How has the share of California PIT paid by the top 1% changed year-by-year from 2000–2023?
Executive summary
The share of California’s personal income tax (PIT) paid by the top 1 percent has swung dramatically over the 2000–2023 period, driven largely by asset-price cycles and temporary rate changes; available reporting highlights peaks around the dot‑com boom , an all‑time high near 2012 following Proposition 30, a surge in the pandemic tax years, and a sharp drop after the 2022 market decline (2023 collections) [1] [2] [3]. Detailed year‑by‑year percentages are not published in the four news and policy pieces provided here, so this account synthesizes the documented inflection points and the drivers behind them while noting limits in the public excerpts reviewed [1] [2] [3].
1. Market swings, not steady creep: how asset prices shape the top 1% share
California’s top 1 percent contribution to PIT revenues rises and falls largely with fluctuations in stock and other asset prices, because a large portion of high‑earners’ taxable income is capital gains and investment income; the Legislative Analyst’s Office states that PIT payments by the top 1 percent are “highly volatile” and explicitly links year‑to‑year change to asset price movements, noting the group’s average reported incomes fell below $1.3 million in 2009 and recovered to over $1.9 million by 2012 following asset rebounds [1].
2. Notable peaks: 2000, 2012 and the pandemic years
The high‑water marks in the narrative are anchored to specific episodes: average top‑1 incomes peaked in 2000 at over $2.4 million during the dot‑com boom [1]; the top 1 percent paid “just over 50 percent” of state PIT revenues in 2012—a rise the LAO attributes in part to Proposition 30’s temporary higher marginal rates on high incomes [1]; and reporting based on 2021 tax year data showed the top 1 percent paid essentially half of PIT receipts (49.9%), reflecting pandemic‑era gains concentrated among the very wealthy [2] [3].
3. The post‑2022 correction: a rapid fall in the top 1% share
When markets tumbled in 2022, taxable incomes tied to capital markets declined and the top 1 percent’s share of PIT receipts fell sharply: the Los Angeles Times reports that data released by the Franchise Tax Board show the top 1 percent’s contribution dropped to 38.7% of income tax collected in 2023, a substantial retreat from the near‑half share recorded for the 2021 tax year [2]. This exemplifies the volatility documented by the LAO and highlights how reliance on market‑tied revenue can expose the state budget to swings [1] [2].
4. Policy magnifies cycles: tax changes and timing matter
Temporary rate changes—most visibly Proposition 30 in 2012—can amplify the share paid by the top 1 percent when enacted during income booms, because additional marginal rates on high incomes increase both the concentration of tax payments and their sensitivity to underlying income volatility [1]. Coverage from the California Budget & Policy Center reinforces that the top 1 percent’s share of reported income rose markedly in 2021 to record levels (30.5% of reported income for that year), underscoring that taxable income concentration and tax‑rate structure combine to determine revenue shares [3].
5. What’s missing and what to request for a true year‑by‑year series
None of the provided summaries publish a complete 2000–2023 annual time series of the top 1 percent’s share of PIT receipts; the LAO article describes volatility and key years but does not list each year’s percentage in the excerpts provided here, and news pieces cite particular tax‑year comparisons for emphasis [1] [2] [3]. To produce a precise year‑by‑year table that answers the question directly would require pulling the Franchise Tax Board’s annual reports or the LAO’s full dataset referenced in their blog (sources cited above) and compiling the top‑1 percent share for each tax year from 2000 through 2023 [1] [2].
6. Bottom line: concentrated, volatile, policy‑sensitive
The available reporting paints a clear qualitative story: the top 1 percent’s share of California PIT rose to historic highs in boom years , then fell sharply after market corrections (2009, and following 2022 for 2023 receipts), with temporary tax increases and the composition of top incomes amplifying movements [1] [3] [2]. For an authoritative year‑by‑year percentage series, the Franchise Tax Board or LAO datasets must be consulted directly; the pieces reviewed here accurately identify the inflection points and drivers but do not supply a complete annual table in the excerpts provided [1] [2] [3].