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I thought Washington has a state law against income taxes? Isn’t this an income tax?

• DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
  It’s complicated. I understand the WA state constitution prohibits non-uniform taxation (i.e. progressive taxation) which is the only real workable basis for income tax. So all attempts to introduce any form of income tax tend to be proposals for a flat 0-2% tax, with those legislative bills failing because they wouldn’t bring sufficient revenue to justify the significant overheads, such as setting up a tax system in the first place, and enforcement. It’s a big problem with local/city-based taxes as Seattle itself is very small (700k people in a few square-miles): it would be no problem for a wannabe tax-avoider to move 10 minutes away to Shoreline, Bellevue, Medina, etc. Even if it was done at the county level, Seattle’s location in King County is too close to the border with Snohimish County. Lots of people and businesses priced out of Seattle are relocating to Everett anyway.