A new “millionaire’s tax” in Massachusetts was expected to generate $1 billion in revenue last year to help pay for public education, infrastructure, and early childcare programs, but projections were a bit off, according to a fresh state analysis.
The state Department of Revenue estimated late last week that the Fair Share Amendment, which requires people with incomes over $1 million, to pay a 4% annual surtax, will add $1.5 billion to state coffers this fiscal year, which ends in June—surpassing expectations.
Universal free school meals, much-needed improvements to an aging public transportation system, and tuition-free education for community college students are just some of the programs Massachusetts’ wealthiest residents have helped pay for after voters approved the law in 2022 amid growing calls across the United States to tax the richest households and corporations.
Massachusetts is an interesting place to observe because it’s right next to libertarian New Hampshire, which has much lower taxes. I’m nowhere near being affected by this tax, but I used to live in Massachusetts and I did reduce my taxes significantly by moving to New Hampshire. IMO New Hampshire is better overall. The only thing I missed about the Boston area were the restaurants.
Watch out for bears.
In my experience, native New Hampshire libertarians aren’t the sort of libertarians you’d encounter on the internet. They generally don’t call themselves libertarians and they’re a lot more practical (as seen in your article - it was the internet libertarians attracting the bears). They’re more like small-government conservatives would be if the conservative movement in the USA hadn’t gone off the rails.