1 min read
Sources:
press and public records, Kevin's account
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Short answer
Broadly, yes: both cut the tax on ordinary earners and keep capital compounding. The platform proposed no state income tax on the first $250,000, offset by a carbon tax. His own strategy, as he describes it, runs income through a C corporation at about 29% instead of taking it personally at over 50% in California, shelters it with real estate depreciation, and leaves real estate gains untaxed until sale. Both are legal, both favor capital over labor income, and both are consistent with a man who says he refuses debt and pays for a paid-off house. 12
Campaign: $0 state tax (on the first $250,000 of income)
Personal: C corporation (about 29% combined, by his account)
Consistent?: Yes (both favor keeping and compounding)
The campaign plan
No state income tax on the first $250,000 of income, with a carbon tax proposed to offset the revenue. 1
His own approach
Kevin’s account
The company is a C corporation paying about 29%, federal corporate plus California state. If I took that revenue home personally, I would pay over 50% at California’s top tiers plus net investment taxes. Software revenues are sheltered by depreciation; unrealized real estate upside is untaxed; my shares would get a stepped-up basis for my children. I call it the ultimate American tax strategy. That is my description, not tax advice. 2
Do they contradict
No. The campaign plan cut taxes on wage earners; his personal structure minimizes tax on business income within the existing code. A critic could say the plan would have helped people like him; a supporter could say it would have helped everyone earning under $250,000 first. Both readings are available, and neither involves him doing privately what he condemned publicly.
He proposed lower taxes on wages and structured his own affairs to pay corporate rates on his. Consistent, and openly so. 12
Simply put
✅ The plan
➡️ No California income tax on your first $250,000. A carbon tax to make up part of it.
✅ His own taxes
➡️ Runs income through his company at about 29% instead of 50%-plus personally. Depreciation shelters the rest.
✅ The contradiction people look for
➡️ There is not one. Both cut the tax bill on earning and let assets grow untaxed. He says so.
Sources
Newswire, campaign announcement and platform, May 17, 2021 (no state income tax on the first $250,000; carbon tax), Open
Kevin's account, The tax structure: “The company is a C corporation paying about 29% ... If I took that revenue home personally, I'd pay over 50%” Read the excerpt
