An organization called ChangeMaryland has a new study that states that 31,000 individuals left the state from 2007 to 2010. ChangeMaryland believes that it’s the tax hikes in the state that have caused the exodus.
Maryland is a decidedly liberal (“blue”) state with relatively high taxes. The study states that the millionaire’s tax, which ran from 2007 to 2010, cost the state $1.7 billion in tax revenues: Individuals impacted by the tax fled to low-tax states (primarily Florida). As I noted last December, California lost over 720,000 taxpayers and $48 billion of AGI from 1993 to 2008 while the population of the state increased.
There is an obvious conclusion: Tax rates matter, and individuals will move to avoid higher taxes. I’m an example of that, and it appears that many former residents of Maryland are, too.