State extends California Competes business tax credit program through 2033
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- Newsom signed a bill extending the California Competes Tax Credit through 2032-33.
- CalCompetes offers businesses access to over $180 million in annual tax credits.
- Since 2019 the program awarded over $1.8 million to 271 businesses and over 75,000 jobs.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill adding five years to the California Competes Tax Credit program Monday, extending an initiative that provides tax credits to businesses.
The CalCompetes program was originally scheduled to sunset in the upcoming fiscal year, but will now last until at least the 2032-33 fiscal year under Senate Bill 180. The program allows businesses of all types to compete for more than $180 million in income tax credits during one of three application periods each year.
Since 2019, the program has awarded more than $1.8 million in tax credits to 271 businesses in exchange for the commitment of over $37.6 billion in capital investments and over 75,000 new full-time jobs in California.
“As the state, we consider this our most important business incentive,” said Willie Rudman, Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development senior deputy director of communications. “You can see by the numbers, the amount of investments committed and the number of full-time jobs created have had a sizable impact on California.”
CalCompetes was founded in 2013 to attract new business to California and entice existing businesses to maintain their operations in the state.
“California’s success wasn’t left to chance — it was built by making bold investments in innovation, talent, and businesses that are defining our future,” Newsom said in a statement. “The Golden State is creating more jobs, more businesses, more investment, and more innovation than anywhere else in America.”
Notable program participants in recent years have included Samsung Semiconductor, Apex Technology, Vast, Pacific Steel and Bosch Semiconductor, among others.
In 2024, the Quartz & Silicon Materials Company received a tax credit totaling $45 million. In exchange, the company committed $679 million in capital investments.
Paul Saffron, who is the CEO of QSM and the COO of Graphene & Solar Technologies, its parent company, said participating in CalCompetes allowed QSM to build a second facility in California.
“There’s no getting around the fact that it costs more to own and operate a business in California,” Saffron said. “If you’re able to get some concessions or financial assistance, you can minimize that gap and it becomes a competitive proposal when compared to other states.”
According to Saffron, financial assistance through CalCompetes gave QSM financial “peace of mind” by helping the company garner interest from potential investors and supporting financiers. Since QSM is a startup, Saffron said, these additional forms of support are especially important to the company.
“In our mind, we’ve seen this concession from the state of California as providing more than just a tax deduction,” Saffron said. “It’s put a whole new level of legitimacy in what we’re looking to do and has built interest in the actual project itself.”
California evaluates businessesfor tax credits based on the number of jobs they expect to create, the proposed pay for their employees, the extent of unemployment or poverty where they plan to operate and their capacity for future growth, among others.
“The hope is that the momentum continues over time and we target the industries that are important to us,” Rudman said. “[CalCompetes] is really the cornerstone of the state’s business development efforts.”
This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 3:46 PM with the headline "State extends California Competes business tax credit program through 2033."
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