The following article by Adam Belz and J. Patrick Coolican appeared in the May 7, 2016, StarTribune:
The ranks of the very rich are growing in Minnesota, despite a controversial tax increase that singles out the biggest earners to pay more.
Critics predicted that the ultra-affluent would flee after Gov. Mark Dayton secured 2013 passage of a new income tax tier of 9.85 percent on individuals who make more than $156,000 a year. But the latest data show that the number of people who filed tax returns with over $1 million in income grew by 15.3 percent in the year after the tax passed, while the new top tier of taxpayers grew by 6 percent.
No doubt wealthy Minnesotans have changed their residency since 2012, but either more have moved in or more who were already here gained enough income to reach the top bracket.
Dayton argues taxes are not the driving force behind migration into or out of Minnesota. A change in residency is a decision involving weather, jobs and family, he said. Even if taxes figure in, they were already high in Minnesota before 2013, when the rate on top incomes was 7.85 percent. Continue reading “There’s no evidence that ultrarich are fleeing Minnesota”