By admin 
An AI-generated ad that began showing up in Californians’ Facebook and Instagram feeds last week suggests marauding tax agents will pillage Golden State suburbs if voters pass Proposition 40, a proposed one-time, 5% wealth tax on billionaires.
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The nearly two-minute spot depicts a club-wielding bureaucrat chasing and tripping a child on a bike and another stealing a boy’s scooter. A character who resembles U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., attempts to pry away a mother’s stroller with a baby inside. The ad’s narrator warns that under Prop. 40, “every Californian will have to report all their assets to the state tax board — and don’t you dare miss anything, or you’ll pay a 40% penalty.”
But the ad, which was first reported by independent journalist Judd Legum, doesn’t line up with what’s actually in Prop. 40.
The ad is sponsored by an anti-Prop. 40 group created by the California Business Roundtable. A spokesperson for the Roundtable said the ad was based on a provision of Prop. 40. It requires every Californian taxpayer to either declare their assets are worth less than or equal to $1 billion; or submit a declaration of the amount of tax they owe, along with documentation, including appraisals, supporting the evaluation.
Under Prop. 40, if a taxpayer is worth less than $1 billion, they don’t need to report their assets.
It is true that that taxpayers could be hit with penalties of up to 40% if they’re found to have understated their wealth tax liability — but that only applies to billionaires who’ve “grossly” misstated their liability.
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The Roundtable’s broader claim is that the tax is a Trojan horse — depicted literally in the ad —that could be broadened to apply to lower-earning Californians. The text of Prop. 40 does say that the Legislature could alter Prop. 40 with a two-thirds vote, but only “if the statute is consistent with and furthers the purposes of the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act.”
The tax’s main sponsor, SEIU-United Healthworkers West, argued the proposition is clearly targeted at billionaires and no one else. In a statement, SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan called the ad “shameful.”
“The billionaire tax is a tax on billionaires. Period,” Regan said in a statement. “If you’re not a billionaire, you don’t pay the tax.”
The Roundtable’s political donors include several billionaires, including $3 million from venture capitalist Peter Thiel, more than $1.5 million from former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, $750,000 from Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, and $500,000 from venture capitalist Douglas Leone and his wife Patricia Perkins-Leone.
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