Gap Between High Tax And Low Tax States Widening

By Janet Novack

Republican governors and other speakers at a tax conference today said that Republican tax-cutting in the states will lead to higher growth in those areas and a flight of residents from high-tax Democratic states.  “People are voting with their feet,’’ said Southern Methodist University economist W. Michael Cox. A recent study he completed on migration from California to Texas found that the number one reason people  had left California was its high state income tax, he said.
 
Texas has no state income tax, whereas the top state income tax rate in California on income over $1 million is currently 10.3% and Democratic Governor Jerry Brown is supporting a union-backed voter referendum which would raise that  top rate by three percentage points to 13.3%. That would give California the highest combined state and local income tax rate in the nation. Currently, New York City holds that honor; Big Apple residents with more than $2 million in income a year pay the highest state/local rate—12.69%, with 8.82% going to the state and 3.87% to the city....