Studies: Rich Don't Flee High-Tax States

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/04/29/135813061/studies-rich-dont-flee-high-tax-states

When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was presented with a new state tax on the wealthy, he vetoed it. He said:

You're not going to fix this tax situation by continuing to load more and more taxes onto people who have both the ability to leave the state and the inclination to leave the state if they feel as if they are being treated unfairly.

It's not just Christie. Democratic governors in New York and Maryland recently dropped extra taxes on the wealthy from their budgets, citing the same concerns.

But two new studies show there is little evidence that the rich flee high-tax states.

Much more at the link --

+1

I'll never understand why so much coddling happens to 1% of the electorate.

True that.

When people move to the DC area, they can choose to live in DC, Maryland, or Virginia--some even live so far out as West Virginia. So they often compare costs, including taxes. If one state/district had significantly different taxes than another, that might affect the decision. However, other taxes besides state income tax are relevant - property tax, etc. More importantly, for most people the commute is probably the biggest factor. You'll pay more tax to live in Maryland if it means a 30 minute commute rather than a 1 hour commute to a job if you were instead to live in Virginia.

rich people know how to avoid taxes by using offsets etc. The not-quite-so-rich folks are the ones who commute & who worry about taxes.. they are the ones shopping around for lower rates..

the "rich" (around here a lot of married professional couples make $400K) are concerned with commutes too - time is money, and all that, and the commutes here are brutal. Schools are probably a bigger factor for many people than state income taxes also.

But my point is just that it's much easier for me to see why state income tax could make more of a difference (rich or middle income) when you really have a choice of three "states" in which to live (maybe true for Philadelphia, etc.) for the same job, than when you are talking about a cross-country move. For middle and lower income people, I would think that the quality of the jobs available cross-country would matter more than anything.

claim that the rich, indeed, DID flee to lower-tax-rate states.

Never has a right-wing clown been more appropriately named!

K&R.

The rich have lots of places to hide their money. They don't need to run from a few extra percent in state taxes.

The truth is that the rich live in big tax cities like NY, Boston, LA, Chicago, SF, etc. because of the benefits of living there. The culture, shopping, and ease of living in a big city.