#LegalBytes: The Official Podcast of Cummings & Cummings Law

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings discusses the accelerating trend of companies redomesticating from Delaware to Texas in this presentation. In June 2024, Tesla and SpaceX led the way. By June 2026, the movement has expanded significantly, with eight additional companies, including Dell Technologies, voting to redomesticate in a single month, representing a combined market value of approximately $...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings reviews the California wealth tax ballot measure and the recent cease-and-desist letters sent by its authors to a critic. We discuss how the proposal, marketed as a one-time tax on billionaires, has already driven departures of significant wealth and income tax revenue, and how the authors have responded to criticism with legal threats rather than substantive deba...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings discusses the qualified California Billionaire Tax Act ballot measure in this presentation. The measure, which would impose a five percent wealth tax on billionaires’ assets, has officially qualified for the November 3, 2026 general election despite opposition from Governor Newsom, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, the California Teachers Association, a...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings analyzes the lessons from Europe and the risks of California’s proposed wealth tax in this presentation. Of the twelve industrialized countries that imposed wealth taxes in 1990, nine repealed them by 2025 because the taxes proved difficult to administer, drove wealthy residents away, and generated far less revenue than projected. France lost an estimated 200 bill...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings discusses the rapid expansion of wealth tax proposals targeting California business owners in this presentation. What began as a ballot measure marketed as a five percent tax on billionaires has already broadened, with federal proposals now aiming at net worth above fifty million dollars and a 40 percent exit tax for those who leave. California’s aggressive reside...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings explains the strategic benefits of timely filing an Section 83(b) election in this presentation. By filing within 30 days of receiving property subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, you lock in ordinary income recognition at the grant-date fair market value rather than at each vesting date, convert future appreciation into capital gain, start the capital ga...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings explains how to file an Section 83(b) election in this presentation. Under Section 83(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, a person who receives property in connection with the performance of services that is subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture can elect to recognize the fair market value as income at the time of receipt rather than at each vesting date. This...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings discusses Dell Technologies' decision to redomesticate from Delaware to Texas in this presentation. On May 4, 2026, Dell's Board of Directors unanimously approved the move, with a stockholder vote scheduled for June 25. Dell joins Tesla, ExxonMobil, TripAdvisor, Dropbox, and Pershing Square in leaving Delaware for Texas. The company, founded in a University of Tex...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings explains why Wyoming ranks first on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index in this presentation. The state imposes no individual income tax, no corporate income tax, no estate tax, and no inheritance tax, with low sales and property tax burdens. However, Wyoming’s revenue model depends heavily on severance taxes from oil, gas, and coal, creating...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings examines Wisconsin’s mixed tax competitiveness in this presentation. The state ranks 21st on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index with strong sales and property tax components, a uniform property tax system, no estate tax, and an overfunded pension system at 102 percent. However, Wisconsin maintains a high top individual income tax rate of 7.6...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings examines West Virginia’s tax position in this presentation. The state ranks 32nd on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index with a top individual income tax rate of 4.82 percent and a corporate rate of 6.5 percent. While West Virginia has reduced rates and maintains a fully funded pension system, it carries one of the highest per capita debt load...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings explains Washington’s declining tax competitiveness in this presentation. The state ranks 45th on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index after imposing a 9.9 percent capital gains tax, maintaining a multiple-rate Business and Occupation gross receipts tax that applies to revenue regardless of profit, raising its estate tax to the highest rate in...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings examines Virginia’s tax structure in this presentation. While the state maintains a moderate 5.75 percent individual income tax rate and a 6.0 percent corporate rate, the real burden comes from local taxes. Virginia localities can impose a BPOL gross receipts tax, a business personal property tax with no de minimis exemption, and other levies that vary by jurisdic...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings explains Vermont’s poor tax competitiveness in this presentation. The state ranks 42nd on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index with a top individual income tax rate of 8.75 percent, a corporate rate of 8.5 percent, the highest effective property tax burden in the nation as a percentage of personal income, and a 16 percent estate tax. Vermont i...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings examines Utah’s strong tax competitiveness in this presentation. The state ranks 15th on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index with a flat 4.5 percent individual and corporate income tax rate, permanent full expensing, no throwback rule, no capital stock tax, and an overfunded pension system at 104 percent. Utah serves as a model for states tha...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings explains why Texas remains one of the strongest states for business ownership and how redomestication provides seamless flexibility in this presentation. Texas ranks seventh on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index with no individual income tax, no estate tax, no inheritance tax, and a franchise tax that applies only to larger entities. The sta...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings explains the top six mistakes business owners make when selling or transferring an LLC in this presentation. From operating without a proper operating agreement, to dissolving the company instead of redomesticating it, failing to register in the state where you actually conduct business, using free contract templates, commingling personal and business funds, and n...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings explains the five critical steps every LLC owner must take before selling a membership interest in this presentation. From reviewing the operating agreement for transfer restrictions, to choosing between a membership interest sale and an asset sale, cleaning up compliance issues before due diligence, evaluating the state of domicile and the benefits of redomestica...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings highlights Tennessee’s dramatic tax reform success in this presentation. The state has climbed from 38th to 8th on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index by fully eliminating its individual income tax, making it one of the best states in the country for pass-through businesses. Tennessee also maintains a pension system funded at 108 percent and...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings presents this overview of why South Dakota ranks second on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index. The state imposes no individual income tax, no corporate income tax, and no gross receipts tax, along with no estate tax, no inheritance tax, and no tangible personal property or inventory taxes. With a fully funded pension system at 100 percent an...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings examines South Carolina’s tax situation in this presentation. The state ranks 29th on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index and recently enacted a temporary reduction of its top individual income tax rate to 6.0 percent that expires after one year. South Carolina also maintains an uncapped capital stock tax on net worth, a split-roll property t...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings explains Rhode Island’s ongoing tax competitiveness challenges in this presentation. The state ranks 40th on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index with below-average performance across all major categories. Rhode Island maintains a graduated individual income tax topping out at 5.99 percent with a marriage penalty, a 7.0 percent corporate incom...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings explains Pennsylvania’s tax situation in this presentation. While the state is reducing its individual income tax rate to 3.07 percent and phasing down the corporate rate toward 4.99 percent, local income taxes in many municipalities, particularly Philadelphia’s high wage tax, push the combined rate significantly higher for business owners. Pennsylvania also maint...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings explains Oregon’s dramatic decline in tax competitiveness in this presentation. The state has fallen from 8th to 35th on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index, the largest drop of any state in the country, after adding a Corporate Activity Tax on gross receipts on top of its existing corporate income tax and maintaining one of the highest combi...

Attorney and CPA Chad D. Cummings examines Oklahoma’s tax competitiveness in this presentation. The state ranks 19th on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index after notable reforms including permanent full expensing, repeal of the capital stock tax, and reduction of the top individual income tax rate to 4.5 percent. However, Oklahoma still imposes bracket creep through non-index...