LA Times: California Voters could be asked to impose an estate tax, replacing the one Trump closed

Ever since President Trump signed the historic tax cut bill into law, the Democrats have been criticizing it as a tax cut for the rich.

Tuesday, California Democrats introduced SB 378, a bill that would “ask voters to impose an estate tax of a size equal to what was loosened in 2017 by President Trump and Republicans in Congress as part of a broad tax overhaul law. The goal, said the proposal’s author, is to create an overall tax burden for wealthy Californians equal to what existed before the federal tax break was created.”

The revenues generated from SB 378, if passed, would be used for programs designed to combat income inequality in the state.

The LA Times reports, “SB 378 envisions a California tax that applies to estates larger than $3.5 million for an individual, where the federal tax applied between 2009 and the 2017 action by Trump to scale it back. To avoid any instance of double taxation by the state and federal government, SB 378 stipulates the California version would phase out once the value of a deceased resident’s estate hits the federal threshold.”

The report goes on to note that if the bill is eventually signed into law by Governor Newsom, it would have to be “ratified by voters in the November 2020 statewide election.”

The full LA Times report on the proposal can be read by clicking here.