It has been for many.Indeed. It's possible for a single taxpayer with a moderately large buy-and-hold portfolio that generates mainly qualifying dividend income, to end up with a nearly 15% federal income tax rate, and a nearly 10% California state income tax rate. I say "nearly", because those are marginal rates, but with large income, one's full rate is nearly the marginal rate. Example: a $20M all-taxable portfolio at 1.5% dividend rate = $375K annual taxable income. Assuming 100% qualifying dividends, that's 15% federal, but effectively something like 9.2% CA state ( full rate, not just marginal). Now imagine that our hero moves across the border to Nevada. That's a $34,500 annual savings, in state income taxes alone. Something to consider seriously, perhaps?
I am not interested in just CA taxes - I am interested in many state taxes and one of the reasons why I read these posts.
I think what we are saying here is in CA you pay regular tax rates (not LTCG) on Divs and HSA distributions - SS is not taxed but pensions fully are.
Statistics: Posted by smitcat — Fri Sep 19, 2025 1:33 pm — Replies 173 — Views 24455