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California Voters Reject Billionaire Tax
Confirmed
In Short: California voters have rejected Proposition 40, a ballot measure that would have imposed a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of billionaires residing in the state as of January 1, 2026.
Supporters of the tax argued that billionaires pay a disproportionately low share of their wealth in taxes, with income tax payments amounting to only 1.6% of their $1.4 trillion wealth gain between 2019 and 2025.
The final tally showed that Proposition 40 was rejected by a margin of 52.8% to 47.2%, with roughly 53% of voters opposing the measure.
Economists noted that billionaires can accumulate substantial wealth from the stock market and business valuations without paying income tax on those gains until they are realized.
The billionaire tax proposal was seen as a potential precedent for similar measures in other states, with Francesco Trebbi, a public policy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, stating, 'I believe this is the first billionaire tax - meaning a wealth tax that is targeting a very extreme percentile of the wealth distribution.'
Background
Voters in Virginia and Missouri overwhelmingly passed ballot measures protecting abortion rights, while Florida voters approved a significant property tax cut.
What's confirmed
- Supporters of the tax argued that billionaires pay a disproportionately low share of their wealth in taxes, with income tax payments amounting to only 1.6% of their $1.4 trillion wealth gain between 2019 and 2025.
- The final tally showed that Proposition 40 was rejected by a margin of 52.8% to 47.2%, with roughly 53% of voters opposing the measure.
- Economists noted that billionaires can accumulate substantial wealth from the stock market and business valuations without paying income tax on those gains until they are realized.
What's still developing
- California voters rejected a proposed tax on billionaires, the Associated Press announced Monday.
- The outlet called the results just before 9:30 p.m.
- California voters will reject Proposition 40, the so-called California Billionaire Tax Act that would have imposed a one-time tax on the state's wealthiest residents, NBC News projected Monday.
- A mixed bag: Missouri voters rejected a bid to reinstate an abortion ban, Ohio and North Carolina locked voter ID into their constitutions, and voting on California's billionaire tax remains uncalled.
- Their face-off, just days before voters begin receiving their ballots by mail, comes as polling indicates Beccera holds a massive lead, signaling a steep obstacle course for Hilton’s ambitions to become California’s first Republican governor since 2011.
- But the 42-year-old tech mogul considered leaving the state because he feared that a ballot measure to impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of California billionaires could reduce the amount of control he has over Meta, a recent regulatory filing shows.
- Start with a basic question: How much do billionaires pay in taxes?
- Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, previously told the company he was considering moving his primary residence outside California because of Proposition 40, a ballot initiative that would impose a one-time tax equal to 5% of net worth on billionaires who were California residents on Jan. 1, 2026, if approved.
- A new analysis claims California’s billionaire tax will actually cost the state billions in the long run.