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By Jon Coupal
Anniversaries and birthdays are usually thought of as celebratory events, but on February 16th, California marked an unhappy milestone.
It started in November 2020, when voters narrowly passed Proposition 19. While the initiative contained some positive elements, it also repealed an important taxpayer protection from the California Constitution that taxpayers have relied on for nearly 35 years.
Specifically, on February 16, 2021, Prop. 19 went into effect, resurrecting a death tax on property that voters had eliminated back in 1986. Today, one year later, thousands of families have personally encountered the unwelcome and cruel return of the death tax.
Here is how the death tax works. It is triggered on the date of the passing of the last surviving parent or grandparent. Their home or small business is reassessed to current market value and then their children or grandchildren are hit with the death tax — a massive increase in the annual property tax bill.
During this past year, the grief of many families was made more miserable by the death tax, which upended the long established law concerning the transfer of property between parents and their children — resulting in chaos, confusion, and financial strain for families at the worst possible time. Because of Proposition 19, many families are now forced into the unwanted sale of a family home, small business or rental housing property because they cannot afford the higher property taxes.
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