Potpourri: Symposia, Sightings, Salutes & Snafus

High-earning San Franciscans have been leaving the city since the beginning of the pandemic, according to census data. The data shows that the median annual income of the San Francisco metro area – which includes the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley – decreased 6.3 percent from July 2020 to July 2021. In the same time period, the San Francisco area experienced the most significant population loss in the nation. The median annual income of the San Francisco metro…

Governor Gavin Newsom and state Senator Brian Dahle are scheduled to meet Sunday, October 23, for the first and only debate in this year’s gubernatorial election.

When startup businesses open near state lines, they will weigh the costs of taxes and opt for the state with lower sales and property taxes, according to economic research conducted by Iowa State University. “Property taxes seem to matter more than other types of taxes,” according to Iowa State University Professor Peter Orazem, who led the study. He attributed this to the fact that new businesses will be required to pay property taxes even if they don’t generate any income. …

Inventor Gilbert Hyatt recently filed suit in Sacramento County Superior Court seeking a refund of $11.37 million in taxes, penalties, and interest paid to the Franchise Tax Board after the state ruled that he received California-source income in 1991. In August of 2017, the State Board of Equalization ruled that Hyatt became a resident of Nevada on October 20, 1991, and was not a California resident for the remainder of the year or the following year, rejecting the bulk of…

State revenue is running $17.5 billion ahead of projections for the first eight months of the 2021-22 fiscal year, the Department of Finance reported this morning in its monthly Finance Bulletin. “Of note, $6.265 billion of the total additional revenue through eight months is due to higher-than-expected Pass-Through Entity (PTE) elective tax payments under the corporation tax, a 2021 state tax change designed to allow some taxpayers to reduce their allowable federal tax liability starting with their 2021 tax returns,”…

More than half of the residents of the San Francisco Bay Area are considering moving out of the area permanently, and taxes are a major reason, according to a poll released October 11 by Joint Venture Silicon Valley. “A significant number of residents say they are likely to leave the Bay Area in the next few years,” the poll stated. “A slight majority (56 percent) agrees with the statement, ‘I am likely to move out of the Bay Area in…

In news that likely will be welcomed by local property tax collectors, the San Jose Mercury News studied data from real estate firms and found that “the Covid-19 pandemic doesn’t seem to be an impediment to the Bay Area’s housing market, with median home prices in the region nearly at the $1 million mark.” Since changes of ownership trigger reassessments of property – typically resulting in higher taxable value – this could indicate that property taxes will remain a stable…

The Franchise Tax Board announced November 5 that taxpayers in certain governor-declared disaster areas are granted an extension to January 15, 2021, to file California tax returns on 2019 income and make any tax payments that would have been due between September 4 and January 15. “With more time to file and make certain payments, we hope to provide some relief to families and workers affected by these devastating wildfires,” State Controller and FTB Chair Betty Yee said. The relief is separate from…

CalTax President Robert Gutierrez announced that noted sales tax expert Joan Armenta-Roberts has joined CalTax as a Technical Tax Consultant. Armenta-Roberts, who started this week in the newly created position, has more than 25 years of sales and use tax experience, both in the private sector and through her work as a top advisor to State Board of Equalization Member Dean Andal, who chaired the BOE and successfully implemented reforms that promote efficiency and sound tax policy. Her experience includes…