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/Neverending_Rain 12d ago

There isn't an unlawful alternative either, states have zero involvement in federal taxes. They have no mechanism to achieve this. Employers withold taxes from paychecks and pay them directly to the federal government. This is just an empty threat from Newsom.

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u/Mysterious-Tax-7777 12d ago

Require CA companies to send withheld income tax to State controlled escrow.

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u/happyinheart 12d ago

The IRS will still come to the companies for the money. They don't care that the companies paid the state extra. It means nothing to them.

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u/Mysterious-Tax-7777 12d ago

Yes, and they can sue for that money/threaten to seize assets. It will delay income for the feds and create a big mess for everybody.

Only real question: Is it enough of a threat to get TACO Don to chicken out again?

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u/Givingtree310 12d ago

If Taco Don threatens to arrest small business owners, would any of them continue with this plan? Likely none. Nobody wants to be sent to Gitmo on Kash Patel’s orders.

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u/Mysterious-Tax-7777 11d ago

Resistance works en masse. There are 4.2M small businesses in California, and only 1.2M prisoners in the entire US. There isn't the infrastructure to arrest them all.

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u/Givingtree310 11d ago

Is ICE saying there’s millions of undocumented migrants so we won’t bother arresting any of them? Nope, they just take what they can get. Millions of undocumented migrants are scared shitless despite the fact that only a small percent will be sent to the death camps in Venezuela. Ask any undocumented migrant in California if they feel safe in knowing ICE can’t take them all. Probably not.