Quite a few of the folks targeted for this new millionaires’ tax are going to find ways to shift income, defer income; some are going to leave the state altogether and give all their taxes to a different, less abusive government; some will reduce their efforts and voluntarily reduce their earned income and live off their investments. Those running companies will get the extra tax by cutting payrolls, delaying capital investments, and raising prices – so, ultimately, the millionaires’ tax is paid for them by non-millionaires. In fact, immediately, some high-profile, very rich New York residents announced plans to move elsewhere as state of primary residence. The extra tax bill would, arguably, not matter much or at all to them in strict monetary terms. But it matters to them in principle. They resent it, and they can respond. Punched in the nose, they punch back, or at least refuse to stand still for the next blow.
If the politicians actually think this will solve their deficit problems, they are idiots unable to tell fiction from fact. But maybe this is not about actually solving the state’s problems, anymore than Obama’s tax the rich schemes are about the incredible multiplying federal debt.
