Taxing the Rich

Myth of Millionaire Tax Flight

Stanford University Press, 2017. Order on Amazon.
Op-ed summary in The Guardian.  [download: Slides for teaching]
Edu-tainment video based on the book: “Calling the Rich Out On Their Bluff” by comedian Jeff Seal

Reviewed in Social ForcesContemporary SociologyInstitute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Articles on Millionaire Taxes

Taxing the Rich: How Incentives and Embeddedness Shapes Millionaire Tax Flight. (with Ithai Lurie). Washington Center for Equitable Growth Working Paper. Summary

Millionaire Migration in California: Administrative Data for Three Waves of Tax Reform. Working Paper (with Charles Varner and Allen Prohofsky). 2018.

Millionaire Migration and the Taxation of the Elite: Evidence from Administrative Data. American Sociological Review. June, 2016. Lead Article. (Lead author with Charles Varner, Ithai Lurie, and Richard Prisinzano.) (Won Granovetter Prize from the ASA section on economic sociology)

Eight Brief Responses to criticism from the free market think tank, Pioneer Institute.

Millionaire Migration and State Taxation of Top Incomes: Evidence from a Natural ExperimentNational Tax Journal. June, 2011. (with Charles Varner) (Won Dentler Award from the ASA section on Public Sociology.)

Replication:  The Chief Economist of New Jersey published a critical replication of our study in the Public Finance Review. Their estimates fall within our original 95 percent confidence intervals.  Despite their skeptical tone, their analysis confirms our core conclusion of a small (or very small) migration effect of the millionaire tax.

See our reply published in the same issue.

Shining a Light on Secret Money: Review of Gabriel Zucman’s The Hidden Wealth of Nations. European Journal of Sociology. Volume 57(3): 581-585.

Coverage in Popular Press

Washington Post. March 2023. “Ken Fischer’s Move is About Politics, Not Taxes”

Marketplace. October 2022. “Tax the Rich! Tax Corporate Profits! Curb Inflation?”

Business Insider. November 2021. “Elon Musk has a $2.5 billion reason to move to Texas: avoiding California capital gains tax.”

Fox KTVU San Francisco. July 2021. “Despite the myth of flight, there is no California exodus.”

Bloomberg. March 2021. “Wall Street A-Listers Fled to Florida. Many Now Eye a Return.”

New York Daily News. February 2021. “The Truth about Millionaires and Taxes.” Op-ed.

New York Times. February 2021. “Is New York Finally Ready to Tax the Rich?

New York Times. September 2020. “Deal Reached in N.J. for ‘Millionaires Tax’ to Address Fiscal Crisis

L.A. Times. November 2019. “The Wall Street Journal say the Rich are Fleeing California, but the Flight is a Trickle

New York Times. July 2019. “State and Local Taxes Are Worsening Inequality” (editorial board essay)

New York Times. May 2019. “They Got Rich Off Uber and Lyft. Then They Moved to Low Tax States

L.A. Times. March 2019. “High Taxes be Damned, the Rich Keep Moving to California.”

San Francisco Chronicle. February 2019. “Tech wealthy have a responsibility to the state that made them.” Op-ed.

Bloomberg. January 2019. “Miami Woos New York Home Buyers

BBC Radio. October 2018. “Thinking Allowed: Rich Russians – Millionaire tax flight

San Francisco Chronicle. July 2018. “Dozens of millionaires fled California after 2012 tax increase, study says

L.A. Times. June 2018. “Chipotle’s move to Newport Beach shows that taxes matter for CEOs less than you’d think

Forbes. May 2018. “High Taxes Don’t Make Rich People Move

Wall Street Journal. Dec. 2017. “Deduction Rollback Hurts High-Tax States, But Exodus Isn’t Assured

CNBC. Dec. 2017. “Millionaire flight from tax reform may be exaggerated

CommonWealth Magazine. June 2017. “Taxes don’t make millionaires move

Boston Globe. June 2017. “Millionaires might complain about new tax, but they probably won’t flee, studies show

INC. Magazine. July 2016. “Are Millionaires Moving to Avoid High Taxes? The Answer May Surprise You

Washington Post. June 2016. “Chris Christie says high state taxes drive millionaires away. Here’s why he’s mistaken.”

Seattle Times. June 2016. “The very rich aren’t likely to flee income-tax states

CBS News. May 2016. “Do higher taxes really drive millionaires to flee?

Bloomberg. May 2016. “Higher Taxes Don’t Scare Millionaires Into Fleeing Their Homes After All

Time Magazine. May 2016. “The Rich Aren’t Fleeing Higher Taxes After All

Univision. May 2016. “¿Realmente los impuestos hacen que los ricos se muden?

U.S. News & World Report. May 2016. “Are Millionaires Moving to Dodge Taxes?

USA TODAY. July 2014. “States debate millionaires’ taxes.”

New York Times. Feb. 15, 2013. “The Myth of the Rich Who Flee From Taxes

New York Times. Feb. 6, 2013. “Two-Tax Rise Tests Wealthy in California

Washington Post. Nov. 2012. “Do millionaires move to avoid high taxes?

Reuters. Nov. 2012. “Super-rich flight from California? Not so fast

CNBC. Nov. 2012. “Taxes Don’t Drive Out the California Rich: Study

Huffington Post. Nov. 2012. “California Millionaires Unlikely To Leave State If Taxes Are Hiked, Study Reveals

Orange County Register. Nov. 2012. “Editorial: Will Prop. 30 chase out more millionaires?

L.A. Times. Oct 2012. “Would Prop. 30 really drive millionaires out of California?

San Jose Mercury News. Sept. 2012. “Superrich stay put in high-tax states like California

Washington Post. Apr. 2012. “Do voters really flee high-tax states?

Wall Street Journal. Apr. 2011. “Millionaire Tax Didn’t Chase the Rich From New Jersey, Study Says

New York Times. Apr. 2011. “Taxing the Rich

Trenton Times. Apr 2011. “N.J. Gov. Chris Christie’s opposition to millionaires tax is at odds with his ‘shared sacrifice’ rhetoric

Star-Ledger. Apr. 2011. “N.J. ‘millionaire tax’ would neither drive rich residents out of state, nor raise tax revenue

Philadelphia Inquirer. Apr 2011. “Christie discounts Princeton study on “millionaire’s tax”

Washington Post. June 2010. “Do millionaires flee high-tax states?