THE LA TIMES:
To plagiarize T.S. Eliot, April is the cruelest month. But not for the reasons the poet wrote. Rather, for all the taxes.
And there are bills in the Legislature to make taxes sting even worse.
By April 10, Californians must pay their local property taxes. Five days later is the deadline for filing state and federal income tax returns. Also, the state and the feds want any initial pre-tax payment that’s required on current earnings.
So tax collectors get three swings at us this month.
University of Redlands’ women’s soccer head coach Suzette Soboti has seen — and affected — major change in college athletics over the years.
It’s a perfect storm for millions of Californians because of the federal tax overhaul enacted in 2017 by the Republican Congress and President Trump. For the first time, deductions for state and local taxes on federal returns are limited to $10,000. That’s much less than Californians have been deducting in this high-tax state.
Making the bite even sharper for salaried employees who receive a W-2, non-reimbursed job expenses are no longer deductible on federal returns. That hits teachers particularly hard because they often buy their own classroom supplies and have been deducting the costs.
So blame that tax shaft on Trump and Republicans.
But in California under Democrats, it’s tax, tax, tax — a drip and a drop, nickel and a dime — all the time. That’s not a political statement. It’s a fact.
Not all taxes are evil. Some are justified. But many are unwarranted. And others are eye-rollers.
One of the more controversial and annoying taxes currently being proposed is a state levy on sugary soft drinks. More on that later.
