Eric Rapkin

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL—Changes in corporate real estate taxes and deductions of state and local taxes (SALT) have created a challenging dichotomy between high-tax states such as New York, New Jersey, and Illinois, and low-tax states like Florida and Texas.

Florida received more moves than any other state last year, and New York's outflows to Florida were the highest with 63,773 people migrating, according to data from the US Census Bureau. Texas has also been the recipient of recent corporate moves with Toyota, opening its North American headquarters in Plano in 2017, McKesson Corp., the US' largest pharmaceutical distributor, relocating its headquarters from San Francisco to Irving in April 2019 and Altair Global, a provider of relocation and assignment program services, planning to move its global headquarters to Frisco by Fall 2019.

“The changes in SALT deductions have absolutely led to a major influx of people and businesses to Florida from high-tax states, especially from New York,” says Eric Rapkin, Real Estate Practice Group Chair with Akerman LLP, who is based in Fort Lauderdale. “This has led to an uptick in transactions for all property types,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “There is no doubt that at least at this point, Florida is a major winner from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”