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    • California cannot withhold federal income tax from the state
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    California cannot withhold federal income tax from the state

    Online Niel Posted on

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    Claim: Fox News reported that California Gov. Gavin Newsom will withhold the state’s federal income tax in 2025

    An Instagram post from November 9 (direct link, archive link) claims that a news service reported that California Governor Gavin Newsom is cutting funding for the federal government in response to President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.

    “FOX NEWS: Reliable sources report California Gov. Gavin Newsom to withhold $235 billion in California’s 2025 federal income tax. This is a developing story,” the post read.

    It was liked over 14,000 times in 12 days. Similar posts were shared on Facebook, nature and X, formerly Twitter.

    More from the fact-checking team: How we choose and research claims | Newsletter by e-mail | Facebook page

    Our Rating: False

    The claim comes from a parody account. A Fox News spokesman said the station had not reported anything similar. States are not involved in collecting federal income taxes.

    Claim originated from parody account

    No such article appears on Fox News website and Sophie Watsona spokesperson for the news outlet told USA TODAY that “this was never reported on Fox News.”

    The claim originated with a Post of November 9 on X through a named account @Colonel_Myway which is labeled as a parody. No credible news reports support the post’s claim, and Newsom, a Democrat, did not released any stcautions or posted anything on social media about such a proposal.

    The post is an example of what might be called “stolen satire,” where claims written as satire and originally presented as such are reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second generation post are misled, as was the case here.

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    The IRS collected about $569 million in taxes from California during the fiscal year 2023including approximately $424 million in individual income taxes. However, states cannot somehow withhold income taxes that their residents owe to the federal government.

    “States cannot and do not do this” John Buhla spokesman for Fiscal Policy Centera think tank in Washington DC. “For regular employees, their employer is responsible for withholding taxes from their paychecks and remitting those taxes directly to the IRS on their behalf. The state is not involved in this process with respect to federal taxes, only state taxes.”

    Jared Walczakvice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation, also said states are not involved in collecting federal income taxes.

    “California cannot withhold federal income tax payments because taxpayers remit their federal income taxes directly to the Internal Revenue Service,” Walczak said. “Any idea that states could do this is wrong, and any insinuation that Governor Newsom proposed blocking federal income tax payments is false.”

    USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

    Reuters also debunked the claim.

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    USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to impartiality, fairness and transparency. Our fact-checking activity is supported in part by a grant from Meta.

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