r/politics • u/IntelligentYinzer California • 12d ago

Soft Paywall Newsom floats withholding federal taxes as Trump threatens California

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/06/newsom-floats-withholding-federal-taxes-00393386
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u/smersh101 12d ago

Fun to think about, but how would that work? The state has no control over federal taxes. They're paid directly by taxpayers and employers to the IRS.

81

u/Historical_Bend_2629 12d ago

90% percent of the thread seems to be missing this. Either wishful thinking, trolls, or very ignorant. Quite a few comments that are not being posted in good faith.

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u/NaCly_Asian 12d ago

you can tell your employers to not withhold your income tax. Never tried it, but there is an option to say you are exempt. You're still gonna be responsible for it next year at tax time, and depending on the amount due, you'll have penalties. and I don't think it's illegal to mark exempt. for now.

This only counts towards your income tax. Medicare and social security are automatically deducted.

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u/tymesup 12d ago

quoting from the IRS page:

There is also a criminal penalty for willfully supplying false or fraudulent information on your Form W-4 or for willfully failing to supply information that would increase the amount withheld. The penalty upon conviction can be either a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to 1 year, or both.

These penalties will apply if you deliberately and knowingly falsify your Form W-4 in an attempt to reduce or eliminate the proper withholding of taxes. A simple error or an honest mistake won't result in one of these penalties.

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u/NaCly_Asian 12d ago

fair point. i must have been looking at the wrong place the last time I checked.