Press Release

 Subscribe

California Celebrates Tax Freedom Day

California Celebrates Tax Freedom Day

"Today, Californians celebrate their Tax Freedom Day for 2008.  A full week past the National Tax Freedom Day, California's later day of tax freedom is reflective of the burden carried by our taxpayers - the seventh highest in the nation.  To put this in perspective, if you spread out a family's income over the course of a calendar year, they would spend the first 121 days of 2008 working just to pay their tax bills. 

"California's tax burden is only eclipsed by three states: New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.  Despite this, Sacramento Democrats are not at a loss for new tax proposals.  California Democrats in the State Assembly and Senate have introduced a bevy of new tax proposals on everything from beer to iTunes downloads. 

"California Democrats have spent decades running our state spending higher and higher, all the while throwing fiscal sanity by the wayside.  Californians are among the highest taxed citizens in the country, yet Democrats can't seem to stop thinking of new taxes to levy on the hard-working families of our state. 

Ron Nehring, Chairman, California Republican Party

Democrat State Tax Increase Proposals:

Democrats are pushing dozens of new tax increase proposals this year, which will punish hard-working Californians with over $20 billion in higher taxes to pay for new government programs and more government spending.

Here are some of the tax increases proposed by Democrats so far this year:

The iTunes Tax
Assembly Bill 1956 (Calderon) would require state tax officials to begin imposing sales taxes on music, movies and software purchases made online, such as on iTunes.  Democrats have also talked about taxing all items purchased on the Internet ($500 million tax increase).

The Plastic Bag Tax
Assembly Bill 2829 (Davis) would impose a new plastic bag tax, at a still-unspecified level, on the plastic bags used by grocery stores and other retailers to package purchases.

Making It Easier to Raise Taxes
Senate Constitutional Amendment 18 (Torlakson) would make it easier for local politicians to raise taxes, by allowing educational finance districts to impose special taxes by a majority vote.

Increasing the Car Tax
Assembly Bill 2388 (Feuer) would raise the car tax based on the weight of the vehicle and the amount of carbon dioxide emissions it emits, to a still-unspecified level. 

Assembly Bill 2522 (Arambula) would authorize San Joaquin Valley air quality officials to impose a new $30 car tax on local drivers, without a vote of the people. 

Assembly Bill 2638 (Coto) would impose a new sales tax on the sale of cars in California that get less than 15 miles per gallon.

Senate Bill 1731 (Yee) would authorize San Francisco Bay Area transportation officials to impose a higher car tax on local drivers, without a vote of the people.

Democrats have also proposed restoring the higher car tax imposed by former Governor Gray Davis and repealed by Governor Schwarzenegger upon taking office, a $6 billion tax increase.

Increasing the Gas Tax

Assembly Bill 9xxx (Núñez) would impose a $1.2 billion "oil severance" tax on the cost of oil production in California.  This will cause gas prices to soar new heights in California as this new tax will be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices at the pump.

Assembly Bill 2744 (Huffman) would authorize San Francisco Bay Area transportation officials to impose a new gas tax, of as much as 10 cents per gallon, to pay for new government spending. 

Assembly Bill 2558 (Feuer) would authorize Los Angeles transportation officials to impose one of two different taxes, subject to a majority vote, to address climate change - an increased gas tax as high as 3 percent, or an increased car tax as high as $80.

Raising Income Taxes
Assembly Bill 2372 (Coto) would impose a new 1 percent tax on Californians earning more than $1 million per year, raising the state's highest income tax rate to 11.3 percent. 

Assembly Bill 2897 (Hancock) would impose a new 10 percent tax rate for individuals earning more than $136,115 every year ($272,230 for joint filers) and a new 11 percent tax rate for individuals earning more than $272,230 per year ($544,460 for joint filers). 

Closing So-Called "Tax Loopholes"
Democrats and others have pushed closing "tax loopholes," which is an effort to raise taxes on working Californians.  These so-called loopholes include taking away the senior citizen tax credit (a $255 million tax increase) and reducing the child dependent tax credit ($2.4 billion) - which will hurt middle-class families.

Creating a New Tax on California Businesses
Speaker Núñez has talked about creating a new split-roll property tax on California businesses, which would be a $3 to $7 billion tax increase on businesses.  This would lead to higher prices for consumers and the threat of job losses.

Taking Away the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction
Democrats have proposed eliminating the state home mortgage interest deduction, also known as the homeowner's tax, which provides significant tax savings for working families and helps many Californians afford the expensive costs of home ownership.  This would be a $5.3 billion tax hike.

###