No mention of how it turned out in Massachusetts.
Yep. Millionaires threaten to move away if they’re taxed, but they won’t. The convenience of having their high value properties in highly sought after areas, where all the services they use are present, is too enticing, and even a hefty tax won’t be a deterrent.
Just imagine how much upheaval it would cause you to move a few states over. For a millionaire… it’s the same except they’re used to so much beyond basic survival - their parties, their exclusive clubs, exclusive gatherings, private boxes in theatres, the list goes on.
Do you really see such a person moving to Bumfuck Nowhere, Nebraska, just because that town doesn’t tax millionaires? Do you really see them giving up 80-90% of the “rich life” just to save their wealth? Hell nah. As long as you’re not explicitly threatening to tax them out of existence, they’ll stay. Because unlike the average people they can afford that extra expense.
But of course they don’t want to, they just yap around threatening the move without committing to it.
I mean yeah, sure, go ahead and move to Bumfuck and try to figure out what to do with all that money.
And even if some of them really move: is it worse them not paying taxes while not being there at all?
I don’t see the the core of their threat.The idea is that “rich people spend their money” - which, let’s be honest, is blatantly untrue.
The rich don’t spend their own money. They trade favours. Hell, if you have $1mil on your hand, you can easily walk into a “rich people bank”, open an account and get free shit every month, beyond the very generous interest rates. Free concert/theatre tickets, and such. It’s like a casino hotel that tries to get you to stay with the freebies, but on an “I have a few million dollars in your bank” level.
Frankly said, whether they spend their money or not is their business. If they are involved in shenenigans like you described that needs to be regulated, because it sure looks like tax evasion.
And regarding the proposed tax (quoting the linked article): “The Millionaire Tax will impose an additional 2% income tax on the top 1% in NYC, who are earning over $1 million per year”.So this tax in no way designed to tax their wealth, but merely their income by another measly 2%.
Nobody will become poor because of this. Some income millionaires just become slightly slower even more rich than they already are.Have them move elsewhere and see whether they can keep their annual income in the millions there.
I, for one, am willing to call their bluff.And once that is done, implement a wealth tax for the people who own x million USD.
To keep them from freaking out, it can be as low as 5% annually, because that would still allow them to generate a net increase of their wealth.
If they complain, increase the tax and start draining their fortune.
A lot of millionaire wealth is tied to where they live. A New York lawyer or doctor can’t just move to Miami and expect to have the same level. Business owners could potentially move, but they still would need to keep traveling back and forth. Ultimately, their social life and lifestyle is where they already liveand being the one who moved because “is expensive” it would be seen as cheap.
FYI when we’re talking about taxing the rich and wealth we’re not talking about doctors and lawyers even if they still make a fuck ton because they are still getting paid for their labour and they need to work in order to maintain their lifestyle even if they would be considered rich.
What we’re talking about are people who make their living through their capital I.e. due to the exploitation of other people.
A quick search suggests most New York lawyers (avg $176k/yr) and surgeons (avg $300k to $750k) aren’t going to be be affected.
Yeah. We usually consider lawyers, doctors, tech people, academics at fancy universities etc. to be rich. But in the grand scheme of things, they’re upper middle class at best. The real rich are all people with generational wealth coming from businesses.
More rich people lived there and the tax generated more than expected. That’s awesome. Good news for NYC.
Good news for everyone, particularly any city that wants to try this
This article is from Jun 17
Have things changed that drastically in just five months to make it invalid? Since he just won this month, it seems to me that it’s more relevant, not less.
It’s a useful FYI, you… sanctimonious ape.
I’m from March 1979
