State Wealth and Millionaire Taxes

From coast to coast, lawmakers are embracing wealth and millionaires’ taxes. Many of these proposals will face their ultimate test at the ballot box this November, and we should be rooting for these measures to fail.

On the West Coast, California wants to adopt a wealth taxA wealth tax is imposed on an individual’s net wealth, or the market value of their total owned assets minus liabilities. A wealth tax can be narrowly or widely defined, and depending on the definition of wealth, the base for a wealth tax can vary.; Washington is greatly increasing taxes on high earners. Near the Atlantic, Rhode Island and Virginia are debating similar measures. And even in the Midwest, Michigan has been debating adopting new taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. hikes this year (though that effort has been put on pause).

These debates are often framed in terms of fairness. Raise taxes on a few to provide benefits for most, the thinking goes. But in policy, the more important question should focus on mechanics: will this change achieve its stated goal?