Millionaires in Connecticut ask state to raise their taxes
A group of wealthy Connecticut residents are asking Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont to raise their taxes, as the state faces fiscal trouble.
Fair Share CT – the name of the group – is looking to raise the top rate on the wealthiest residents by three percentage points to 9.99 percent. The top rate would apply to individuals earnings more than $2.5 million and couples earning more than $5 million per year.
It would also increase the rate on couples earning between $1 million and $5 million to 8.99 percent, and those earning between $500,000 and $1 million to 7.9 percent.
“The state should increase the income tax on us, Connecticut’s wealthy residents, so that together we can close the budget deficit and invest in Connecticut’s future,” two of the group’s members wrote in an op-ed this week. “We cannot continue kicking the can down the road. We need to take bold action.”
The wealthy residents say that they have benefited from U.S. economic growth and federal tax policies, while the majority of residents are left behind. That inequality, they say, has depressed economic growth and worsened the state’s budget crisis.
Their proposal, they allege, would raise $1 billion in new revenue.
In response to anticipated critiques that raising taxes will cause millionaires to leave, the group says they “aren’t going anywhere.”
The state is faced with a multi-billion budget deficit. It is projected the state budget will run a $3.7 billion deficit over the next two fiscal years, according to the CT Mirror. Additionally, a number of businesses have moved their headquarters out of the state, including Aetna and General Electric.
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State Democrats have asked for taxes on Connecticut’s wealthy to be raised, a proposal that has faced resistance from the governor. Lamont has, however, pitched tax increases on a number of items, including Netflix subscriptions. In 2018, Connecticut’s GDP grew by about 3 percent, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
According to a 2018 Tax Foundation analysis, Connecticut collected the second most in per capita state and local individual income taxes.