

California Says Tax Revenue ‘at Risk’ From Facebook Drop - patd
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-02/california-says-tax-revenue-at-risk-from-facebook-drop

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quattrofan
I can't quite believe any govt official with half a brain would forecast tax
revenues based on the vagaries of company stock prices.

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seiji
"hundreds of millions of dollars of income tax revenue assumed in the state
budget plan are at risk.”

Who runs a government like that?

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yummyfajitas
This is a common risk when you have an extremely progressive tax system, or
rely heavily on taxing companies. Companies and high income people have
volatile income, making tax revenues volatile.

If you want to avoid it, you'll need a more regressive tax system that leans
heavily on the poor/middle class (e.g., the sort you find in Europe).

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seiji
I could understand forecasting corporate taxes, but concretely relying on
fluffy bunny overhyped IPOs in your budget seems irresponsible.

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joshlegs
I agree wholeheartedly.

Then again, it seems that California _is_ a horrible manager of money. So
maybe we shouldn't be too surprised.

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ihsw
It appears Facebook is in need of a bailout.

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stephengillie
Too big to facepalm!

