<p>CA is always BIG. So they are a really BIG reflection of all of America. They want all the goodies but don’t want to pay for them. They keep voting goodies for everybody, then scratch their heads when corporations flee and those with big taxable incomes also flee. CA isn’t any worse than the rest of the US. They are just really BIG.</p>
<p>No escape…but there will definitely be some tax savings. The guy who is moving to Singapore is going to have to pay an exit tax.</p>
<p>Zuckenberg is going to pay some taxes…one reason he is selling shares. At least that is what is said publicly.</p>
<p>And a lot of the income is going to be ordinary income…not capital gains.</p>
<p>But yeah…there are loopholes being used.</p>
<p>Politicians give goodies to voters to get votes.</p>
<p>Politicians give goodies to the wealthiest so they can fund campaigns. And then…politicians pass out more goodies…big…big goodies.</p>
<p>If California received 90 percent back of what it pays to the Feds instead of 78%…guess what?</p>
<p>No budget issues.</p>
<p>Is most of this money from the top 15% from high salaries, bonuses, stock and stock option compensation? If Federal taxes increase at the high end, I’d expect the percent returned to further decline.</p>
<p>I think overall…if tax rates are raised at the top end…more money will be raised.</p>
<p>It depends how much rates are increased of course…</p>
<p>The Laffer curve is a curve. :)</p>
<p>Most people are not leaving the US.</p>
<p>Do ya think this could have anything to do with the problem? </p>
<p>[$100,000 Pension Club](<a href=“CalPERS Database | Fix Pensions First | FixPensionsFirst.com”>PAGE NOT FOUND!)</p>
<p>Rapidly Expanding List of CA Government Workers with Six-Figure Pensions (cost does not include their soup to nuts benefits that are shared by all). And my ex-state of NJ is not very far behind.</p>
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<p>It appears the Facebook guys have figured out a different way to avoid income taxes.</p>
<p>Pensions are out of control…</p>
<p>[Closing</a> Loophole Could Cost Facebook Billions in Taxes - John Aloysius Farrell - NationalJournal.com](<a href=“http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/closing-loophole-could-cost-facebook-billions-in-taxes-20120207]Closing”>http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/closing-loophole-could-cost-facebook-billions-in-taxes-20120207)</p>
<p>Loopholes aren’t closed…than others have to pay the bill.</p>
<p>The others might be us…</p>
<p>Another link…
<a href=“http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/sen-levin-calls-for-congress-to-close-facebook-tax-loophole.php[/url]”>http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/sen-levin-calls-for-congress-to-close-facebook-tax-loophole.php</a></p>
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Without some kind of breakdown about how exactly they are “receiving” these tax dollars back from Washington, this is a meaningless statistic.</p>
<p>I suspect most of those dollars are Social Security, Medicare, Federal salaries, or other entitlements which do not go directly through the states’ hands and therefore don’t directly affect state revenues since those payments are not taxable by the state (well, Federal salaries would, but only a small percentage).</p>
<p>The states quoted in that article as getting the most back are some of the poorest states in the country, meaning they don’t have the earnings to pay Federal tax in the first place. How much worse off would California be if the average person there made what the average person in Mississippi makes?</p>
<p>Urban areas pay more than rural areas…</p>
<p>Cal has a mix of both…</p>
<p>Cal also has a large defense component.</p>
<p>Mississppi…isn’t that a state that believes stongly in state rights superceding federal rights?</p>
<p>If so…I am sure the state would not want to take in more dollars from the feds than it pays.</p>
<p>I’m all for closing tax loopholes.</p>
<p>COL in coastal areas are higher so salaries are higher and we have a progressive income tax which means a higher overall tax rate.</p>
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<p>It’s like a taxpayer saying - I pay the US Govt fifty grand in taxes while they only give me back 35K in services. That’s why I can’t make my credit card payments.</p>
<p>Assuming those figures are true, it’s not as though this was foisted on CA yesterday. They had enough time to try either negotiate their way out of the payment, or if they couldn’t, then learn to live with it.</p>
<p>The completely false conclusion is “No budget issues”. If CA gets 110% handed to them today, the only predictable action is spending increased to match the income, and institutionalized, at that.</p>
<p>People and companies want the loopholes…for themselves.</p>
<p>Apple pays about a 10 percent federal corporate income tax rate?</p>
<p>You can correct me if I am wrong.</p>
<p>Does Apple really want to get rid of the loopholes and see the top tax rate dropped to 25%?</p>
<p>I don’t think so.</p>
<p>Most of the other major companies don’t either.</p>
<p>We have the tax system people in power want. A bunch of loopholes and tax favors.</p>
<p>We can buy a property…watch it increase in value…trade it up for a more expensive property…and pay zero capital gains tax on the increase in value of the first property.</p>
<p>BCEagle91… Your views on taxes must be in the minority…the minority of voters, the minority of the wealthy, or both.</p>
<p>Cal…doesn’t have the votes dad of 3.</p>
<p>The state only has 2 senators…the same as Mississippi…</p>
<p>You are going to tell me that Mississippi is as important economically to the United States as California?</p>
<p>And I am not saying things should be changed…maybe Cal should get less back…but that doesn’t help California’s economy.</p>
<p>I think Cal’s pension system should be changed. Will improve things slightly now…a little more in the out years.</p>
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<p>I don’t know about that. I look at the amount of time that I spend doing taxes every year and sometimes I care less about the taxes that I have to pay and more about the time that I lose. The foreign reporting might even make for a bigger mess next year.</p>
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<p>[Apple’s</a> 9.8% Tax Rate: New York Times Ignorance Again - Forbes](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/04/30/apples-9-8-tax-rate-new-york-times-ignorance-again/]Apple’s”>Apple's 9.8% Tax Rate: New York Times Ignorance Again)</p>
<p>Apple’s effective tax rate is 24.2%. Their five-year average tax rate is 28.2% This is from their earnings reports.</p>
<p><a href=“Apple AAPL Financials and Fundamentals Overview”>Apple AAPL Financials and Fundamentals Overview;
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<p>This is a BIGGIE, dstark, and one that doesn’t get much exposure in CA. State workers, namely police as a prime example, can work ungodly, excessive hours in the final year before an otherwise early retirement and tack on HUGE retirement pay. Calculations are based on this final year of service. My brother-in-law’s first cousin was a Berkeley police officer. He retired in his early 50’s at almost $95,000 per year. Yes, police put their lives on the line in protecting us but this is excessive. Just one example…</p>
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<p>If the federal government gives every state what the state paid the federal government, then there would be minimal need for the federal government, no? Each state could just pay the taxes to itself. Just send a little to the federal government for defense and foreign policy stuff.</p>
<p>BcEagle91…maybe Apple was a bad example. ;)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/CorporateTaxDodgersReport.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/CorporateTaxDodgersReport.pdf</a></p>
<p>Sorry for the length of the link…</p>
<p>You can skip through it …or ignore it…</p>
<p>Jshain…it’s not like people who get the pensions are going to offer to give the money back…or change what they get.</p>
<p>For the record…my sister is on disability…and I don’t want her benefits touched.</p>