Maryland raises taxes, millionaires pack up and leave
A new study finds Maryland’s attempt to raise tax revenue by hiking taxes on “the rich” has backfired, as the state’s wealthy job creators simply packed up and moved.
“The study, by the anti-tax group Change Maryland, says that a net 31,000 residents left the state between 2007 and 2010, the tenure of a ‘millionaire’s tax’ pushed through by Gov. Martin O’Malley,” CNBC reports.
“The Change Maryland study found that the tax cost Maryland $1.7 billion in lost tax revenues. A county-by-county analysis by Change Maryland also found that the state’s wealthiest counties also had some of the largest population outflows.
“In total, Maryland has added 24 new taxes or fees in recent years, Change Maryland says. Florida, which has no income-tax, has been a large recipient of Maryland’s exiled wealthy.”
Maryland isn’t alone. As California raises taxes on that state’s productive citizens, many have fled to Nevada and Texas in record numbers.
All in all, states with lower taxes, especially lower taxes on the rich, are finding job growth grow at twice the national rate.
