Comments on: Proof You can only Push High Net Worth and High Income Individuals So Far!

By: Jason @ MyMoneyMinute

Jason @ MyMoneyMinute — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:40:05 +0000

I think it was a retort to Money Reasons questioning “has the government ever run any domestic program well???”

Gov’t can run certain things well. Whether they should, or whether they run enough things well to justify further control, is certainly up for debate.

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:27:37 +0000

I actually don’t think your comment has anything to do with the conversation?

By: csdx

csdx — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:15:26 +0000

Let’s see: Most people like the interstate highway system, air travel is statistically the safest mode of transportation, you get clean water right in your house, perhaps you’ve heard of this thing called the internet which originated from government research, smallpox has been entirely eradicated and many common diseases are all but unknown in the US… yeah the government can’t do anything right.

By: Evan

Evan — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:21:17 +0000

Jim,

Thanks for checking out the archives! It all depends on what States you are talking about. I am not sure how familiar you are with the US but just moving from New York City to a neighboring State can save a high income earner tens of thousands per year.

By: Jim Smith

Jim Smith — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:55:04 +0000

ahh – the lengths people will go to to avoid tax. Wonder how much it cost them to move? More than the amount of extra tax?

By: FinancialBondage

FinancialBondage — Tue, 04 May 2010 01:28:38 +0000

Maryland Is called the free state… not sure why.. trust me, nothing here is free. we are taxed to death on everything… and the governments are still struggling to pay its bills.

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Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:59:53 +0000

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By: Roger, the Amateur Financier

Roger, the Amateur Financier — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:59:26 +0000

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I do think that some, if not most of the ‘missing millionaires’ likely relocated, probably to places where they’d pay lower income taxes. I’m just saying, it’s not a full proof argument, as where they went could have a big impact on the interpretation of the move. If many of them relocated to states (or countries) with even higher taxation, like California (or France), it kind of makes the idea that high taxes lead to millionaires fleeing as fast as possible seem far fetched. Heck, there’s not even solid data on how many (if any) of the millionaires died, so for all we know, 2008 was just a bad year to be a Maryland millionaire.

Again, I’m no saying this is the case (it’s probably not), just saying that without more data, definite conclusions seem a bit of a stretch. (Add in the fact that neither the Tax Foundation nor the Wall Street Journal (where the data and statements were originally published) is known for being pro-tax, and I think a hint of skepticism is called for.)

By: Evan

Evan — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:42:34 +0000

I get that correlation is not causation, but that is an odd statistic.

EVEN if they left the country that is even worse for us as whole, especially with Big O’s ideas to tax the shit out of those with million dollar incomes to pay for EVERYONE’s health care.

By: Roger, the Amateur Financier

Roger, the Amateur Financier — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:03:32 +0000

Hunh, interesting situation. The problem with trying to tax those most able to pay is that they are also the most able to avoid taxes. From fleeing to other states to fighting the taxes through legislative means, there’s few options those with wealth don’t have.

Of course, there is one issue I feel compelled to raise: correlation is not causation. At no point in the articles linked was there proof (in the form of interviews with a representative sample of those millionaires who left, for instance) that the higher tax rates were in fact the reason they left. It doesn’t sound as if they were even really sure that the 1/8 of Maryland’s millionaires who left the state were still in the country. Without knowing where they ended up or why they left, I’m less than fully convinced that ‘higher taxes cause millionaires to flee’ is a true causality.