Revenue-Hungry States Are Raising Taxes on Their Wealthiest Residents

ABC News:

Forbes 400 member B. Thomas Golisano built his fortune in New York and has run for governor there three times. In May he changed his official residency to Naples, Fla. Why? In April New York socked millionaires with a 31% tax hike--raising the tax rate on income over $500,000 from 6.85% to 8.97%. (It also added a 7.85% rate for income over $300,000 for a couple.) Florida has no state income tax.

Read the whole story: ABC News

Comments

[jeffp26]

What took so long?

[ko2ko2]

I'll be happy to pay more taxes, I just ask for one thing in return, documentation and honesty. I think that is fair. Oh and 1 other thing, no more lobbyists...

[confidance government]

That's not how it works.

They promise these things with the raise in taxes; the raise the taxes and never deliver.

[TimberGhost]

Interesting to note that most of these states raising the taxes of those who are quite capable of absorbing the added tax with a minimal financial sacrifice, in order to benefit the common good are blue states.

And the greedy CEOs who protesteth too much over this added "burden" flee to the low tax red states, which in turn are supported by the blue states (when comparing dollar for dollar return of federal monies). So the greedy rich move to red states to live off the contributions of the blue states. Isn't that a kind of welfare of sorts.

Sick, greedy fks.

[AmericasFreeRepublic]

Well, when you can't steal from the poor and middle class anymore, you need to tax the people that pay the least amount and have the most money. I am happy to pay my fair share in this economy. So stop complaining!

[icechaos]

God, you liberals are stupid. The poor have no money. They create no wealth they just consume.

You liberals need to step up and pay 90 percent of your income to the poor folk that you love so much.
That is only fair...

[Chaimirija]

maybe we should just k.i.l.l them poors people eh?

[Chaimirija]

PS: it IS a consumer society, M.O.R.O.N

[KaptainKen]

Ref: "They create no wealth they just consume."

Consume what? With what? A portion of every dollar spent consuming products and services is someone else's profit and income. A higher demand for a particular product becomes an incentive for someone else to produce that product.

Some folks separate "wealth creation" from consumption. It's pointless to build a factory and employ people (wealth creation) to make "widgets" if there isn't enough people with the spare cash to buy widgets (consumption).

Look at the big picture, Ice.

[jsgaetano]

Liberals are already paying for the public wealth sponges called Red States.

Smaller Gubment starts at home... you conservatives need to get off the gubment teet.

[punkindmb]

But isn't Bloomberg a republican? I guess even he recognizes that there won't be enough money if people don't have income.

[loki]

Problem is, the politicians can use this to claim they are going after the wealthy, but the wealthy will use it as a excuse to increase the cost to the poor, and not just to offset the cost of the extra tax. I am sure they will collect the cost of the taxes plus many times that.

[Stonybrooke2]

Taxing just the wealthy will not pay for BO's $1.8 trillion deficit.

Soon, you will the call, “All on board!”

[research]

The rich have taken so much money, that just raising the top income tax to 50% would pay for all governmnet and debt in just a few years.

[NoSillyName]

The "wealthy" are the ones with the wealth. duh.

Too bad they hate to part with any more of it than they deem necessary.

The rest of us don't have any to spare. If we have any at all.

[mikefina]

If you don't have much or you don't have any, STOP COMLAINING. You are already FREERIDING.

[BrettnCalgary]

That's a strange way of looking at it. The wealthy and powerful have engineered your system so that almost all of the wealth goes to the top, and those left behind should stop complaining because they are already getting a few crumbs from the power elites table?

[NoSillyName]

Am not.

[richdibo]

Taxes should be like an insurance policy. The higher the potential loss, the higher the premium.

[chabnormal]

I believe that there shouldn't be a cap on taxable income. That is the truely unfair thing. You should have to pay a % of tax on all of you income. It's pretty simple.

[Social Construct]

Just a single, solitary and personal observation: If I had the good fortune, or as many of the more fortunate amongst us rationalize, the self-reliant work ethic that we wealthy folks believe the poor lack (I say the former with all due sarcasm), and made 250K or more and the sum of all taxes paid equaled 50 or 60 percent, I think I could manage to still do ok. But that's just me, what do I know?

[Chaimirija]

here is another observation: the wealthy need us...we don't need them. Why does no one realize this? They need consumers and workers...otherwise they wouldnt be able to create wealth...

[Mogamboguru]

OHMYGOD!

In Germany, we have a maximum rate of Income-Tax of 43 percent, which is appliccable for incomes above 250,000 Euros / Year (350;000 Dollars / year).

And we STILL have Millionaires and Billionaires here.

Go and get it, I say. The bucks are somewhere out there. No man needs a billion Dollars to live - nor is he worth it

[mrfreeze]

Morgam - Thanks for the insight. Most Americans assume that the rest of the world lives in awe of our way of life. Even sadder, most Americans themselves believe the purpose of America is to become rich. Instead of planning for the future, investing in infrastructures, schools etc. they spend every waking moment worrying about taxes. Even more absurd is the fetish with worrying about what the rich pay in taxes.

Ultimately, America will fail because everyone is constantly worrying about protecting "capitalism" whilst the country falls apart due to neglect and non-investment. My Italian relatives are taxed, I believe at 41% and they're not turning in their passports to come live here.

[Mogamboguru]

Exactly. And it was to read here on HP about two weeks ago, that people in Scandinavia, where they have an Income-tax of up tp 75 percent, are the happiest and best-kept people throughout the world.

So a healthy taxation is not only not bad but, in fact, is GOOD for the people!

DIG THIS, AMERICA!

[Steven Anderson]

Congratulations to Golisano. I hope that it turns into a flood so that a fair system is put back in place once again. With the extra taxes, what does he get extra over me or others who make less than a tenth of 1% of what he makes? I am sick of jealous people not taking care of themselves and pointing the finger at those better off as the solution. I ask all of those taxed at those ridiculous rates to come here to Hungary, for example, where there is no property tax and you can easily set up Cyprus 0% tax corporations. We would appreciate you here setting up a business, employing people and buying your goodies in the local ecomony...definitely not cry and finger you for more as ungrateful children.

[research]

Make property taxes progressive.

[mikefina]

I prefer that to progressive income taxes.

[hill raiser]

being taxed at a higher rate are actually physically moving to other states, or countries. Those states raising taxes in hopes of generating revenue are generally experiencing the opposite. They are losing revenue die to so many people leaving. And then once again, the middle class will be left to bear the brunt of higher http://google.comoogle.com

[petef59]

Coherent sentences are more effective than regurgitated rants from the right-wing. Are you worried about losing a slight bit of spending money from your trust-fund?