Tax Day - Larry Hogan "Record High Taxes Hurt MD Families and Drive Jobs Out Of State

Tax Day 2014; Gubernatorial candidate Larry Hogan says O’Malley-Brown tax hikes backfired, killing jobs, hurting families and driving employers out of state


Annapolis, MD - APRIL 15 - Tax Day 2014 will hit Marylanders, whose personal income taxes are now the fifth highest in the nation, harder than ever this year according gubernatorial candidate Larry Hogan.   Hogan says the O’Malley-Brown taxes have had a significant economic impact on Maryland and are the primary reason why the state’s recovery since the great recession has lagged far behind its neighbors and the nation as a whole. 

According to Hogan, “Tax Day 2014 will be the most painful yet for Maryland families and small businesses thanks to 40 straight job destroying tax hikes from the Martin O’Malley and Anthony Brown Administration and their Annapolis allies.  The tax and spend policies of the past seven years have backfired, driving employers across state lines and making everything Maryland families purchase more expensive,” says Hogan.  

Since O’Malley and Brown took office more than 6,500 small business and large employers, including most of the state’s Fortune 500 companies, have relocated to other states.  Hogan, a business leader and former state cabinet secretary favors bringing Maryland’s tax rates in line with those of neighboring states in order to retain and attract employers.

This year, average Maryland taxpayers will have to work from January 1st until April 23rd just to pay their combined federal, state and local tax obligations, later in the year than all but five states.

Taxpayers and small business owners interested in learning how much the O’Malley-Brown tax hikes are costing them can visit Facebook.com/ ChangeMaryland and click the O’Malley-Brown Tax Hike Calculator. 

Previously, Change Maryland, a non-partisan grassroots organization advocating fiscal restraint founded by Hogan several years ago, determined that overall, 31,000 Maryland taxpayers and retirees had moved to states with lower costs of living, taking with them $1.7 billion a year out of the state economy.  According to Hogan, “with the O’Malley-Brown taxpayer exodus, it’s no wonder that Maryland’s foreclosure rate is now the second highest in the nation.”

“Yet despite taking $10.6 billion more in taxes from Maryland families and employers, O’Malley and Brown still diverted $100 million out of state worker’s pensions in order to cover their budget shortfall.