California Voters Reject a Proposed One-Time 5% Billionaire Tax

California voters rejected a proposed billionaire wealth tax that would have imposed a one-time 5% levy on billionaires who lived in the state on Jan. 1, 2026, with payment scheduled for 2027.

Economists Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick argued that revamping California's property-tax rules could produce more revenue over the long run than collecting a single wealth-tax payment.