New Jersey's Millionaires Really Fleeing States Lower Taxes

New Jersey’s Millionaires Fleeing

The report, from the New Jersey wealth-management firm RegentAtlantic Capital, has been lighting up the New Jersey media and websites. It says that in 2010 alone, New Jersey lost taxable income of $5.5 billion because residents moved. It ties the wealth flight to the state’s “millionaire’s tax,” which raised taxes on those making $500,000 or more (roughly the top 1 per cent of New Jersey taxpayers) starting in 2004.

In a four-year period before the millionaire’s tax, the aggregate net worth in the state increased by $98 billion, the report said. After the tax, the net outflow reversed “70 per cent of the wealth gained in the prior four years,” the report said.

But while the paper goes into a detailed argument on why tax migration makes financial sense, it states at the beginning that “this paper does not provide proof or hard evidence that high income and/or high net worth residents are leaving New Jersey because of high taxes.”

Finally, it says the average adjusted gross income of the people leaving New Jersey for Florida is $74,000 a year. People making $74,0000 a year are not subject to the millionaire’s tax—that only applies to $500,000 a year earners. Full Story

New Jersey’s Millionaires Fleeing to States with Lower Taxes

New Jersey’s Millionaires Fleeing

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