Voters in Multiple States Choose Higher Taxes for the Wealthy
Of course, the big news from the election earlier this month was that Donald Trump shocked the world and defeated Hillary Clinton in the race to become the 45th president of the United States. However, there were several other important national, as well as local, election races and issues that were decided on November 8th. Not the least of which were several state measures aimed at raising taxes on high net worth individuals.
To that end, voters in both California and Maine decided that the rich needed to pay more taxes. In Maine, the vote to raise the state’s top tax rate from 7.15 percent to 10.15 percent was extremely close, passing by a narrow 50.4 percent to 49.6 percent margin. That means Maine will have the second highest top tax rate in the country in 2017, surpassing Oregon, which was number two in 2016 at 9.9 percent.
In California, meanwhile, the vote wasn’t even close, with 62 percent voting to extend temporary tax hikes already in place. Proposition 55 extended the hikes originally implemented in 2012 with Proposition 30. That means top earners, those who make $1 million or more a year, will continue to pay a tax rate of 13.3 percent at least until 2030. California will continue to have the highest tax rate for top earners in 2017.
So, while all signs point to Donald Trump lowering the federal tax rates, if you live in California or Maine and you’re a top earner, you won’t see any relief in the coming years in your state taxes.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2016/11/10/voters-okay-state-income-tax-hikes-for-the-rich/#71480a7b16d0
Recent Trends in the Venture Capital Community
Recent Trends in the Venture Capital Community Recently, I attended a Venture Capital Conference in which one of the speakers predicted we would see technology change in the next 15 years that would rival advancements similar to the past 100 years. That is a bold prediction, but as new technologies continue to emerge we are…
Tax Filing Mistakes
Tax Filing Mistakes Tax return anxiety is on the rise as the federal tax filing date looms. The prospect of filing an erroneous return increases as more rely on tax software to help prepare their returns. For the week ending March 28, more than 10,000 electronic returns were filed from home computers, an increase of…
Preparing Your Business Plan
Preparing Your Business Plan “Other things being equal, a well prepared business plan will increase your chances of obtaining the venture capitalist’s financial commitment.” Introduction A business plan is a description of your business. To be complete your plan should describe: Your company and industry The product The market and marketing approach How the product…
How to Recession-Proof Your Small Business
How to Recession-Proof Your Small Business The recent collapse of Bear Stearns & Co., one of the largest financial institutions in the world, has intensified the fears of most small business owners in the Bay Area despite an earlier, rosier prediction by the Association of Bay Area Governments that the recession would have minimal effect…