It's not ~ebil socialism~ it's forcible sharing of toys, ok?

[mephisto5]

Tax Flight Is a Myth
Higher State Taxes Bring More Revenue, Not More Migration

Attacks on sorely-needed increases in state tax revenues often include the unproven claim that tax hikes will drive large numbers of households - particularly the most affluent - to other states. The same claim also is used to justify new tax cuts. Compelling

Comments

[squid_ink]

Chamber of Commerce-commissioned study LOL those crazy republicans in sheeps clothing.

Rich folk flock together, and most of them seem to flock to northern NJ or Riverside, CT if they cant deal with apartment life in Manhattan. This will never change until Manhattan sinks into the ocean

[roseofjuly]

LOL. It's true, although I suspect that in addition to the housing market (there are some places in North Jersey that are almost as expensive as Manhattan) they don't want to live with brown people. It's the reason they're fleeing to Hoboken and Riverside instead of Brooklyn and Queens.

[tmlforsyth]

I'd much rather live in Astoria if I had the money. I'd love to transport the scuzziest folks in NYC to affluent suburbs in CT and NJ, so they could rip those places apart...well and Arlington, TX, too. I can understand moving to a sterile bedroom community to save money, but some of these places are over-sized and expensive and scream, "I have money but I have no class."

[intrikate88]

I'm glad that a report is confirming this. I mean, we USians live in a country where people aren't even rioting in the streets about the gross inequities inherent in our society, does anyone REALLY think we're motivated to do more than complain a little if our taxes go up 5%?

[tmlforsyth]

I'd agree about 5%. It's not Huey Long's "Share the Wealth" program or anything that outrageous. Now 18% taxes (like in Newfoundland) is a whole different story, but I doubt any state would try that kind of rate.

[intrikate88]

Yeah, exactly. It's all a balance of cost and convenience- in terms of moving costs, stress over resettling, job uncertainty in a new location, unforeseen expenses from a new location, etc., does that equal or exceed the rate of the tax increase? I think there is definitely a point at which the tax could be a higher cost, but I think it's a point that is a lot farther off than any state could feasibly imagine. Doing some quick mental calculations, I think that if my income taxes went up by 10% even I'd still just decide it was something I had to put up with and try to budget a little more carefully. I'm lucky that I can afford to think that way, most certainly, but the cost of moving somewhere else and finding another job would definitely exceed that tax amount by quite a lot.

[salienne]

I AM SHOCKED. SHOCKED I TELL YOU.

[dorklord07]

WHAT?! SCIENCE AND EVIDENCE IN MY TAX POLICY?! WTF IS THIS!

[roseofjuly]

I knew it just didn't make sense. Most people just kvetch about higher taxes; they are not going to uproot their families, change their jobs, and cut ties to their communities over a couple hundred extra dollars a year in property or income taxes if they can afford it. (And for the families we're talking about, a couple extra hundred a year in taxes is nothing to them.) Besides, what's the point of moving for a lower tax rate if your house is $500K more?