California has the highest taxes in the country and it still wants to raise them. .
Gavin Newsom has spent years insisting California is worth every penny.
Now one of the most famous faces in sports television just exposed the scary surveillance against California taxpayers.
California Jock Tax Uses Your Phone Against You
Stephen A. Smith was minding his business two years ago when ESPN moved more of its NBA Countdown production to Los Angeles.
More time in California meant something Smith hadn't fully calculated.
"Every time I'm in the state of California, I'm getting taxed that day," Smith told podcast host Patrick Bet-David.
So Smith did what wealthy professionals do – he sat down with his estate planners.
Smith's estate planners had one piece of advice: get out of California every weekend – not for rest, but to avoid being billed for the day.
Smith asked why.
"Well, if you stay in California, you know, IRS, they ping your phone," he said, relaying what his planners told him. "So anytime you get a call or you're on the phone, they know that you're in the state. And that counts as a day."
Smith's first reaction was disbelief.
"You got to be kidding me," he said.
He wasn't kidding himself for long.
When Smith reviewed his tax returns, the math confirmed it.
"Sure enough, when I saw my tax returns, it was absolutely correct," he said.
California Franchise Tax Board Tracks Your Phone Calls Credit Cards and Travel Records
What Smith experienced isn't paranoia – it's documented enforcement policy.
California's Franchise Tax Board runs the most aggressive residency audit program in the country, pulling cell phone records, credit card statements, and travel history to build a day-by-day reconstruction of exactly where you were – and bill you accordingly.
On top of state tax, Smith was stacking Los Angeles city tax and L.A. County tax.
"You got California state tax, you got Los Angeles city tax, you got L.A. County tax," Smith said.
That triple layer is exactly what estate planners warn their clients about, and it's exactly why the California exodus has accelerated into a flood.
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin packed up for Miami, followed by Peter Thiel and Steven Spielberg – taking billions in wealth and future tax revenue with them.
The people leaving aren't freeloaders.
They're the ones paying the bills.
Stephen A Smith Told Gavin Newsom His California Taxes Cost Him His Vote
Gavin Newsom has spent years cultivating the image of a future president – polished, telegenic, always camera-ready.
Stephen A. Smith has apparently met him a few times.
And Smith told him exactly where he stands.
"I look at Gavin Newsom, who I've spoken to a couple of times, and I'm like, you know, you look beautiful in those blue suits, you look very presidential. Ain't getting my vote," Smith said.
Patrick Bet-David couldn't believe it.
"You told him this?" Bet-David asked.
"Yeah, damn right," Smith replied. "Because these damn taxes."
That's not a talking point from a Republican strategist.
That's a black sports television host – the kind of voice Democrats assume they own – telling the would-be president of the United States to his face that the tax machine he built cost him the vote.
Newsom has floated a top rate of 16.8% if he gets his way nationally, according to Smith.
California already sits at 13.3%.
Newsom's answer to a state hemorrhaging its highest earners is to push the rate higher still – and then run for president on the record.
It gets worse.
California voters will decide this November 3 whether to pass Proposition 40 – a one-time 5% wealth tax on every billionaire who was living in the state as of January 1, 2026.
The tax is retroactive.
That means billionaires who have already left California are still on the hook if they were residents at the start of this year.
Jack Guidi of Americans for Tax Reform said the retroactive structure means California could lose tax revenue even if the measure fails, because it gives wealthy residents every reason to flee before Election Day.
California built a system that treats every taxpayer like a suspect – and it isn't done yet.
Sources:
- "IRS Tracking Your Phone? Stephen A. Smith Exposes California's Big Brother Tax State," LifeZette, September 9, 2026.
- "California Residency Audit: How the FTB Decides If You Really Left," Kugelman Law, May 20, 2026.
- "Tech Insider Warns California Tax Hikes Will Trigger Mass Billionaire Exit," Fox News, January 9, 2026.
- Jack Guidi, "California Billionaire Tax Act," Americans for Tax Reform, 2026.
- "New Tax on the Wealth of Billionaires," California Legislative Analyst's Office, 2026.
