Lindsay Owens, president and CEO of Groundwork Collaborative, said the new data makes clear that “tax flight is nothing more than a myth, and should be given as much credence as flat-earthers.”
“If there was any merit to the myth that tax increases on New York’s wealthy drive them away, the new IRS data should show it,” said Owens. “It doesn’t—New York’s millionaire population kept climbing years after the state raised taxes on top earners.”
Rich people only pay taxes when they sell assets. Their “income” is usually loans against those assets.
Their rich do not contribute, they extract. That’s how they became rich. They need us, our cities, our labor, and our tax funded infrastructure to run their businesses. That’s why they come and that’s why they won’t leave.
That isn’t the natural order of the universe, some immutable law, like Gravity.
We can change that, and make those sorts of financial schemes illegal. We can force them to live off their money, and tax it as they access it. We can change the rules anytime we want.
You’re right, and that’s why their threats to leave [insert city, state, country here] if they don’t get their way should always be ignored. It’s empty posturing from the Epstein class.
It’s not even a good threat. Like, do you know how much we hate you? Go if you’re not going to make it worth it to have you around. We’ll be better off.