Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

21 hours ago

Israeli Columnist Alleges Ethnic Cleansing Plan in Gaza

21 hours ago

Tesla to Roll out Bay Area Robotaxis With Safety Drivers, Report Says

23 hours ago

Thailand and Cambodia Exchange Heavy Artillery Fire as Border Battle Expands

23 hours ago

California Cannot Require Background Checks to Buy Ammunition, US Appeals Court Rules

2 days ago

TikTok Will Go Dark in US Without Chinese Approval of Sale Deal, Lutnick Says

2 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Still Searching for Missing Mother and Infant

2 days ago
Walters: Will the One-Percenters Flee California's High Taxes?
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 6 years ago on
February 7, 2019

Share

Reality – a new reality – is hitting home as Californians work on their 2018 federal income tax returns.


Opinion
Dan Walters
CALmatters Commentary

“If even a small number of high-income taxpayers leave, it has a great effect on this tax base. You are relying on a very small number of people for the vast amount of your tax dollars.” – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Some are seeing smaller federal tax bites and bigger refunds, thanks to a more generous standard deduction in the tax overhaul that a Republican Congress and President Donald Trump enacted in 2017. But those accustomed to writing off state income tax and local property tax payments are feeling the pinch due to one of the most contentious aspects of the revised system.
It limits deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) to $10,000 on a joint return, which has the intended effect of increasing federal taxes, particularly on residents of in high-taxing states such as California.
This week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared that his state collected $2.3 billion less in income tax revenue during December and January than the state budget expected and blamed the shortfall on a flight of high-income taxpayers to states that have low or no state income taxes, especially Florida.
“If even a small number of high-income taxpayers leave, it has a great effect on this tax base,” Cuomo said. “You are relying on a very small number of people for the vast amount of your tax dollars.”
Cuomo and governors of other high-tax states – whose politics tend to be, of course, deeply blue – grumbled as the tax overhaul was being written that it would encourage high-income residents, unable to write off their state and local taxes, to flee.

Florida Is Seeing a New Wave of Well-to-Do Transplants From New York

“It was politically diabolical and also highly effective,” Cuomo said this week. “And if your goal is to help Republican states and hurt Democratic states, this is the way to do it.”

“It was politically diabolical and also highly effective. And if your goal is to help Republican states and hurt Democratic states, this is the way to do it.” – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
“They are investors, they have accountants, they are making informed decisions,” Cuomo said of the New Yorkers who headed south. “This is going to be the tipping point and people will now be making a geographical change.”
After Cuomo complained, the Wall Street Journal reported that Florida is, indeed, seeing a new wave of well-to-do transplants from New York, New Jersey and other high-taxing states, sparking a real estate boom.
So what about California and neighboring Nevada, which, like Florida and Texas, doesn’t have a state income tax? The Wall Street Journal noted that both Nevada and Arizona are seeing their populations grow rapidly.
Former Gov. Jerry Brown sponsored an increase in income taxes on those in higher brackets, generating a windfall of new revenues and helping him balance the state budget. But later, he worried aloud that the federal limit on SALT deductions could entice the rich to flee his state.

A Blip or a Trend?

There have been anecdotal accounts about such flight, but no one has documented a mass migration. That said, it wouldn’t – as Cuomo pointed out – take much of an exodus from California to have an impact, given that so few high-income residents of his state generate so much of New York’s revenue stream.
The top one percent of New York’s taxpayers supply 46 percent of the state’s income tax revenues. In California, the one-percenters’ share of income taxes is slightly higher, and our top marginal income tax rate, 13.3 percent, is considerably higher than New York’s 8.82 percent.
California Controller Betty Yee tracks state tax receipts and expenditures monthly and reported recently that through December – the first six months of the 2018-19 fiscal year – general revenues were $2.5 billion under budget estimates, including a $1.9 billion income tax shortfall. Preliminary data indicate the monthly shortfall continued in January.
A blip or a trend?
CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

DON'T MISS

Lemoore Farmers Fed Up With Lack of Representation on Groundwater Agency

DON'T MISS

‘Jenny from the Block’ Rescued After Camping Out by Calwa ATM

DON'T MISS

Tulare Officer Injured in Crash While Trying to Save Unresponsive Infant. Child Dies at Hospital

DON'T MISS

PBS Has a Future by Leaving the Past Behind: Opinion

DON'T MISS

Fresno Council Candidate Rassamni Says City Is Investigating Him Amid Allegations by Arias

DON'T MISS

Fresno First Responders Talk Person Down off Parking Garage Ledge

DON'T MISS

Oregon Schools Face Federal Probe Over Transgender Athletes

DON'T MISS

US Judge Reaffirms Nationwide Injunction Blocking Trump Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

DON'T MISS

White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay

UP NEXT

Lemoore Farmers Fed Up With Lack of Representation on Groundwater Agency

UP NEXT

‘Jenny from the Block’ Rescued After Camping Out by Calwa ATM

UP NEXT

Tulare Officer Injured in Crash While Trying to Save Unresponsive Infant. Child Dies at Hospital

UP NEXT

PBS Has a Future by Leaving the Past Behind: Opinion

UP NEXT

Fresno Council Candidate Rassamni Says City Is Investigating Him Amid Allegations by Arias

UP NEXT

Fresno First Responders Talk Person Down off Parking Garage Ledge

UP NEXT

Oregon Schools Face Federal Probe Over Transgender Athletes

UP NEXT

US Judge Reaffirms Nationwide Injunction Blocking Trump Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

UP NEXT

White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay

UP NEXT

Kern County Fire Issues Evacuation Warnings for Pearl Fire Near Lake Isabella

Tulare Officer Injured in Crash While Trying to Save Unresponsive Infant. Child Dies at Hospital

16 hours ago

PBS Has a Future by Leaving the Past Behind: Opinion

17 hours ago

Fresno Council Candidate Rassamni Says City Is Investigating Him Amid Allegations by Arias

17 hours ago

Fresno First Responders Talk Person Down off Parking Garage Ledge

17 hours ago

Oregon Schools Face Federal Probe Over Transgender Athletes

18 hours ago

US Judge Reaffirms Nationwide Injunction Blocking Trump Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

18 hours ago

White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay

19 hours ago

Kern County Fire Issues Evacuation Warnings for Pearl Fire Near Lake Isabella

19 hours ago

Gaza Running out of Specialized Food to Save Malnourished Children

20 hours ago

New Madera Bypass Project Aims to Ease Traffic on Highway 41 Near Tesoro Viejo

20 hours ago

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

36-year-old man died Friday night after his car veered off a rural road and into a canal south of Fresno, the California Highway Patrol said...

2 minutes ago

fresno
2 minutes ago

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

South Fork Kings GSA
56 minutes ago

Lemoore Farmers Fed Up With Lack of Representation on Groundwater Agency

Shepherd-husky mix Jenny was rescued after spending days outside a Calwa ATM and is now safe, leash-trained, and ready for a new home. (Mell's Mutts)
1 hour ago

‘Jenny from the Block’ Rescued After Camping Out by Calwa ATM

16 hours ago

Tulare Officer Injured in Crash While Trying to Save Unresponsive Infant. Child Dies at Hospital

Signs supporting NPR outside its headquarters in Washington on March 26, 2025. The Trump administration has accused NPR and PBS of using public funds to produce biased coverage and “left-wing propaganda.” (Eric Lee/The New York Times)
17 hours ago

PBS Has a Future by Leaving the Past Behind: Opinion

AJ Rassamni and Miguel Arias blackstone
17 hours ago

Fresno Council Candidate Rassamni Says City Is Investigating Him Amid Allegations by Arias

Fresno first responders spent over two hours safely rescuing a person in crisis from the edge of a downtown parking garage Friday, July 25, 2025,morning. (Fresno FD)
17 hours ago

Fresno First Responders Talk Person Down off Parking Garage Ledge

United States Department of Education logo and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken April 23, 2025. (Reuters File)
18 hours ago

Oregon Schools Face Federal Probe Over Transgender Athletes

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend