Residents exiting Massachusetts took a net of $4.2 billion in adjusted gross income with them in 2023, the LARGEST total in the country per capita, after a tax on millionaires took effect. A ballot question to lower the state income tax to 4% from 5% would recapture economic competitiveness lost because of the millionaires tax. The surtax is driving away entrepreneurs. The wealthy now make up a larger share of defections from Massachusetts. The top earners were responsible for 70% of the $4.2 billion in net outflows in 2023, a jump from the previous year and more than double the level from 2019.