Study Debunk The myth that lifts the wealth tax out of WA

A progressive Think Tank rejects the claim that the richest Washingtoners would let the state in droves if a wealth tax is determined in budget plans in order to conclude a defect of $ 16 billion. You say that's just not true.

A study by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) showed that the “millionaire class” has increased by 38.6% in Massachusetts and, despite a capital gains tax in Washington, by 46.9%. Between 2022 and 2024, their assets grew by more than 580 billion US dollars in Massachusetts and 748 billion US dollars in the state of Washington.

This financial growth took place, even though Washington had a capital greeting tax, while Massachusetts operated with progressive taxation of the income of millions of dollars.

“Both Massachusetts and Washington serve as critical test studies on the actual effects of the rather taxation of the rich,” said IPS researcher Omar Ocampo in a prepared explanation. “The taxation of people with high incomes with a higher sentence is not disturbing and did not cause a mass comparison of the millionaires.”

Washington saw more millionaires

According to the IPS study, Washington's “millionaire class” expanded from 463,000 in 2022 to more than 681,000 to 2024.

The capital gains tax increased $ 1.2 billion from 2022 to 2024.

“A wealth tax that is concerned with an ultra-high net assets with $ 50 million or more, intervenes in a minor restriction of your accumulation rate, but has to achieve the potential to achieve considerable income that can be used to support broad health, economic and educational programs that benefit all state inhabitants,” explained IPS.

What a “wealth tax” could achieve sales if they are increased again

IPS even claimed that if the wealth tax rose by a further 2% net wealth of more than 50 million US dollars, it could generate $ 8.2 billion for the state. Similarly, it would collect hypothetically 7.4 billion US dollars in Massachusetts, 21.9 billion US dollars in New York and 700 million US dollars in Rhode Island.

“This new analysis confirms that we all benefit from the rich taxes pay their fair share of taxes – including the rich,” said Amber Wallin, the executive director of State Revenue Alliance, in a press release for IPs. “For years we have had so-called experts that higher taxes will mean that wealthy people flee-it was never true, but these results show how wrong they were.”

This study takes place after one of the most famous billionaires in Washington, Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive Chairman from Amazon, from Washington to Indian Creek Village – an exclusive area in Miami, Florida. Also known as “billionaire bunker”, famous for his famous residents such as Tom Brady, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. He allegedly saved almost 1 billion US dollars in just one year after he described Florida as the main residence instead of Washington.

Legislators in Washington have adopted a massive operating budget of 77.9 billion US dollars in the next two years, and now it is on Governor Bob Ferguson's desk to sign and survive. Ferguson previously warned the legislator that he would not say goodbye to a budget that is too dependent on taxes. The current budget proposal recently comprises 7 million US dollars of cuts and 9 million US dollars of new taxes.

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