Md. lost nearly 30% of millionaires last year

BALTIMORE SUN, 11/24/2009 (Hat tip: Jeff Kubler) - Comptroller's office offers no explanation.

Maryland's chief tax collector reported that the number of millionaires in the state plunged 30 percent last year to the lowest level in four years and that some wealthy residents might have moved.

The analysis from the comptroller's office is expected to stoke a debate over the General Assembly's decision to raise an income tax rate for millionaires, a budget-balancing move it enacted in 2008. While the comptroller's office makes no conclusions about the data, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are likely to seize on the findings.

Detractors contend that the millionaire's tax, which started in the 2008 tax year, will drive wealthy residents to lower-tax states. Proponents say those fears are overblown and that the change made the tax code more progressive and provided much-needed revenue. Read more at the Baltimore Sun...