{"id":116326,"date":"2026-01-01T15:43:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T15:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/116326\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T15:43:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T15:43:17","slug":"california-admits-wealth-tax-would-sink-state-revenues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/116326\/","title":{"rendered":"California admits wealth tax would sink state revenues"},"content":{"rendered":"

While supporters argue California\u2019s controversial wealth tax<\/a> would rake in tens of billions of dollars in revenue, the state\u2019s own Attorney General Rob Bonta is making sure voters understand that the long-term impact will likely be the exact opposite.<\/p>\n

In order for the ballot measure in California to start collecting enough signatures with the hopes of getting on the November ballot, it has to first receive a title and summary from the Attorney General.<\/a> <\/p>\n

Bonta notes that the \u201c2026 Billionaire Tax Act\u201d would result in a \u201ctemporary increase\u201d in tax revenue of billions of dollars spread out over a few years, but goes on to add that it would also create a \u201clikely ongoing decrease in state income tax revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars or more per year.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the title and summary of the wealth tax ballot initiative, California Attorney General highlights it would cause \u201clikely ongoing decrease in state income tax revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars or more per year.\u201d REUTERS<\/p>\n

Title and summary for the \u201c2026 Billionaire Tax Act\u201d as supporters try to gather roughly 870,000 signatures to get it on the November ballot. <\/p>\n

But even as the state admits that a wealth tax would drain tax revenue year-over-year, socialist Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont is throwing his full support behind the bill and even plans to introduce a national wealth tax modeled after the one in California. <\/p>\n

\u201cI strongly support the grassroots effort in California to impose a 5% wealth tax on 200 billionaires worth $2 trillion,\u201d Sanders said in a post on X<\/a>. \u201cThis is a model that should be emulated around the country, which is why I will soon be introducing a national wealth tax on billionaires.\u201d <\/p>\n

Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) threw his support behind wealth tax and said he plans to introduce a national bill modeled after the one in California. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

Sanders also tipped his hat to Californian Rep. Ro Khanna for supporting the ballot measure\u2014the Democratic congressman ignited a heated debate<\/a> earlier this week for taking aim at tech billionaires who threatened to leave the state over the 5% tax.<\/p>\n

\u201cI echo what FDR said with sarcasm of economic royalists when they threatened to leave, \u2018I will miss them very much,\u2019\u201d\u00a0Khanna wrote<\/a> in a social media post.<\/p>\n

Bill Ackman, a prominent hedge fund manager who made his billions in the stock market, agrees that some of the ultra-wealthy are skirting the tax system, but argued a wealth tax is not the solution. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be catastrophic to California,\u201d Ackman told The Post<\/a>. \u201cEvery successful founder, entrepreneur would leave.\u00a0Literally no one would stay<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said a wealth tax would be \u201ccatastrophic\u201d for the Golden State. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Instead, Ackman proposed closing the tax loophole known as \u201cBuy, Borrow, Die,\u201d which allows extremely wealthy individuals to live off loans secured by stock in a company.<\/p>\n

\u201cEffectively you can live an extraordinarily, you know, lavish life, and not pay tax if you just borrow against appreciated stock and that just doesn\u2019t sound fair,\u201d he told The Post. <\/p>\n

Ackman suggested that those loans should be taxable as if you sold the same dollar amount in stock. At least one other high-profile billionaire told The Post he supports the idea.<\/p>\n

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As for Ackman\u2019s prediction, it\u2019s already coming to fruition with multiple sources telling the Post that billionaires are actively making plans<\/a> to leave California. <\/p>\n

Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal,\u00a0is opening a new office in Miami<\/a> as reports surface that he is especially irked by the 5% wealth tax that could hit him with a $1.2 billion bill, according to a Wednesday press release. <\/p>\n

Tech mogul Peter Thiel is opening a new office in Miami in light of the controversial wealth tax in California. Getty Images for The Cambridge Union<\/p>\n

Alex Spiro, the attorney for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is also voicing his frustration on behalf of the tech giant\u2014urging Governor Gavin Newsom, who disapproves of the idea, to scrap it altogether. <\/p>\n

The billionaire tax \u201cwill trigger an exodus of capital and innovation from California,\u201d Spiro wrote in a Dec. 11 letter to Newsom, which was obtained by\u00a0Business Insider<\/a>\u00a0and confirmed by The Post.<\/p>\n

California Governor Gavin Newsom is among the critics of the wealth tax who warn it could drive innovation and jobs out of the state. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cOur clients have made clear they will permanently relocate if subjected to this tax,\u201d Spiro wrote on behalf of unnamed billionaire clients.<\/p>\n

The proposed tax \u2014 championed by labor union SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West\u00a0\u2014 needs about 870,000 signatures to qualify for the November 2026 ballot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While supporters argue California\u2019s controversial wealth tax would rake in tens of billions of dollars in revenue, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[36944,59810,9329,7,9,8,1751,1611,59465,13,1694,3586],"class_list":["post-116326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-bernie-sanders","tag-bill-ackman","tag-billionaires","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-democrats","tag-elon-musk","tag-peter-thiel","tag-politics","tag-taxes","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}