BOSTON.COM: Mass Opportunity Alliance claims report showing an increase in millionaire population is faulty

By Beth Treffeisen

This piece originally appeared in Boston.com on May 1, 2025.

A pro-business coalition is pushing back on claims that the number of millionaires in Massachusetts has actually increased since the 2022 passing of the Fair Share Amendment, also known as the “millionaire’s tax.”

The Mass Opportunity Alliance released an analysis on Wednesday, arguing that the report from the Institute for Policy Studies is “rife with misleading data and sloppy research methodology,” and that high earners are actually leaving the state.

“No flawed study can obscure the truth: Massachusetts’ high tax burden — now worsened by the surtax — is driving residents out, along with their tax dollars and talent,” said Christopher Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, which cofounded MOA, in a statement. 

“Clinging to false narratives only prolongs the bad policies that have raised costs, hiked taxes, and pushed families and businesses to the brink,” Anderson continued. 

The Fair Share Act, passed as a ballot question in November 2022 by state voters, imposes an additional 4% surtax on income exceeding $1 million. The funds go towards education and transportation. 

The new analysis takes issue with the fact that IPS used data from the consulting firm Wealth-X, which measures wealth by looking at the rising value of homes, investment accounts, and businesses, instead of strictly on an individual’s income exceeding $1 million. 

MOA argues that when focusing on income, IRS data contradicts the IPS study, showing the number of residents earning over $1 million grew before the surtax law passed but dropped sharply afterward.

The analysis also pointed to moving company data released this year, with U-Haul and United Van Lines releasing reports showing that Massachusetts is among the most active in the country for outbound moves. 

An MOA survey revealed that tax policy was the most frequently cited factor causing people to leave Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Society of CPAs’ 2025 Public Policy and State Competitiveness Report also found that 70% of CPAs had high-income Massachusetts clients who changed their primary legal residence the previous year. 

Raise Up, IPS stand by report’s findings

Raise Up, the group behind the 2022 Fair Share Amendment, is defending the IPS study, accusing lobbyists of cherry-picking 2022 data from before the tax took effect to falsely claim that millionaires are fleeing the state.

“The evidence proves them wrong,” said Andrew Farnitano, a spokesperson for Raise Up Massachusetts, in a statement. 

Farnitano, citing data from the UMass Donohue Institute, said the Massachusetts population grew in 2023, the first year the Fair Share Amendment was in effect. Between July 2023 and July 2024, the state saw its most significant population increase in 60 years, as the rate of domestic outmigration has slowed. 

Now, he said, new data from the Institute of Policy Studies shows that the number of millionaires and ultra-wealthy individuals also grew between 2022 and 2024. 

“Multi-millionaires are staying in Massachusetts and paying more in taxes, generating the large revenue gains the state has experienced from Fair Share,” Farnitano said. 

Omar Ocampo, the lead author of the IPS report, also esponded to the MOA analysis, saying his organization does not deny that some people may be motivated to leave the state because of the surtax. Still, he said, it’s a small minority.

“Their departure does not have a significant impact on the state’s tax base or on the state’s ability to raise revenue,” Ocamp said in a statement. “The vast majority have stayed, and the exceptional performance of the surtax is a testament to that.”

Ocampo also questioned the studies MOA cited, saying their analysis used incomplete data and does not show the whole picture.

The IPS study shows that revenue from taxing ultra-wealthy residents can help fund state programs at a time when federal lawmakers are trying to slash services, Ocampo said.

The tax, he said, is “ensuring that the wealthiest pay their fair share.”