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People will attempt to prove the counter with theoretical, I have an actual to support your claim.

Years ago, Denver placed a tax on companies that create software. By "magic", companies decided to found outside the county lines including Boulder. Boulder has an active software scene. Denver is getting there, but still not the advanced companies Boulder has. I believe Denver recalled the tax, but unsure.

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Also consider the inverse example of Twitter: SF offered tax breaks to companies setting up on mid market street, and low and behold startups moved in and gentrified the area.

When looking to rent an office in the Los Angeles area, my wife discovered that the city of Beverly Hills taxes a percentage of your business income, so she decided not to locate there. If I recall it was a flat tax, not a "luxury" tax either. Yet plenty of businesses thrive in Beverly Hills. So this example is an "actual" which does not support the claim :)

While I don't disagree that my suggestion is what will happen - in speaking with many founders they cited the egregious tax (it was more than 0.5%) as a reason for setting up shop outside the city. Which leads me to believe it was impactful - the amount was 3.62%

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