More than 700 millionaires fled New York in first year of pandemic after tax rate hike

New York has lost a significant proportion of its millionaires as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data from the Internal Revenue Service.

The statistics reviewed by EJ McMahon of the Empire Center for Public Policy are likely to heighten the ongoing debate about New York’s relatively unfriendly tax status, especially when it comes to high-income earners.

McMahon said the data showed a 1.3% drop in the number of New Yorkers with an adjusted gross annual income of more than $1 million.

It comes as woke states such as New York and California see a mass exodus amid soaring real estate prices and rampant crime.

New York Mayor Eric Adams said he would like to keep top earners in the Big Apple, but offered no policies that would encourage them to stay.

The precise figure rose from 54,370 to 55,100 – 730 individuals, while the national number rose from 554,340 to 608,549 – a jump of almost 10%.

Taxes probably aren’t the only reason wealthy New Yorkers have fled the empire state during COVID, but it’s at least a great one and not something that should be ignored by the US government. state, McMahon said.

“It is absurd to deny that it is not one of the main determinants,” he told the Union-Sun & Journal. “And that’s the variable that the state government controls.”

In 2010, he said, New York State had 12.7% of the nation’s millionaires.

It was the year elected officials imposed the infamous millionaire tax, which was supposed to be a temporarily higher tax rate for those earning more than $1 million.

Those taxes only went up during Andrew Cuomo’s years in office, and haven’t been lowered since the abrupt end of his administration, prompted by a report about Cuomo’s pattern of sexually harassing women on his estate. orbit.

In 2019, the state’s share of millions of dollars had fallen below 10% and fell in 2020 to 8.9%.

This $150million Hamptons residence has been on the market for years without selling – owner says she prefers summering outside New York

These stunning properties are precisely where million dollar earners can live with their families before choosing to leave for better tax environments.

Fewer top earners in New York State means more $250 million unoccupied penthouse apartments in Manhattan — like this one in the iconic Central Park Tower

One Democratic leader, however, who says he is trying to keep the country’s wealthy in New York, is Mayor Eric Adams.

At a recent breakfast of business leaders, Adams said he was tired of the “tax the rich” policies favored by the progressive wing of his party.

‘It amazes me when I hear, ‘What if they leave?’ No, you’re leaving! he thundered. “I want my top earners here.”

Adams has not, at this time, offered a plan to cut taxes for wealthy — or any — New Yorkers.

According to new data from the Census Bureau, New York has seen the largest population decline of any US state this year, losing 0.9% of its residents.

California, high in taxes and crime, also lost hundreds of thousands of people.

The Cuomo administration has backed and maintained the so-called millionaires tax, which has reinforced the state’s tax dependence on taxing the highest amounts

The grand theft crisis has gotten so bad that Mayor Eric Adams hosted a summit with business leaders at Gracie Mansion earlier this month.

New York and California have each lost more than half a million people since 2020

Manhattan’s touristy neighborhoods have increasingly become hotbeds of crime – where cheeky thieves leave shopkeepers feeling helpless

Since April 2020, New York has lost half a million people online. Its current population has been recorded at 19,677,151, making it the fourth most populous state after California, Texas, and Florida.

In California, where massive wildfires and dangerous landslides once a year threaten homes, the population has also shrunk by just over 508,000 since 2020.

California Department of Finance Deputy Director of External Affairs HD Palmer told the Sacramento Bee that the Golden State’s declining population is a reflection of its current housing affordability crisis.

“If you talk to demographers, they’ll tell you that one of the factors is the cost of housing. And that continues to be a difficult issue for the state,” he said.

According to the Bee, in Sacramento — where the median household income in 2021 was $71,047 — it takes a household wage of about $145,000 to afford the home at the area’s median price.

In New York, where crime and rents are skyrocketing, the mass exodus continues.

Manhattan rent prices have reached unfathomable new heights in 2022, forcing many concrete jungle dwellers to hand over huge sums each month for less than lavish digs

Crime in New York has increased dramatically since 2020, as homelessness increases and the city continues to be governed by bail laws that allow felons to be released shortly after their arrest.

In January 2020, New York State introduced sweeping criminal justice legislation that eliminated cash bail for the majority of misdemeanors and non-violent crimes, including theft.

New York, where the average rent is now over $5,200 a month, lost more residents than any other state between April 1, 2020 and July 1, 2021, many of whom fled a tough set of pandemic restrictions and high taxes for friendlier business environments. , according to MarketWatch.

The US population grew by 0.4%, but that’s not just due to more births than deaths.

“There was a significant increase in population growth last year compared to the historically low increase the year before,” said Census Bureau demographer Kristie Wilder.

“A rebound in net international migration, coupled with the largest year-on-year increase in total births since 2007, is driving this increase,” she added.

Florida and Texas continue to experience the highest population growth of any US state.

The Lone Star State has gained nearly 900,000 new Texans since 2020 and Florida has just over 700,000 new official residents, a population increase of nearly 2%.

Texas crossed the 30 million population threshold in 2022 and as such joined California as the only state with a resident population of over 30 million.

Wilder noted that while Florida “has often been among the top gaining states, this was the first time since 1957 that Florida was the state with the largest percentage increase in population”.

Crime in Manhattan jumped 23.5% in 2022 as robberies, rapes and felony assaults all increased – although murders and shootings both fell by double digits.

Armed robberies – or thefts over $1,000 – have increased by more than 60% in New York this year.

The problem has become so big that Mayor Eric Adams held a meeting with business leaders at Gracie Mansion earlier this month to address it – although a solution remains far from attainable as the city struggles. heading into the new year.