Higher income households pay more in income taxes. Lower income households pay more in property taxes. Households also bear a share of the burden of taxes imposed on business through higher prices and reduced corporate earnings. Higher income households pay a relatively greater share of the corporate income tax, while lower income households pay a greater share of businesses sales and excise tax burden. The state's high tax threshold also means that low to moderate income families receive minimal or no benefits from the state's various credits, deductions, and other tax benefits since they have little or no tax liability to offset.
Small business pays a very small share of the corporate income tax.
The ten largest corporations pay 20 percent of the tax in any given year. US Census Bureau Conventional wisdom holds that California is a high tax state. In fact, California is an average tax state by any measure that takes into account the full mix of state and local taxes. When total state and local taxes are combined, California ranks 23rd among the 50 states. Over the past two decades, the burden of funding state services has shifted from corporate to personal income taxpayers.