California Tax Hikes May Drive (More) Wealthy To Flee

The state would have the highest marginal tax rate of any in the union

The centerpiece of California Gov. Jerry Brown's tax increase measure, Proposition 30, is a $5 billion-a-year boost in income taxes on about 150,000 high-income individuals and families — the 1 percenters who already pay 40 percent of California's income taxes.

 Their marginal income tax rate, now 9.3 percent, would increase by up to three percentage points for seven years.

 For those with more than $1 million in taxable income, the top rate would hit 13.3 percent, including a 1 percent surcharge for mental health services imposed by voters in 2004. California would have — by a wide gap — the highest marginal income tax rate of any state.