The Shocking Cost of New York’s ‘Tax the Rich’ Experiment Has Finally Been Exposed

New York has spent years aggressively taxing its wealthiest residents in the name of fairness, and the results are now in. Suffice it to say, they’re not pretty.

A new study released Monday by the Citizen Budget Commission (CBC) reveals the state’s share of America’s millionaires has dropped sharply since 2010, triggering a nearly $11 billion shortfall in tax revenue in a single year as high earners quietly packed up and left for lower-tax states.

The analysis shows New York’s share of millionaires fell from 12.7% in 2010 to just 8.7% in 2022 — the steepest decline of any state in the country.

As a direct result, personal income tax collections in 2022 alone were roughly $10.7 billion lower than they otherwise would have been if they had maintained their share of the wealthy folks. The study makes clear that the people leaving pay a disproportionately large share of state taxes, creating a painful hole in the budget that affects everything from public services to infrastructure funding.

“In New York, the top 1% of earners pay about 45% of all state income taxes in any given year, so New York’s revenue is very reliant on high earners to stay in New York, and that has been a challenge in recent years,” he told the New York Post.

This represents tangible evidence that the "tax the rich" mantra does not yield higher revenue to subsequently spend on public services for lower-income families or improve general infrastructure. It is actually taking money away from the state and those residents who might benefit.

Taxing the rich is a platform for the economically illiterate. Unfortunately for the Empire State, the economically illiterate hold significant positions in government. At both state (Governor Kathy Hochul) and city (Zohran Kwame Mamdani) levels.

Democrats aren't making the rich pay their fair share. They're shooting themselves in the foot.

The Post suggests that Hochul (D) has been resistant to flat-out increasing the tax burden for the wealthiest New Yorkers but notes she shared the same brainstorm with Mamdani (C-ommunist) on the so-called pied-à-terre tax. You know, the one he produced an uber-creepy video for, declaring "Happy Tax Day!" while stalking the home of hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin.

Happy Tax Day, New York. We’re taxing the rich. pic.twitter.com/Wky2LFXC9W— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) April 15, 2026

Walczak went on to state that the general consensus is that "New York isn’t done raising taxes, and ... it won’t be surprising if high-earner taxpayers choose to relocate.”

Which, one would have to assume, would lead to billions more in lost revenue.

Presented with an opportunity to address the numbers, Mamdani did what most blue-city or blue-state politicians do—blindly doubled down on ignorance.

"The wealthiest can do a little bit more to ensure that everyone can afford to live here," he told reporters. "And the little bit more—and we're talking about the pied-à-terre tax—it's a tax on non-resident New Yorkers' secondary homes that are worth more than $5 million. I think that that's common sense, and most New Yorkers feel the same way."

"I look forward to continuing to advance the vision of our city."

🚨WATCH: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubles down on taxing the rich when asked about millionaires fleeing New York, which is eating into the state's tax revenue. pic.twitter.com/BupiFlC8wS— Off The Press (@OffThePress1) July 13, 2026

New York ranks dead last in competitiveness, according to Tax Foundation senior state policy analyst Abir Mandel, who argues that New York’s high taxes are driving businesses and high earners to more tax-friendly states. And he warned it may get worse.

"Without reforming the tax structure, New York won’t be competitive for attracting population and business,” he told the Post. "Wall Street is the golden goose. But for how long?”

Not long at all, if Mamdani has his way.

Democrat math: $11 billion in tax revenue gone.
State spending increased $18.1 billion last year.

They destroy everything they touch. https://t.co/y1zS1mXy67— Steve McLaughlin (@SteveMcNY) July 13, 2026

On top of the crushing tax burden, New York’s strict rent controls, soaring energy costs from aggressive green mandates, and a mountain of red tape are only making things worse.

Democrat policies are driving more people and businesses away and turning what should be a truly great economic engine into a slow-motion fiscal disaster with no end in sight.

It's an age-old story. The other big story is Democrats never learn and never face reality. From SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO!

Millionaires Go Missing
WSJ.com
May 26, 2009
Here's a two-minute drill in soak-the-rich economics: Maryland couldn't balance its budget last year, so the state tried to close the shortfall by fleecing the wealthy. Politicians in Annapolis created a millionaire tax bracket, raising the top marginal income-tax rate to 6.25%. And because cities such as Baltimore and Bethesda also impose income taxes, the state-local tax rate can go as high as 9.45%. Governor Martin O'Malley, a dedicated class warrior, declared that these richest 0.3% of filers were "willing and able to pay their fair share." The Baltimore Sun predicted the rich would "grin and bear it."
One year later, nobody's grinning. One-third of the millionaires have disappeared from Maryland tax rolls. In 2008 roughly 3,000 million-dollar income tax returns were filed by the end of April. This year there were 2,000, which the state comptroller's office concedes is a "substantial decline." On those missing returns, the government collects 6.25% of nothing. Instead of the state coffers gaining the extra $106 million the politicians predicted, millionaires paid $100 million less in taxes than they did last year -- even at higher rates.
And the lesson the government refuses to learn is, higher taxes don't work.

Newspaper said on lower right: “Analysts say Zohran will raise everybody’s taxes”

Is that like “a rising tide lifts all boats”? Toward a high waterfall.

When Bill Clinton ran the first time, Money Magazine had a summary of the candidates and said “Just from the aspect of his middle class tax cut it would profit most in the middle class to vote for Clinton.”

He won and quickly said: “My team has analyzed the financial situation and the country is now in such bad shape, worse than I knew earlier, that it will be necessary now to raise taxes. We cannot have the middle class tax cut I planned.”

That issue of Money hung around in the staff lounge on a table at work for months, reminding me. Along with the pain in my wallet.

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