Elon Musk slams California for over-taxation; says 'sold enough stocks' to reach sale goal

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday expressed his resentment over California claiming that the region has become the land of “over-taxation” and “over-regulation” and added that people there are motivated to leave the state. Furthering his argument, Musk said he had sold “enough stock” to reach his plan to sell 10% of his stake in Tesla. 

Elon Musk sold 'enough stock'

In an interview with The Babylon Bee, Musk mentioned that he overpaid tax in 2017 and stated it as the reason for not paying tax in 2018. Slamming California, Musk said that it has become land of “over litigation and “overtaxation”. Elon Musk also said he shifted Tesla's headquarters from California to Texas. 

On November 7, Elon Musk asked people to vote in favour or against his idea to sell 10% of his stake. In a separate tweet, Musk said that whatever the people decide, he will go by the result. Musk had further mentioned that he did not have a cash salary and needed to sell stocks to pay taxes. Taking to Twitter, Musk wrote, “Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock.” In the poll, 57.9% agreed to his decision of selling stock and 42.1% were against it. Elon Musk had reportedly exercised 2 million more options and sold nearly 584,000 more Tesla Inc, reported Market Watch. On December 20, Elon Musk revealed that he will pay more than US$ 11 billion in taxes this year.

Last week, a spat ensued between Elon Musk and Senator Elizabeth Warren after Senator Warren slammed the Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s designation as Time’s 2021 ‘Person of the Year’. In her tweet, she called for a change in the “rigged” tax code and stated that “The Person of the Year” should “stop freeloading off everyone else.” In response, Elon Musk shared a link to a Fox News article arguing that Senator Elizabeth Warren lied about having Native American heritage. Captioning it, Musk asked to stop projecting. In a separate Tweet, Musk furthered his attack by informing that he has paid more tax than any other American in 2021.

Image: AP