Gov. Gavin Newsom was roasted for making an extraordinary claim that Florida and Texas, not California, are \u201cthe real high-tax states\u201d \u2014 drawing a sharp rebuke from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.<\/p>\n
Newsom made the claim onstage at the SXSW conference Sunday in Austin, Tex. \u2014 where he again teased a presidential run<\/a> \u2014 claiming to attendees that Texas \u201ctaxes poor folks more than we tax our richest.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cFlorida is the other regressive tax state,\u201d Newsom continued. \u201cYour middle class pays more taxes in Texas than our middle class in California.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom touted California\u2019s progressive tax structure, which relies heavily on high earners. Getty Images for Vox Media<\/p>\n The source of Newsom\u2019s claim<\/a> appears to be a study from the Institute for Taxation and Policy, which found that Florida ranks the highest of any US state in \u201ctax inequality,\u201d or the share of taxes paid by the poorest compared to the richest.<\/p>\n Critics called Newsom\u2019s allegation dubious. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are lies, damned lies and statistics. Then there is whatever you\u2019d call the claim that California has lower taxes than Florida,\u201d Gov. Ron DeSantis raged on X.<\/a><\/p>\n Florida has no state income tax \u2014 making it a popular spot for high earners like Mark Zuckerberg, who recently snapped up an ultra-luxe mansion in Miami\u2019s Indian Creek<\/a>.<\/p>\n California has the highest income tax rates in the US, at up to 13.3% for the highest earners, along with some of the highest sales taxes (7.25% base rate) and gas taxes ($0.61 per gallon). <\/p>\n \u201cEven people who like California governance acknowledge CA is a very high tax state: highest sales, income and gas taxes in the nation,\u201d DeSantis said. <\/p>\n Jared Walczak, a fellow at the Washington, DC-based Tax Foundation, said Newsom\u2019s claim \u201cdoes not stand up to scrutiny.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cStates like Florida and Texas have much lower tax burdens overall,\u201d Walczak said. <\/p>\n \u201cIt flies in the face of people\u2019s revealed preferences \u2026 they are choosing states with lower income taxes in particular,\u201d he added. \u201cMigration rates tell the story.\u201d<\/p>\n California has lost approximately 200,000 residents since the 2020 census<\/a> \u2014 many of those decamping to cheaper states like Texas and Florida, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.<\/a> <\/p>\n Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis accused Newsom of \u201clies\u201d after he claimed Florida and Texas are the \u201creal\u201d high tax states. Getty Images<\/p>\n The controversial billionaire tax proposal<\/a>, which would impose a 5% wealth tax on the ultra-wealthy, led tech tycoons like Google co-founder Larry Page <\/a>and Uber founder Travis Kalanick <\/a>to move assets out of California. <\/p>\n California has a \u201cprogressive\u201d tax system that relies heavily on income taxes from high earners, with low rates for the bottom rung of earners that increase rapidly alongside income.<\/p>\n The Institute for Taxation and Policy study calculated that the bottom 20% of earners pay slightly higher overall tax rates<\/a> in Florida and Texas than in California \u2014 taking into account not just income taxes but property taxes, sales and excise taxes, and tax credits. <\/p>\n But Newsom\u2019s claim\u00a0nonetheless stuck many as mind-boggling considering California\u2019s overall high cost of living \u2014\u00a0including significantly higher housing and fuel costs compared to other states. <\/p>\n Although California\u2019s Prop. 13 keeps property taxes low for some homeowners, \u201cothers have to bear the brunt of that, Walczak added. \u00a0<\/p>\n The Tax Foundation, Walczak\u2019s firm, ranked California #48 in overall tax competitiveness<\/a> in 2026, a measure that includes corporate, income, sales and other taxes.<\/p>\n A Wallethub analysis<\/a> ranked California 4th in the country in overall tax burden. Texas and Florida were near the bottom, at 40th and 45th, respectively.<\/p>\n David Kline of CalTax, a Sacramento tax policy advocacy organization, added that local parcel taxes and bonds can quickly ratchet up costs \u2014 not to mention high sales taxes, which can run as high as 11.2% in some parts of Los Angeles county. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia’s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cIf you ask any California who travels to another state what they paid in taxes, I think you will have agreement that California\u2019s are higher,\u201d Kline said. <\/p>\n Newsom also dropped his biggest hint yet about his widely-expected 2028 bid for the White House, telling SXSW attendees that he\u2019ll run for president if Democrats take back the House of Representatives in this year\u2019s midterms. <\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time Newsom has taken a jab at Florida \u2014 a popular haven for tech bigwigs looking to dodge California\u2019s proposed billionaire tax. <\/p>\n In 2022, Newsom ran ads in the Sunshine State urging Floridians opposed to policies like abortion restrictions<\/a> to move west. <\/p>\n Newsom ran ads in 2023 asking Floridians to move to California. Twitter \/ @GavinNewsom<\/p>\n \u201cFreedom is under attack in your state,\u201d Newsom said in the ads, which were funded by his 2022 Newsom for Governor committee. <\/p>\n