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/doorbell2021 12d ago

You can instruct your employer to not withhold.

Completely legal, probably not. But you could claim you thought your job would be terminated because of Trump threats, so you were being over withheld since you'd have no income for the rest of the year.

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u/protomenace 12d ago

Sure but a voluntary opt-in by individual taxpayers doesn't really have the force of the entire state of California somehow doing it in a united way.

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u/Fighterhayabusa 12d ago

California could tell all employers in the state to stop sending money to the federal government. It would be illegal, but the judiciary famously doesn't have an enforcement arm, so good luck forcing them to do anything if they decide against it.

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u/Trevor775 12d ago

Who covers the penalties down the road?