How High Are Californians' Taxes?

By David Asman

Published November 27, 2015

During the last California recall debate, recently departed candidate Arianna Huffington (search) claimed that businesses in her state were getting away with murder by avoiding taxes. That led to Arnold's comment about driving his Hummer “through Arianna's tax loopholes.”

But even Arnold's economic advisor, billionaire Warren Buffett, scolded Californians for not paying enough in property taxes. So how high are California's taxes? A study recently published by the 60-year old Tax Foundation finds that only one other state in the country taxes businesses more than California does. That state is Mississippi.

To come up with this rating, the Tax Foundation added up five factors: the percentage of income taken by all taxes, individual income tax rates, corporate income taxes, the sales tax rate, and the complexity of the tax system.

Individuals in California also pay a heavy tax load compared to other states. Ten years ago, Californians paid about 5 percent less than the national average in state taxes. Today, Californians pay about ten percent more than people in other states do. Arianna, Warren, or any of you can look this up on the web, courtesy of the Tax Foundation.

And that's the Asman Observer.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/story/how-high-are-californians-taxes