Alicia Clanton & Biz Carson (Bloomberg Law): Newsom Floats Federal Wealth Tax After California Deal Fails
Governor Gavin Newsom is calling for a federal tax on billionaires after failing to stop a California wealth tax from reaching the November ballot, setting up a high-profile test of whether voters will back one of the nation’s most aggressive efforts to tax the rich.
Newsom, who is considering a presidential run in 2028, said on Friday that he stands against the California measure, arguing that taxing billionaires should be done nationally rather than state by state. On a lengthy Substack post, he instead called for a federal tax on billionaires and those worth more than $100 million, changes to inheritance rules and closing tax loopholes on wealthy people borrowing against their assets.
Newsom didn’t propose a rate for a federal wealth tax or outline how it would work, including what exactly would be taxed. He also proposed creating a public equity fund that would take a stake in the artificial intelligence economy, though again he offered few details.
“It is time for a national billionaires’ tax,” Newsom said. “The fight belongs at the federal level, where this broken system was created in the first place.”
More from TaxProf Blog:
- WSJ: California’s Billionaire Tax Kicks Off a Democratic Civil War (June 26, 2026)
- Clouse et al.: California’s Billionaire Tax Act Threatens Growth and Fails to Address Structural Deficits (June 24, 2026)
- California Billionaire Tax Qualifies for November Ballot (June 23, 2026)
- WSJ: Rich Californians Are Finding Creative Ways to Get Ahead of the Billionaire Tax (June 22, 2026)
- NY Times: Union Behind California Billionaire Tax Offers to Reduce the Rate (June 19, 2026)
- Boll, Saez, and Zucman on California Billionaires (May 26, 2026)
- Some Actual Facts on California’s Billionaire Tax (May 4, 2026)
- The Push to Get California Billionaire Tax on the Ballot (March 3, 2026)
- California’s Wealth Tax and Billionaire Psychology (February 3, 2026)
- Solana: The Great California Wealth Exodus (January 27, 2026)
- Galle et al.: Expert Report on Valuation of Controlling Shares of Publicly Traded Companies Under the California Billionaire Tax Act (January 21, 2026)
- NYT: Newsom Vows to Stop Proposed Billionaire Tax in California (January 14, 2026)
- Galle, Gamage & Shanske: Correcting the Record: Responding to Some Legal Arguments About the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act (January 9, 2026)
- Washington Post: California Will Miss Billionaires When They’re Gone (January 2, 2026)
- WSJ: Threat of California Billionaire Tax Draws Criticism from Ultrawealthy (January 2, 2026)
- Tax Notes and Shanske on California’s Proposed Billionaire’s Tax (November 18, 2025)
- WSJ: The California Campaign to Introduce a First-of-Its-Kind Billionaire’s Tax (November 14, 2025)
