a say.
Peter and Lena Halloran spent 24 years building Halloran Building Controls, a building automation contractor in San Diego with 140 employees and $6 million in annual earnings. Their banker expects a sale in 2028 at about $51 million. Their youngest, Clara, graduates in June, and they have spent winters in Naples for years. At their review, Lena asked the question directly: if we are moving anyway, what does it save, and what do we have to do? Their advisor opened Talk to Helmsted on the drive back to the office.
1. “Pull up the Hallorans. What does California take from the sale if they stay, and what changes if they live in Florida when it closes?” Helmsted pulled up the household and the company. As California residents, about $6.25 million of state tax on a $47.3 million gain, plus about $137,000 a year on their investment income after the sale. As Florida residents selling their shares, California has no claim on the gain.
2. “What doesn’t move with them?” The business. Until closing, California taxes 88% of the company’s profit, where its customers are, and Peter’s pay for the days he works there, so the year before the sale saves only $134,000. If the buyer treats the purchase as an asset deal, California apportions 88% of the gain too, even for nonresidents. Florida costs about $99,000 a year more in property tax and insurance, and selling the San Diego house would trigger about $1.74 million of tax.
3. “Put it on one page they can play with.” A presentation in the firm’s brand with three controls: stock sale or asset treatment, stay or move before or after closing, and the sale price. Moving first with a stock sale: about $6.7 million over ten years. With asset treatment: $1.1 million. Moving after closing: $350,000.
4. “Give everyone their list.” The banker: lead with a stock sale, and if a buyer needs asset treatment, ask them to cover the extra California tax, about $4.7 million. The CPA: confirm the 88% and keep the pass-through entity election through closing. The attorney: the Declaration of Domicile and Florida wills. The family: ten ties to move and a day log, because California looks hardest at the year of a large sale. By the time the advisor parked, the session was in the chat history, ready to send.
The advisor leads the move
For owners heading toward a sale, a move to a no-tax state is one of the most common plans there is, and most estimates stop at the top rate times the gain. The advisor’s job is to show what the move actually reaches, what it doesn’t, what it costs and what it asks of the family, and to get the banker, CPA and attorney working the same plan before a buyer is in the room. Helmsted builds that picture in one session, even one run from the car.
Getting creative with materials with Helmsted
Separate what moves from what doesn’t. A table of what California still taxes after the move answers the question most families never think to ask. Count what the new state costs. Florida’s property tax and insurance on a new house take back about a fifth of the savings. Turn the structure into an ask. Asset treatment costs the Hallorans $4.7 million, so it becomes a price the banker can negotiate. Give the family a checklist, not a lecture. Ten ties to move, each with an owner and a date, that the couple can check off themselves.
One thing makes all of it work: context. Helmsted needs the company’s sales by state, the entity type, the owners’ basis, the banker’s estimate, both houses’ value and basis, and when the family can realistically move.