During all the discussions about taxing Minnesota’s millionaires to solve the budget problem, DFL leaders often pointed out that there are only 7,700 people making more than $1 million a year in the state, and half of them don’t even live here.

Their arguments didn’t carry the day, and the millionaires were protected when the shutdown was resolved with shifts and borrowing. But the claim about where the rich residents live is apparently largely true, MPR says.

The story from the news organization’s Poligraph report, which examines the veracity of political claims, looked particularly at House Minority Leader Paul Thissen’s statement that:

… Dayton’s plan to temporarily raise taxes on Minnesotans wealthiest, “even though it would only affect 7,700 people, and even though only half of those people are Minnesota residents!”

 Examining Revenue Department reports, the story says:

Thissen said that half of the millionaires Dayton’s new plan would have taxed don’t live in Minnesota year-round. For the most part, he’s correct. According to the revenue department, about half of the 7,700 returns from millionaires come from people residing elsewhere.

The evidence:

According to the Minnesota Department of Revenue, 7,700 millionaires are expected to file with the state for tax year 2011. About 3,900 of those returns are coming from year-long Minnesota residents.

 The rest are from part-time or out-of-state filers. The former are people who move in the middle of the year and pay taxes in Minnesota and another state as a result. Non-residents are those who make money in Minnesota, such as income from a business or rent, but live somewhere else.

The revenue department can’t say precisely how many returns are from part-time residents and how many are from non-residents, but estimates that most are from the latter group.