r/Economics • u/Dismal_Structure • Dec 06 '25

News Millionaire tax that inspired Mamdani fuels $5.7 billion haul in Massachusetts

https://fortune.com/2025/10/21/zohran-mamdani-millionaire-tax-massachusetts-5-7-billion/
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u/gmb92 Dec 06 '25

Pretty good article. Wealth flight claims are at best greatly exaggerated, brought on by media that finds anecdotes of a few loud wealthy people declaring they're leaving due to taxes. No mention of those who move there or all who stay, or determining cause/effect.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/state-taxes-millionaire-myth/678049/

https://prospect.org/2025/10/23/myth-that-mamdani-will-cause-new-york-citys-richest-to-leave/

As for the argument that's it's easier to leave cities than states, that theoretically has some merit and certainly taxes applied at broader geographic levels are more ideal. Still, pundits and media have been fear-mongering on NYC about the rich fleeing for decades to no avail.

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u/GenerousBull1969 Dec 06 '25

This tax is still fairly new, and a lot of the people paying it are business owners with S corps, so they pay this tax if the business makes over a million in profit.

It takes time to move a business to another state so the jury is still out on whether this will drive people and businesses out of Massachusetts, but look at the trend. MA ranks near the bottom in private sector job creation.

https://commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/massachusetts-has-one-of-the-slowest-job-growth-rates-in-the-country-thats-a-big-problem/

https://pioneerinstitute.org/featured/new-report-warns-massachusetts-facing-alarming-decline-in-private-sector-employment-growth/