Front Page  »  

California needs an equitable income tax system

January 9, 2024

Controller Malia Cohen

Statement by California Controller Malia Cohen

Cohen released the following statement following last month’s announcement that the L.A. Dodgers signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with pitcher Shohei Ohtani. The contract is structured so that Ohtani will receive $2 million per year and defer the balance approximately 10 years, when he could potentially return to Japan and escape payment of California state income taxes on the deferred amount:

The current tax system allows for unlimited deferrals for those fortunate enough to be in the highest tax brackets, creating a significant imbalance in the tax structure. The absence of reasonable caps on deferral for the wealthiest individuals exacerbates income inequality and hinders the fair distribution of taxes.

I would urge Congress to take immediate and decisive action to rectify this imbalance.”

Introducing limits on deductions and exemptions for high-income earners promotes social responsibility and contributes to a tax system that is just and beneficial for all. This action would not only create a more equitable tax system, but also generate additional revenue that can be directed towards addressing pressing important social issues and fostering economic stability.

As the chief fiscal officer of California, Controller Malia Cohen is responsible for accountability and disbursement of the state’s financial resources. The controller has independent auditing authority over government agencies that spend state funds. She is a member of numerous financing authorities, and fiscal and financial oversight entities including the Franchise Tax Board.

 


Loading...
Subjects:     
Related:


23 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

State employees can utilize deferred compensation. Eliminate that while you are at it.


31

Sacramento legislators continue to drive business away from California. If they pass this law then in the short term California will gets some money, but in the long term the Dodgers will leave and take all the revenue and jobs with them. This is pure short sighted stupidity. Look at the Raiders and Athletics as recent examples.


44

Until the marginal tax rate goes back to 91%, as it was under the Eisenhower Administration, and deferrals such as this are not allowed, this nation will continue to decline. We were once a great nation when the wealthy paid their fair share. Unfortunately, under the neo-liberal economic policies we have adhered to since 1981, debt and decay will continue to be the story.


-48

Under the Ike administration everything was deductible and there were so many loopholes no one ever paid anything close to the highest rates. Plus our government has added about one million additional taxes since then.


28

Yes, and most of those deductions and loopholes involved investing that money back into a business or businesses. Today we incentivize big business to simply buy back its own stock, rather than spending more on paying workers or modernizing equipment (a major reason why China has taken over the manufacturing of everything WE use). In 1960 fully half of all Americans had pensions, today it’s only 20%.


Shohei Ohtani will make $70 million in income per year hitting and pitching a baseball, yet he will only pay taxes on $2 million. Likewise, billionaires such as Musk, Bezos, etc. pay very little in federal taxes. Raise the marginal rate to former times and we will begin to see a more “equitable” nation.


-15

The federal government could take every penny of Musk’s 200 billion dollar wealth and it would spend it in two weeks. TWO WEEKS! And you wouldn’t be able to identify one significant thing they did with that windfall, other than line the pockets of politicians and their friends. Rich people aren’t the reason the country and the culture are crumbling. It’s due to 90 years of increasing progressive policies.


4

high income earners pay all of the taxes. Most high income earners employ others. Guess what happens when their taxes are raised to punitive levels? They work less hard and people lose their jobs.


35

and they leave for greener pastures.


11

Nothing stops you from voluntarily sending 91% of your income to the IRS, or state tax board. Please, lead by example.


When you have a debt and deficit problem, the solution isn’t more taxes. Quit spending what you don’t have.


700,000 illegal alien trespassing criminals getting “free” health care, would disagree with me…


36

You mean like Great Britain did in the 1960s and all the super rich left because of it?


8

49 percent pay ZERO federal income tax


6

Hey Mrs. Cohen, why don’t you keep your hands out of Shohei Ohtanis’ pocket. He’s just using the system as it currently is. He and others that are able to do this aren’t doing anything wrong. You can’t say that about all of the unfunded mandates for the various state unions. What joke that is.

As our state controller, why don’t you look at the excessive wasteful spending, overcompensated state employees, the incompetent members of the California state legislators and massive growing state deficit, currently at around 68 million.

How about doing what you’re paid to do. Please do an in-depth independent audit of all the state agencies, state unions, and the wasteful spending of our tax dollars. Clean up and get your own financial house in order before gaslighting emotions to cover you and our state’s financial failures that you are paid to oversee.

Like Newsom, you come across as an incompetent fool. But then again….


50

If you confiscated all the money from US billionaires you could not even cover one year of the US budget. Estimates put the total wealth of America’s billionaires at $5 trillion, while the federal government spent nearly $7 trillion in the fiscal 2021, which ended Sept. 30. Let’s stop being jealous of the rich, and start controlling what government spends.


75

The people who created this rule were not stupid; they knew about this gaping loophole. This loophole is there for the rich. When do I get a similar loophole?


17

The loophole was created to keep the Dodgers in LA, if you close they leave and we get nothing


5

He has tax attorneys that their job is to find all the Government loopholes and use them. The average guy doesn’t have the funds to hire someone for that so he pays. You will never fix the problem until you close the loopholes government created or just go to a straight % tax no deductions. Government won’t do that as they are afraid they would they would loose control of the people. Also as you are in control of spending in Ca I would look into the mirror and ask yourself how the state got into such a high debt and try to fix that!


44

I pay my taxes exactly as the law demands, but why? My taxes and those paid by many others are spent be politicians on programs that I fully disagree with. In many ways it would be better if the government(s) just burned my check when it arrived. I feel that my contribution is just wasted. There is never enough money for the government to waste. Congress and the state legislature should seek ways for citizens to retain more of their money, not contrive ways to steal more.


84

If they change the tax laws, guys like Ohtani will just sign with a state tax free state. How about lowering state taxes where they won’t have to defer their payments.


64

“How about lowering state taxes where they won’t have to defer their payments.” Nah- that would make sense…. you gotta remember that this is Kalifornia.


44

This is California. Logic and reason have no home here.


61
1 2