Poll: Voters all over the place on tax measures

California’s likely voters solidly support a fall initiative to extend higher income taxes on top earners, while a separate proposal to boost state taxes on tobacco is clinging to a majority vote, according to a new survey released Monday.

The statewide Field/IGS Poll found Proposition 55, which would prolong for a dozen years 2012 income tax increases on some of the state’s highest-earning residents, was leading by 2-to-1 among likely voters, 60 percent to 30 percent.

Proposition 56, a bid to hike by $2 a pack state taxes on cigarettes, is drawing the backing of 53 percent of voters. Forty percent oppose the tax increase, and 7 percent remain undecided.

Get all the details at: California income tax hike has wide lead, fewer back $2-a-pack tobacco tax increase – The Sacramento Bee

Cali voters ready to stick it to high-income earners…again

California voters are inclined to extend extra taxes on the state’s high-income residents to support public education and pass a new school construction bond issue, a poll by the Public Policy Institute of California has found.

Both issues are headed for November ballot via pending initiatives with unions, particularly the California Teachers Association, pressing the tax extension, and education groups and developers sponsoring the bond issue.

Source: The Sacramento Bee

Reliance on income taxes hits Cali’s bottom line…is more bad news to follow?

Preliminary tax revenue for January stands at a net $167 million less than estimates in Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget, according to a report Wednesday by the Legislature’s non-partisan fiscal analyst.

Income taxes came in $260 million less than budget estimates, preliminary numbers show, with corporation tax revenue $93 million above estimates.

The income tax dip likely reflects a modest slowdown in economic growth and the lackluster stock market, the Legislative Analyst’s Office reported.

Source: California revenue dips, possible sign of ‘revenue deterioration’ to come – The Sacramento Bee

From the @GOP Congress to the wealthiest: A private tax system that saves the 1-percent billions

The hedge fund magnates Daniel S. Loeb, Louis Moore Bacon and Steven A. Cohen have much in common. They have managed billions of dollars in capital, earning vast fortunes. They have invested large sums in art — and millions more in political candidates.

Moreover, each has exploited an esoteric tax loophole that saved them millions in taxes. The trick? Route the money to Bermuda and back.

With inequality at its highest levels in nearly a century and public debate rising over whether the government should respond to it through higher taxes on the wealthy, the very richest Americans have financed a sophisticated and astonishingly effective apparatus for shielding their fortunes.

Some call it the “income defense industry,” consisting of a high-priced phalanx of lawyers, estate planners, lobbyists and anti-tax activists who exploit and defend a dizzying array of tax maneuvers, virtually none of them available to taxpayers of more modest means.

Source: For the Wealthiest, a Private Tax System That Saves Them Billions – The New York Times

Cha Ching!!! Cali tax revenue surges in April, could exceed estimates by billions

California income tax collections in April have already exceeded the Brown administration’s January estimates, underscoring the surge of higher-than-expected money flowing into the state treasury and possibly offering health and welfare programs – not just schools – a piece of the windfall.

For months, it has been assumed that K-12 classrooms and community colleges had a virtual lock on nearly all of the extra tax revenue, thanks to the state’s school funding law. In fact, under some recent budget scenarios, the state faced the prospect of cutting non-school spending in the fiscal year that begins July 1 to provide schools with the money owed under the law.

But income tax revenue for the current fiscal year has continued to grow well beyond expectations. By June 30, state revenue could exceed January estimates by more than $4 billion, the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal analyst reported this week. If it exceeds $4.4 billion, health and welfare programs could benefit from the surge, following months of calls that California needs to do more to reduce poverty and income inequality in the state.

via State revenue surges in April, could exceed estimates by billions through June – The Sacramento Bee.