California’s Most Effective Tax Fighter

Michelle Steel is a lifelong conservative and taxpayer advocate who has fought on behalf of small business owners and taxpayers since joining the Board of Equalization in 2006.

Once on the Board, Michelle quickly went to work on behalf of taxpayers, where she discovered that the Board of Equalization had delayed the return of millions of dollars in security deposits owed to California businesses.  Thanks to her efforts, the Board returned $42 million in tax security deposits to more than 5,500 small businesses.

In 2008, Michelle Steel successfully led the fight against a new iTax, a $500 million tax on digital downloads.  In 2009, Michelle sponsored legislation to exempt non-profit Navy-Marine thrift stores and disabled veteran’s businesses from sales taxes.

Those are just a few reasons why Michelle has earned the support and respect of California’s largest taxpayer organizations including Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the National Tax Limitation Committee, among others.

A Pepperdine University Business graduate, Michelle Steel is also pursuing her Executive MBA at the University of Southern California.  She lives in Rolling Hills with her husband, Shawn, and their two daughters.

About the Board of Equalization

The five-member Board of Equalization is a publicly elected tax commission charged with administering over $50 billion in California revenue policy.  The Board also provides taxpayers a forum to contest unfair tax bills, and the Board has broad authority to define rules that govern collection of taxes and fees.

Michelle Steel is one of just two conservatives on the Board of Equalization, and since her election four years ago, she has had significant impact toward moving California tax policy back in favor of taxpayers.