California Tax Foundation

Tax Watch

October 18, 2017

Updated Through the End of the 2017 Legislative Session

SACRAMENTO – California state lawmakers this year proposed $373.4 billion in higher annual taxes and fees, the nonpartisan California Tax Foundation reported today.

“The $373.4 billion cumulative cost of proposals introduced in 2017 is the highest amount identified since we began publishing Tax Watch in 2015,” California Tax Foundation Director Robert Gutierrez said. “To put this number in context, it is nearly $200 billion per year more than the total amount of taxes and fees currently collected by the state government.”

The Foundation’s Tax Watch report identifies all tax and fee proposals introduced during the first year of the 2017-18 legislative session, with information on which measures were signed into law, which failed, and which remain alive for possible consideration when the Legislature reconvenes next year.

The three proposals with the largest impact on taxpayers:

• SB 562, which would increase taxes by $200 billion annually to pay for a single-payer healthcare system where all costs are paid by the State of California.

• SB 640, a $122.63 billion sales tax on services.

• ACA 2 , an $8.65 billion tax on groceries, snacks and candy.

The California Tax Foundation, a nonprofit research organization founded by the California Taxpayers Association in 1980, reviewed every bill introduced or amended between December 5, 2016, and September 15, 2017, for tax- and fee-related provisions. Under Proposition 26, a tax is defined as any levy or exaction that results in a taxpayer paying a higher tax, including any unreasonable or excessive fee.

The report notes whether the proposals died in the Legislature or were sent to the governor, and whether the governor signed or vetoed those that reached his desk.

For More Information:

The SALT Report June 2, 2017

California Tax Foundation