Summary of the Taxes and Government Reform panel: head tax and capital gains income tax
Key Findings
- Seattle’s “head tax” and income tax efforts impact the whole state by discouraging new companies from moving into the region.
- Seattle’s “head tax” blamed Amazon for city failures in land planning. Amazon’s expansion was approved by the City Council, yet Amazon was blamed for Seattle’s housing problem.
- Seattle’s income tax efforts were illegal, and designed to get the state high court to overturn the state ban on local income taxes.
- Other cities may seek to benefit from Seattle’s tax policies. For example, Tacoma offered a $275 per worker tax credit to companies that create additional jobs in the city.
- Critics of the sales tax claim it is an unstable revenue source, but capital gains taxes are seven times more unpredictable than sales taxes.
Introduction
On May 22nd and 23rd, Washington Policy Center hosted the 5th annual statewide Solutions Summit in Bellevue for Western Washington attendees, and in Spokane for Eastern Washington attendees. Together, these two major policy events attracted over 500 policymakers, business owners, community leaders, students, and engaged citizens.
The events were held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bellevue and at the Davenport Grand Hotel in downtown Spokane.
Panel discussions included state and national experts speaking on budget reform, a state income tax, the Seattle head tax, policies to promote economic growth, right-to-work, and labor reform. Following is a summary of the speaker presentations given at the first panel discussion in Bellevue on the topic of taxes and government reform.
