If you were planning on being self-employed, which state would you move to and why?
But I don't think the OP should be making this choice based on taxes.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=best+states+to+be+self+employed&t=...
No, that's not the reason at all. The reason is that the state judiciary has expertise in corporate law that other states don't, so litigation is smooth and predictable. You don't get a family court judge assigned to your corporate law case, as can actually happen elsewhere.
It is/was the same with East Texas and patent law, until recently at least. It became corrupted by donations of civic facilities by large litigators, so I think some companies have moved on.
> If i remember right, they also have no personal income tax
Most Delaware corporations are used by businesses in other states, so it has nothing to do with personal income tax.
The further away from Santa Fe you get, and even Albuquerque itself, the cheaper everything is going to be. I love the hiking, the Sandia Mountains, and access to 25 (north and south) and 40 (east and west) can take you all the way up to Canada and down to Mexico or to California all the way east across the country to Virginia.
Weather is relatively stable, though windy at times, however it is beautiful during the day. Desert can get cold af to the point of hurt at night. Women are nice and friendly, but the state itself is seemingly isolationist: everyone tends to keep to themselves.
While I'm not self-employed, I work 2-3 jobs from home which affords me more of my paycheck. I am originally from New Jersey, where if you made 2 paychecks a month, 1 paycheck usually went to rent while the other paycheck went towards food and going out. Instead, about 1/4 of one paycheck goes towards my rent, while the rest is for other things and has afforded me the ability to do quite a bit.
My only issue that I find myself having to do is correct my W-4 with the state to offset taxes, as the state itself tends to have a higher employment tax rate which can add up, but offsetting it by $10 or $20 usually keeps everything under control. I'm sure self-employment taxes are a bit higher as well. However, you can definitely get a nice luxury apartment or house and likely afford it on a single income.
- do you have kids/care about education?
- do you need good internet (assuming yes)?
- do you prefer the city vs suburbs vs the countryside?
- do you care any about the predominant industries of the local economy? Or are you just caring about remote freelancing?
Not to mention considerations of family, friends you want to be nearby. And the culture of the place you live.
If your only consideration is a place to claim residence with a low tax burden and cost of living as a remote freelancer, it’s easy to list those options. If you expect good public services like education and public transportation that’s going to look quite different. If you want to support non profits or work in defense contracting, that’s also very different.
