Illustrative crash scenarios for the millionaires tax
Question: If the $1M+ income base fell as it did in 2001, 2008-09 or 2022, how much revenue would the tax lose a year against official baselines?
Result: Illustration only. Income tax alone (excluding capital gains): about $0.5-0.7B a year in a 2022-style year, $1.6-2.0B in a 2001-style year, $0.8-1.0B a year over a 2007-09-style downturn. Counting all income over $1M, which is closer to total state revenue from top earners with the capital gains tax: $1.2-2.4B.
Operation: Annual hit = baseline x historical % drop in the excess-over-$1M base (gross and excluding net capital gains). Baselines: ERFC September 2026 FY2030-31 average ($4.72B) and fiscal note FY2030 ($3.732B).
Scope: Illustration for the first full years of the tax
- Not a forecast. A future downturn may be larger or smaller and may hit wages, options or gains differently.
- Baselines are themselves estimates; ERFC raised its first-year estimate 30% between June and September 2026.