Fellow Mainers,

Absent legislative action this session, the approval last fall of referendum Question #2 will result in a 3% increase in the top marginal income tax rate in the state.  That would put our top marginal rate back up over 8% after the long fight the Governor waged several years ago to get it down closer to 5% from where it stood prior to his election (at nearly 8%).  Proposals are out right now to mitigate this 3% increase with tax cuts elsewhere, but pressure needs to be applied to your legislators to make it happen.

In addition, Democrats have just unveiled new proposed legislation to create "universal free day care (click me for news story)" that would raise the tax rate by an additional 6% to fund the program, for a new top marginal rate of over 14%!!!  

Please contact your legislators, whether Republican, Democrat or otherwise, and ask them to: (1) come up with a solution to eliminate the impact of the 3% increase mandated by Question #2; and (2) oppose this effort to DOUBLE THE CURRENT TAX RATE for Mainers.

For singles or joint filers making between $200k and $1M, Maine now has the highest income tax rate in the country...

Phew!  You had me worried there!  LOL

Just what you need for all the high wage earners to leave the state. Just ask NY and CA

We would be happy to take them here in NH

You forgot to add CT to your list.

You guys (and Florida) are already getting them.

Time is running out on getting the tax rate fixed.  Please CLICK HERE to find your Representative and Senator and call and email them to let them know that having a 10+% state income tax is bad news.

The high tax is already driving people out of state.  Proponents of Question 2 last November promised this tax would raise ~$160 million each year to go to fund schools.  The Maine Revenue Forecasting Committee now reports that, despite the higher tax rate, tax collections are down for the year.  Instead of raising $160 million more, they project income tax collections will be down by $20 million for the year.  Great job funding those schools!  

And when those people leave, Maine isn't just losing out on income taxes from them.  They are no longer paying sales tax, registering cars here, building homes here or patronizing Maine businesses.  

Speaking of business, the vast majority of folks hit by this new tax are small businesses taxed as pass-through entities.  Drive them away and who is going to do your excavation and construction work?  Who is going to plow your driveway in the winter?  Who is going to employ you?  

And what about big businesses like IDEXX that hire lots of scientists, veterinarians and such?  If they can't attract those specialists to come here because it is expensive to live here, pay is low relative to other places and the taxes are high, why would those businesses stay here?  They can go anywhere.  

Other folks hit by this tax are professionals, like doctors.  If you live far from Portland, Augusta or Bangor you already know that if you need some sort of serious medical procedure you might have to drive hours to get it and then stay in a hospital for days hours away from your home.  Even if you do live close to these places, there are some specialties that just don't exist in Maine and you still have to go to Boston.  Why can't we get those people to practice here?  If you are in a high demand specialty, like surgery, and could either work in Maine for $500k and pay a 10% top tax rate or live just an hour west in New Hampshire and earn the same (or more) money and pay zero income tax, where would you go?  Save tens of thousands by going elsewhere.