SPRINGFIELD – Who hasn't heard the "Make the Rich Pay More" mantra or seen it on protest signs at Fight for 15 rallies? The answer to budget deficits, wealth redistributionists say, is to dip more into the pockets of those that "can afford to pay more" taxes.
It would be wise for those millionaire tax advocates to check into what's happening in Connecticut, where they've found out millionaires have options – and they take advantage of them. Connecticut is losing billions in income tax revenues.
From the Hartford Courant -
As income tax revenues collected from the state's top taxpayers continue to plummet, Connecticut now faces a projected drop in income tax revenue of $1.46 billion in the next two fiscal years.
This adds to an estimated drop of $413 million in tax revenue for the current fiscal year — pushing the projected deficit for the current year to nearly $390 million, according to figures released by office of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis.
"We need to take immediate action to reduce spending between now and June 30 to reduce our current-year deficit as much as possible to prevent the need to borrow to meet expenses. We also need to develop new, additional approaches to further reduce spending in order to balance the budget for the years ahead,'' said Ben Barnes, Malloy's budget director. "Our budget, which already demanded painful choices, has just become about $600 million worse in FY18 and $864 million worse in FY19. We cannot afford business as usual."
More here.
