Last year, voters in Oregon voted to raise taxes on the highest income earners in the state, giving Oregon the highest tax rates of any state in the nation. It hasn’t worked out too well for Oregonians, according to the Wall Street Journal:
In 2009 the state legislature raised the tax rate to 10.8% on joint-filer income of between $250,000 and $500,000, and to 11% on income above $500,000. …
Congratulations. Instead of $180 million collected last year from the new tax, the state received $130 million. …
One reason revenues are so low is that about one-quarter of the rich tax filers seem to have gone missing. The state expected 38,000 Oregonians to pay the higher tax, but only 28,000 did.
As Homer Simpson says, Doh!
Again, I’ve written about this here and here. People simply leave. Those who do not understand the Laffer Curve will perish from it.
And note, this does not happen with a bang. This happens slowly, quietly, over time. One middle class family moves to Evanston, then one to Riverside, and another to Elmhurst. Pretty soon10% of the people paying the bills have left. Those first on the bus get to pick the best seats. The rest have a real problem.
But we can stop this. We just need to say “Enough!”