State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2024
Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for more than a third of state tax collections. How do income taxes compare in your state?
8 min read
California Tax Rates, Collections, and Burdens
How does California’s tax code compare? California has a graduated state individual income tax, with rates ranging from 1.00 percent to 13.30 percent. There is also a jurisdiction that collects local income taxes. California has an 8.84 percent corporate income tax rate. California also has a 7.25 percent state sales tax rate and an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 8.85 percent. California has a 0.68 percent effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing value.
California does not have an estate tax or inheritance tax. California has a 68.1 cents per gallon gas tax rate and a $2.87 cigarette excise tax rate. The State of California collects $9,229 in state and local tax collections per capita. California has $13,845 in state and local debt per capita and has a 79 percent funded ratio of public pension plans. Overall, California’s tax system ranks 48th on our 2024 State Business Tax Climate Index.
Each state’s tax code is a multifaceted system with many moving parts, and California is no exception. The first step towards understanding California’s tax code is knowing the basics. How does California collect tax revenue? Click the tabs below to learn more! You can also explore our state tax maps, which are compiled from our annual publication, Facts & Figures 2024: How Does Your State Compare?
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Featured Articles
State Corporate Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2024
Graduated corporate rates are inequitable—that is, the size of a corporation bears no necessary relation to the income levels of the owners.
7 min read
State and Local Sales Tax Rates, 2024
Retail sales taxes are an essential part of most states’ revenue toolkits, responsible for 32 percent of state tax collections and 13 percent of local tax collections (24 percent of combined collections).
9 min read
Facts & Figures 2023: How Does Your State Compare?
Facts & Figures serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more.
2 min read
2024 State Business Tax Climate Index
In recognition of the fact that there are better and worse ways to raise revenue, our Index focuses on how state tax revenue is raised, not how much. The rankings, therefore, reflect how well states structure their tax systems.
111 min read
Unpacking the State and Local Tax Toolkit: Sources of State and Local Tax Collections (FY 2020)
The mix of tax sources states choose can have important implications for both revenue stability and economic growth, and the many variations across states are indicative of the different ways states weigh competing policy goals.
29 min readAll Related Articles
The Efficiency of State Administration of Local Taxes
The logic that has prevailed for local sales taxes should apply equally to other taxes that localities impose on multijurisdictional businesses, including local tourism taxes. The evidence is clear that central administration of local taxes reduces compliance costs without sacrificing local revenue.
15 min read
Cigarette Taxes and Cigarette Smuggling by State, 2020
People respond to incentives. As tax rates increase or products are banned from sale, consumers and producers search for ways around these penalties and restrictions.
19 min read
States Should Make Full Expensing Permanent to Help Curb Inflation
In times of high inflation, states should consider adopting permanent full expensing because it boosts long-run productivity, economic output, and wages.
7 min read
Ranking State Tax Systems: Corporate Taxes
All corporate income taxes fall on capital investment, but the structure should not make matters worse, and policymakers should take care not to distort investment decisions through the use of targeted incentives for select firms or activities instead of a lower rate for all businesses.
2 min read
Do Unto Others: The Case for State Income Tax Reciprocity
Remote and flexible work opportunities are here to stay, whether states like it or not. With enhanced opportunities to take their job with them wherever they please, more workers can factor tax burdens into their decision of where to live.
15 min read
How High Are Taxes on Recreational Marijuana in Your State?
Recreational marijuana taxation is one of the hottest policy issues in the U.S. Currently, 19 states have implemented legislation to legalize and tax recreational marijuana sales.
5 min read
2023 State Business Tax Climate Index
While there are many ways to show how much is collected in taxes by state governments, our Index is designed to show how well states structure their tax systems by focusing on the how more than the how much in recognition of the fact that there are better and worse ways to raise revenue.
129 min read
State Tax Ballot Measures to Watch on Election Day 2022
From income tax changes to cannabis legalization and taxation, here’s what voters decided on Election Day.
1 min read
California Can’t Give Up Tax Increases
California is no stranger to high taxes, and the state has enough going for it that its economy can withstand higher tax burdens than would be viable in other parts of the country. But there’s always a tipping point.
5 min read
How Do Taxes Affect Interstate Migration?
IRS and Census data show that people and businesses favor states with low and structurally sound tax systems, which can impact the state’s economic growth and governmental coffers.
12 min read