San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.comLawmakers forcing you to give the state a loan

Lawmakers forcing you to give the state a loan

The next time you open up your paycheck, you'll notice your take home pay is a little less, thanks to the state of California.

The state is stressing this is not a tax increase, but an advance to help balance the budget in the current fiscal year - expected to generate an additional $1 billion.

"It's not a loan, it's theft. We didn't agree to any sort of loan, and it's an interest free loan," Ryder said.

Rider says there is something you can do to offset the hike. Go to your HR department and increase your number of exemptions, which will decrease the amount the state withholds.

"If you understand what they're up to, you counter. You come back with your own counter. You reduce your withholding, but why should you be put through that exercise?" Rider said.

You'll have to crunch your own numbers to see if it's worth doing, but here's how it breaks down. If you're single and making $51,000 a year, your weekly withholding would jump from about $40.58 to just under $45 - a 10 percent increase of $4.06, or about $20 a month.

There's more bad news if you have kids who you claim as dependents. Last year you got a state exemption credit of about $300 per child. When you file in April, you'll learn that credit has been lowered to $98, so if you have two kids that's more than $400 more that you will pay in state taxes this year than last.

When you factor the increase in state tax and vehicle license fees and the decrease in the tax credits you'll be getting, Rider estimates an average family of four will be paying about $800 more than last year.