Not only is New York imposing crushing taxes on its wealthier residents, it is chasing them down when they try to escape.

With a $2.3 billion budget deficit that Gov. Andrew Cuomo called “as serious as a heart attack,” the state’s tax collectors are seeking a bolder approach in capturing fleeing residents, CNBC reported.

The Democratic governor placed the blame for the hole in his state treasury on President Trump, of course, claiming the administration’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act adversely affected his state.

“This is the flip side. Tax the rich, tax the rich, tax the rich,” Cuomo said last month. “We did. Now, God forbid, the rich leave.”

“‘This is the flip side. Tax the rich, tax the rich, tax the rich. The rich leave, and now what do you do?’ – Andrew Cuomo” #Socialism (eventually other people’s money runs out…) https://t.co/Gd8jJuNumb — James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) February 5, 2019

With a reduction in the state and local tax deductions allowed on annual income tax forms, New Yorkers who felt the squeeze began to leave the Empire State. And state auditors were on their heels.

CNBC reported:

But the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance is making sure that high earners who try to leave don’t escape without an audit and a bill. New York conducted about 3,000 “nonresidency” audits a year between 2010 and 2017, collecting around $1 billion, according to Monaeo, a company that sells an app for tracking and proving tax residency. More than half of those who were audited lost their cases, and the average collected by New York State between 2015 and 2017 was $144,270 per audit, Monaeo said.

Apparently, auditors are using new high-tech tools to ensure successful investigations of tax records, “including tracking cellphone records, social media feeds, and veterinary and dentist records. Auditors are even conducting in-home inspections to look inside taxpayers’ refrigerators,” according to CNBC.

New York lost more than 48,000 residents between July 2017 and July 2018, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which indicated that low-tax red states like Florida and Texas gained new residents.

“If you’re a high earner in New York and you move to Florida, your chances of a residency audit are 100 percent,” Barry Horowitz, a partner at the WithumSmith+Brown accounting firm, told CNBC. “New York has always been aggressive. But it’s getting worse.”

Cuomo argued that “even if a small number of taxpayers leave, it has a dramatic effect on this tax space,” with the top one percent of earners paying 46 percent of the New York’s income taxes. One of the areas of focus has been residents who move to Florida, or even “fake” a move to the Sunshine State which has no income tax or estate tax.

Even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s mother touted her move south to Florida, saying the living is “stress free” compared to her former tax-burdened life in New York.

Ocasio-Cortez’s mom says she left NYC for a red state because of high taxes, says AOC was not raised to be socialist https://t.co/nTjIo7Tmn2 pic.twitter.com/9Eleo9gdLz — Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) March 5, 2019

“I was paying $10,000 a year in real estate taxes up north. I’m paying $600 a year in Florida. It’s stress-free down here,” Blanca Ocasio-Cortez told the Daily Mail.

The aggressive approach of tax auditors in New York could backfire as it creates a hostile environment while filling the state treasury.

CNBC reported:

Auditors now check to make sure a taxpayer’s home in New York is smaller and less expensive than his or her home in Florida. Tax collectors want to see if a taxpayer’s prized artwork, wedding albums, family photos, safe-deposit box, and most cherished jewelry are also in Florida. Having a wealth manager in Florida and a country club membership there is also a must. Also, if a taxpayer’s dentist is in New York, rather than Florida, that’s a red flag for auditors.

Not only are the audits costly for the taxpayers, they are nearly always won by the state, and can drag on for years. Some taxpayers can even be subjected to audits more than once, and in consecutive years. While they can appeal the results, most just end up settling according to tax lawyers and accountants.

The audacious move by New York’s tax auditors has done more than raise eyebrows on social media.

As residents flee New York’s high taxes, state uses intrusive audits to get cash from defectorshttps://t.co/DwrfiqZqbV

Democrat held state will audit you if you move from their state. The purpose is to penalize you for leaving their state. Is this not targeting and illegal? — Doug Fletcher (@Doughogfan) March 9, 2019

New York is chasing those fleeing the state over high taxes. Audits of folks moving to Florida are hitting record highs. “Snowbirds” may get hit with a bill if not real Florida residents. #NewYork #Florida #tax #taxes #Audit https://t.co/W7eP5tBWjZ — J.R. Coleman (@JRCTaxGuy) March 9, 2019

If tax flight is a “myth,” why is New York’s tax department so focused on Florida residents? And why does it have a “nonresident audit program”? https://t.co/d9ifd7ZyRn pic.twitter.com/X8FJePZom6 — Bill Hammond (@NYHammond) March 9, 2019

Your kind, benevolent, helpful big government of the day story: New York’s liberal government will chase you down if you move away and punish you with a massive intrusive tax audit for leaving.#Shitholehttps://t.co/mCHZGj4hlr — Deplorable Jim (@LoveUSAAmerica) March 9, 2019

Here’s a novel idea ⁦@NYGovCuomo⁩-instead of harassing your residents, why don’t you audit your own gov’t to identify areas of colossal spending waste? Cut back perks for govt officials – find the $ ⁦@NYCMayor⁩’s wife lost – that’s a start. https://t.co/VP8xhpoK4Q — HillNo! ?? (@GirlMom2x) March 9, 2019

And the prize for the most desperate occupation in America goes to … New York tax collectors…

https://t.co/2xcmW8DrH6 — Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) March 8, 2019