Death Taxes and Elderly Interstate Migration

Abstract

This study was undertaken to test the proposition that the relative levels of death taxes in the different states contribute to the interstate migration flows of the U.S. elderly population. A statistical model incorporating state-to-state elderly migration flows and the state death tax levels for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia was tested. The results of the analysis point to a separation of the decision made to leave a state of origin from the decision regarding where to move. The data do not support the idea that the level of death taxes within a given state contributes to the out-migration of elderly residents; however, once the decision to migrate has been made, there is evidence that the destination area will have lower death tax rates, but the effect is considerably less important than the impact of climate and other factors measured by the model.