Higher Taxes in 2013: The California Wood and Lumber Tax

As 2012 is coming to an end, corporations and individuals alike are already thinking about taxes that they will need to pay at year-end. Every meeting I have with business owners lately somehow comes around to talking about taxes and how much I expect taxes to increase next year. The passage of Assembly Bill 1492 added yet another tax to the mix – the wood and lumber tax. This tax may affect homeowners, contractors and real estate developers.

We have all heard that ordinary federal income tax rates, currently maxing out at 35%, are scheduled to increase to 39.6%. Dividends could lose their special tax treatment and be taxed at this ordinary income tax rate as well. Federal long term capital gains rates will go from 15% back up to 20%. Payroll taxes may go back up from 4.2% to 6.2%. The AMT exemption amount may go back to 2010 levels. And high income earners will have an additional 3.8% Medicare tax. But on top of all that, starting January 1, 2013, those of us in California will also have to pay an additional 1% tax on the sales price of engineered wood and lumber products. (Assembly Bill 1492 (Ch. 12-289)).

Normally I would write this off as minor, but this year my husband and I are actually right in the middle of planning a huge fencing and deck project for our new house. (Did you know there was still residential land in the Silicon Valley that has not been fenced?) So, it was quite annoying to read about how this tax is going to be instituted on lumber, decking, railings and fencing as well as particle board, plywood and other wood building products, and even non-wood but wood-like products such as plastic lumber and decking. Even more so because it is already the middle of October and I’m pretty sure our project won’t be completed until early 2013. So, if I buy all the wood before the end of the year, I save 1%… but probably end up with more than I need and the inability to return it. But, if I wait until January to buy it just in time to install it, I am going to hate paying that extra 1%.

The good news is that the tax will not be imposed on furniture or firewood, so at least I can wait to buy the new outdoor table and chairs and fill up the new fire pit.

[Source: Spidell’s California Taxletter, Volume 34.10, October 1, 2012.]
The information appearing in this article does not constitute legal advice or opinion. Such advice and opinion are provided by the firm only upon engagement with respect to specific factual situations. Specific questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.