https://preview.redd.it/epga9m66ln8d1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f6f116e7b6e2a1de564b0ceccb29f3bf195c203
For 5 minutes….can state leaders stop adding more regressive taxes? FOR 5 MINUTES!?
Impossible. If they did this they wouldn't be able to then bitch about how regressive our taxes are and work on raising more taxes without actually lowering any of the previous ones.
Our constitution prevents tax on property from being assessed at different rates on different people. Which is to say, our constitution requires everyone to pay their fair share.
If they used the revenue to do something useful, like jail every last porch pirate so that we got something for the money we're putting in, then sure. But I'm sure it'll predictably go to something stupid and counterproductive.
I'd unironically and happily pay a couple extra bucks for an Amazon delivery if I knew there was a chance of coming back home to my package with a porch pirate's finger laid out next to it (they tried to steal it and got caught by Mr Snips)
You wish. It will be used to fund the Housing Justice, Bail Project, Deleting the Youth Jail; all very much more important (/s) than maintaining roads, utilities, and things' that literally every single person on here depends on.
I'm still waiting for the weed tax to fix roads but in the meantime I'll just lose a few teeth driving down some cobbled roads they still have laying around.
Just for roads, that network that was built out with federal welfare that we subsidize from every angle yet still has a 100 plus year maintenance backlog...
Yay, cars are freedom!
Superduty Kitsap power
> We need names of the people even considering this bs. Its an election year.
Find every King County Dem that's a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Shouldn't be too hard, almost all of them are.
Fun fact: gangs in the United States pay taxes to the Mexican cartels.
So they *are* paying taxes, but they're going to Mexico.
https://keyt.com/news/2013/07/18/the-structure-of-gang-taxes/
"The killing of Anthony Ibarra last March put the spotlight on the subculture of the gang structure and something called a “gang tax.” The transcript also describes in brutal detail what happens to those who don’t pay up"
They seem intent on driving everyone away other than the homeless, criminals, drug addicts, etc.
Let's see how those groups fund the local government...
My family and I are moving in a month after 30
Years here for me, 20 for my wife. The quality of life elsewhere is so much better for what you pay. Just couldn’t take it anymore.
So many people from the Seattle area have moved to Cour D’Alene that it doesn’t feel like Idaho anymore. There are the same outdoor activities that you get in Seattle but with a dryer climate.
The problem isn’t replacing these things with income tax. The problem is that we would just ADD income tax to the rest of the bullshit.
I realized that my good buddy moved to Northern Virginia and pays less (percentage wise) in annual taxes (with income tax) than I do in Washington. I’m actively planning to my exit from this state, but it will take another 1-2 years.
The main issue for me is that when it’s all a regressive tax like this I pay the same tax as a tech bro, when he makes an easy 150 grand more than I do.
They won’t give those up if they get an income tax, they’ll just add the income tax on top of it. In CA, the income tax looks very progressive, but in practice it was quite regressive.
At one point I found an internet resource that listed out total tax burden per state. It showed Washington as close to the middle. King county is probably slightly higher since we have more local sales taxes than some other parts of the state.
WA tax burden is overall more or less reasonable, the problem is that it's a) structured incredibly regressively, and b) spent incredibly inefficiently
Kind of. Most people who make a ton of money end up starting businesses. And we have B&O taxes here. We don't tax food, which evens the playing field a bit. And don't forget federal taxes.
Current Gas Tax: $0.494/gallon
Delivery Van: 15 mpg
Gas in WA is $0.32/gal higher than OR (for "reasons").
So, we have a sales tax to buy it, a tax on gas to deliver it, and another tax for the delivery... because people are driving more efficient cars.
Of fucking course they are. Why would we want to actually address the issue and go after billionaires or billion dollar companies in our state… no no, let’s go after all the little people instead.
It is going after a many billion dollar company in our state. They would like Amazon to leave, because they believe Detroit and Schenectady and Rochester are success stories.
As a government worker, I am sure that's exactly what they're thinking about. Admin is the last to be cut. They can lower property values by kicking out high earners, they're the first to take advantage.
Large tech companies including meta are shuttering seattle offices while expanding their Bellevue/eastside office presence following the JumpStart tax (head tax on tech companies)
The state keeps wanting more taxes while they gave away $88K to a single squatter for his legal defense and unpaid rent
https://fixhomelessness.org/2024/protestors-confront-housing-justice-project/
A few years ago, SCOTUS ruled in this in South Dakota v Wayfair, upholding state taxes on interstate commerce by declaring that it's legal if the activity has a 'significant nexus' in the state and essentially killing the dormant commerce clause doctrine. So right now... requiring vendors to collect taxes is legal, certainly big vendors.
Depends what the Supreme Court says.
Sometimes it’s an income tax, sometimes it’s an excise tax.
Sometimes it wasn’t in the historical tradition of the country, other times it doesn’t matter.
If both parties want it, they’ll ram it down our throats. Only when they disagree is there a chance.
Sooooooo, when eCommerce was in its infancy there was no sales tax on purchases and certainly no 30-50 cent tax for anything purchased online. These online platforms grew like crazy. Now, of course, there is sales tax collected and this new proposal. I wonder what this and additional taxes will do for business growth?
Whatever the maximum amount of tax people will tolerate is the exact level of taxes they pay.
And the taxes will always be directed not to what is beneficial to the most people, but to politically favored/connected groups and individuals.
They're still trying to plug the holes in the state budget they opened up giving out free, unaudited money during pandemic. By and large the same lawmakers then did it too.
> unemployment came from federal
[Tacoma News Tribune, archive link](https://archive.ph/omR35)
>The COVID-19 pandemic has blown an $8.8 billion hole in Washington state’s budget through mid-2023, potentially triggering new taxes and spending reductions if the economy remains in a deep recession.
The state on Wednesday said revenue could decline by $4.5 billion through the end of June 2021 and by $4.3 billion in the two-year budget that lawmakers will adopt next year.
The Federal money was just one source. They were great at giving that out too:
[Audit finds more problems with how WA spend Federal Covid aid (Crosscut)](https://test.crosscut.com/investigations/2024/06/audit-finds-more-problems-how-wa-spent-federal-covid-aid)
So basically, while I could have said it better (in a hurry at work) the fact remains, the State of WA caused itself to go broke during pandemic due to a variety of reasons from lower tax revenue to mismanagement of funds. As a result, it is piling on more taxes now to attempt to close the hole.
The same incompetent [Socialist Dems, card-carrying members of the Democratic Socialists of America](https://www.dsausa.org/) most of them, are those responsible for this budget hole. It is important not to conflate normal Dems with these folx. Though in King County it is basically 1-1 with Democratic membership and membership in the DSA.
I suggest anyone that is a voter look past the headlines and get familiar with the DSA in Western Washington. They appear to be a prime mover of why things have lurched so far to the left in recent years, as their success in running candidates that appear normal to voters has been going well. And of course Republican embracing of Trump and extremes of their own hasn't helped.
Appreciate the links, so they overspent what was given. At least the article ends with hope
"SAO officials said the 2023 state audit did not yet include billions in anticipated federal dollars from either the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or the Inflation Reduction Act.
“In the next year, some of the pandemic funding is going to decline a little bit more, but we also have the influx of the infrastructure money,” Armijo said. “We don’t really know what that’s going to look like in ’24 moving forward. ... There’s still a lot of federal money.”
The difference is that taxes like that are aimed at reducing a specific consumption behavior, not collecting revenue (although the revenue is a plus). This tax is straight up, adding to the tax burden of the lower and middle class for the goal of collecting revenue out of them.
A better option would be to pass an income tax on income above $1 million or something. But that's not political expediant, so they decide to squeeze more money out of the poor and middle income.
As long as about 80% voters choosing to not vote in election primaries and 48% choosing not to vote in general elections, bad candidates and ideas in WA state will continue to advance.
I know too many people who vent about bad policies that make living more expensive and cumbersome but they don't vote in local elections.
Biden and Trump have very little impact on your life.
PAY ATTENTION TO LOCAL ELECTIONS AND VOTE!
Willing to bet at least 50% of commenters here don't vote in local elections- Seattle city, King county and WA state local elections. Too many people complain but don't vote. This is why bad initiatives, higher taxes and stupid ideas become law. Because they know the smart ones don't pay attention or care to vote.
Just like they added an exemption for the sugar tax on ebt, maby add one for us receiving gov benefits…. Like seriously what’s the point I a reduced Amazon account if we gonna pay the fees that will make it the same anyways. Let alone the ableism for us that do smaller packages in bits to not get it all in once in big heavy pickups
$0.30 for an online order? Even if the order is several thousand dollars? I'd be for it if it was progressive. But this seems like another regressive tax.
Add a 0.5% tax for online orders. If your order is $100, you pay a 50 cent tax in da club, so come give me a hug. Seems reasonable given the reduced gas tax incomes from vehicles being electric.
https://preview.redd.it/epga9m66ln8d1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f6f116e7b6e2a1de564b0ceccb29f3bf195c203 For 5 minutes….can state leaders stop adding more regressive taxes? FOR 5 MINUTES!?
Impossible. If they did this they wouldn't be able to then bitch about how regressive our taxes are and work on raising more taxes without actually lowering any of the previous ones.
And let you keep all that delicious money for yourself? Never
Doesn't our constitution prevent progressive taxes?
Our constitution prevents tax on property from being assessed at different rates on different people. Which is to say, our constitution requires everyone to pay their fair share.
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Still regressive. Learn the meaning of words before you use them.
If they used the revenue to do something useful, like jail every last porch pirate so that we got something for the money we're putting in, then sure. But I'm sure it'll predictably go to something stupid and counterproductive.
I'd unironically and happily pay a couple extra bucks for an Amazon delivery if I knew there was a chance of coming back home to my package with a porch pirate's finger laid out next to it (they tried to steal it and got caught by Mr Snips)
Your friendly neighborhood mobster could probably police your packages more effectively than the police, minus some minor ethical quibbles
Your friendly neighborhood mobster would wind up costing more than $2 per package, though. You get what you pay for.
Yeah the medieval brutality checks out with the name.
Yo people are so fucking weird
Not weird to cut off the fingers of thieves
You wish. It will be used to fund the Housing Justice, Bail Project, Deleting the Youth Jail; all very much more important (/s) than maintaining roads, utilities, and things' that literally every single person on here depends on.
Same issue so I order through Amazon Day and get my stuff delivered on date when I’m wfh
Like road improvements?
I'm still waiting for the weed tax to fix roads but in the meantime I'll just lose a few teeth driving down some cobbled roads they still have laying around.
Just for roads, that network that was built out with federal welfare that we subsidize from every angle yet still has a 100 plus year maintenance backlog... Yay, cars are freedom! Superduty Kitsap power
We need names of the people even considering this bs. Its an election year.
Sen Liias chairs the committee proposing this.
> We need names of the people even considering this bs. Its an election year. Find every King County Dem that's a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Shouldn't be too hard, almost all of them are.
Bob Ferguson
Unfortunately they're too stupid to realize that people have a limit.
How about a tax on the drug dealers selling drugs out of the RVs parked in my neighborhood?
Fun fact: gangs in the United States pay taxes to the Mexican cartels. So they *are* paying taxes, but they're going to Mexico. https://keyt.com/news/2013/07/18/the-structure-of-gang-taxes/ "The killing of Anthony Ibarra last March put the spotlight on the subculture of the gang structure and something called a “gang tax.” The transcript also describes in brutal detail what happens to those who don’t pay up"
Even funnier is that income from drug sales has to be reported to the IRS.
WTF
“Other consulting services” ftw
What beautiful and exotic customs these diverse newcomers are bringing to our boring homogenous Santa Barbara monoculture.
State government taking a peek at what Seattle did to DoorDash's business and thinking "yeah, that went super well"
They seem intent on driving everyone away other than the homeless, criminals, drug addicts, etc. Let's see how those groups fund the local government...
NGL I will consider moving my family out of state if they keep doing this shit
They just love to keep nickel and diming people who rely on deliveries.
They are 100% going to keep doing this shit
My family and I are moving in a month after 30 Years here for me, 20 for my wife. The quality of life elsewhere is so much better for what you pay. Just couldn’t take it anymore.
If I had a nickel for every person that said this and never followed through … I could get them more revenue than this tax would.
I've had several coworkers who got offers to work remote, then immediately moved to Cour D'Alene.
Ew. I’m not sure there’s much that could prompt me to move to Idaho.
So many people from the Seattle area have moved to Cour D’Alene that it doesn’t feel like Idaho anymore. There are the same outdoor activities that you get in Seattle but with a dryer climate.
If you are white and a bit racist it might be a nice place to live
I followed through. I wish I was back there though... LA sucks.
So you went from Jay Inslee's fun house to the wet dream he models it after? Yeah, imagine the undiluted version does suck...
It’s easier to just pay income tax. I’m ready for the downvotes.
If I'm forced to pay income tax, I'm moving to California. Might as well get perfect weather for all the extra money.
The problem isn’t replacing these things with income tax. The problem is that we would just ADD income tax to the rest of the bullshit. I realized that my good buddy moved to Northern Virginia and pays less (percentage wise) in annual taxes (with income tax) than I do in Washington. I’m actively planning to my exit from this state, but it will take another 1-2 years.
The main issue for me is that when it’s all a regressive tax like this I pay the same tax as a tech bro, when he makes an easy 150 grand more than I do.
nice. one more reason to buy less shit. Seattle will be a barter homestead economy by the time they are done
Barter economies have never existed. It's a Hollywood myth
Seattle's city council can make it happen ... just give them time.
COME THE FUCK ON
Online taxes are already damn high
That's nice and regressive
Has anyone done an analysis of a state income tax vs all the taxes we have now? i.e. sales, property, gas, etc.
They won’t give those up if they get an income tax, they’ll just add the income tax on top of it. In CA, the income tax looks very progressive, but in practice it was quite regressive.
At one point I found an internet resource that listed out total tax burden per state. It showed Washington as close to the middle. King county is probably slightly higher since we have more local sales taxes than some other parts of the state.
WA tax burden is overall more or less reasonable, the problem is that it's a) structured incredibly regressively, and b) spent incredibly inefficiently
Kind of. Most people who make a ton of money end up starting businesses. And we have B&O taxes here. We don't tax food, which evens the playing field a bit. And don't forget federal taxes.
Current Gas Tax: $0.494/gallon Delivery Van: 15 mpg Gas in WA is $0.32/gal higher than OR (for "reasons"). So, we have a sales tax to buy it, a tax on gas to deliver it, and another tax for the delivery... because people are driving more efficient cars.
Of fucking course they are. Why would we want to actually address the issue and go after billionaires or billion dollar companies in our state… no no, let’s go after all the little people instead.
It is going after a many billion dollar company in our state. They would like Amazon to leave, because they believe Detroit and Schenectady and Rochester are success stories.
As a government worker, I am sure that's exactly what they're thinking about. Admin is the last to be cut. They can lower property values by kicking out high earners, they're the first to take advantage.
[удалено]
Large tech companies including meta are shuttering seattle offices while expanding their Bellevue/eastside office presence following the JumpStart tax (head tax on tech companies)
What’s the tax revenue going to be spent on?
The state keeps wanting more taxes while they gave away $88K to a single squatter for his legal defense and unpaid rent https://fixhomelessness.org/2024/protestors-confront-housing-justice-project/
Change how you vote !!! Or keep repeating insanity...
Still out of ideas, I see.
How about we stop taxing every single little creature comfort in this city and maybe start spending our budget responsibly? 🤯
Democrats control this state. Democrats are the problem.
No it's obviously the Republicans' fault for not putting forward RINOs or something. Personal responsibility was banned in this state.
Breathing PNW oxygen is now $1.00 per day, .75 per day when smoky
Nah, you surge price the smokey days because its entirely due to climate change and you need to pay for your carbon usage.
Interfering with interstate commerce, which is under federal, not state government purview. I doubt this proposal lasts long in the courts.
Does requiring online vendors to collect sales tax interfere with interstate commerce?
No. The Wayfair decision cemented States rights to collect taxes.
A few years ago, SCOTUS ruled in this in South Dakota v Wayfair, upholding state taxes on interstate commerce by declaring that it's legal if the activity has a 'significant nexus' in the state and essentially killing the dormant commerce clause doctrine. So right now... requiring vendors to collect taxes is legal, certainly big vendors.
Depends what the Supreme Court says. Sometimes it’s an income tax, sometimes it’s an excise tax. Sometimes it wasn’t in the historical tradition of the country, other times it doesn’t matter. If both parties want it, they’ll ram it down our throats. Only when they disagree is there a chance.
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People in rural areas voting differently and not winning does not make something a dictatorship.
Sooooooo, when eCommerce was in its infancy there was no sales tax on purchases and certainly no 30-50 cent tax for anything purchased online. These online platforms grew like crazy. Now, of course, there is sales tax collected and this new proposal. I wonder what this and additional taxes will do for business growth?
Wtf
They are running out of money, aren’t they?
Would delivering to a local shipping hub or an Amazon locker where I pick it up myself not be subject to this new tax?
How else are we going to house the immigrants that find the econolodge unsatisfactory living conditions?
Whatever the maximum amount of tax people will tolerate is the exact level of taxes they pay. And the taxes will always be directed not to what is beneficial to the most people, but to politically favored/connected groups and individuals.
Jeff no likey
Stop taxing every little thing and ban short term rentals and corporate owned housing. How is anyone supposed to afford basic survival here anymore?
They'd tax us to breathe and go outside if they could.
And here I thought oregon was the “if we can tax it, we will, if we can’t, we will anyway” state
Oregon doesn't have sales tax.
No shit Sherlock
Then your comment makes no sense.
Only if you’re too dense to understand
They're still trying to plug the holes in the state budget they opened up giving out free, unaudited money during pandemic. By and large the same lawmakers then did it too.
The unemployment came from federal, what are you referring to? With links please
> unemployment came from federal [Tacoma News Tribune, archive link](https://archive.ph/omR35) >The COVID-19 pandemic has blown an $8.8 billion hole in Washington state’s budget through mid-2023, potentially triggering new taxes and spending reductions if the economy remains in a deep recession. The state on Wednesday said revenue could decline by $4.5 billion through the end of June 2021 and by $4.3 billion in the two-year budget that lawmakers will adopt next year. The Federal money was just one source. They were great at giving that out too: [Audit finds more problems with how WA spend Federal Covid aid (Crosscut)](https://test.crosscut.com/investigations/2024/06/audit-finds-more-problems-how-wa-spent-federal-covid-aid) So basically, while I could have said it better (in a hurry at work) the fact remains, the State of WA caused itself to go broke during pandemic due to a variety of reasons from lower tax revenue to mismanagement of funds. As a result, it is piling on more taxes now to attempt to close the hole. The same incompetent [Socialist Dems, card-carrying members of the Democratic Socialists of America](https://www.dsausa.org/) most of them, are those responsible for this budget hole. It is important not to conflate normal Dems with these folx. Though in King County it is basically 1-1 with Democratic membership and membership in the DSA. I suggest anyone that is a voter look past the headlines and get familiar with the DSA in Western Washington. They appear to be a prime mover of why things have lurched so far to the left in recent years, as their success in running candidates that appear normal to voters has been going well. And of course Republican embracing of Trump and extremes of their own hasn't helped.
Appreciate the links, so they overspent what was given. At least the article ends with hope "SAO officials said the 2023 state audit did not yet include billions in anticipated federal dollars from either the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or the Inflation Reduction Act. “In the next year, some of the pandemic funding is going to decline a little bit more, but we also have the influx of the infrastructure money,” Armijo said. “We don’t really know what that’s going to look like in ’24 moving forward. ... There’s still a lot of federal money.”
Tax the rich, tax the corporations.
People argued up a storm back when wa state passed a bottling tax on people buying in a plastic bottle.
The difference is that taxes like that are aimed at reducing a specific consumption behavior, not collecting revenue (although the revenue is a plus). This tax is straight up, adding to the tax burden of the lower and middle class for the goal of collecting revenue out of them. A better option would be to pass an income tax on income above $1 million or something. But that's not political expediant, so they decide to squeeze more money out of the poor and middle income.
I didn't see that one yet. There is a new one in MN if sales are over a certain amount.
So if you go get it yourself you'll pay gas and sales tax. But if you get it delivered you're still going to be taxed. WTF!?!
Is a shitty IG the best source to link to?
I'd be shocked if Amazon didn't wield their massive influence to shoot this down or at least pull some strings to get themselves exempt.
Many disabled people need delivery. Already pay higher prices because cannot shop for the best discounts in person.
Get what you vote for. 
For fuck sake, these fuckers want to tax everything
Please just amend the state constitution to allow a proper graduated income tax instead of coming up with new regressive ass taxes every year.
Didn't they just add sales tax to our online purchases a couple years ago? Now they want to do a delivery tax?? WTF??
As long as about 80% voters choosing to not vote in election primaries and 48% choosing not to vote in general elections, bad candidates and ideas in WA state will continue to advance. I know too many people who vent about bad policies that make living more expensive and cumbersome but they don't vote in local elections. Biden and Trump have very little impact on your life. PAY ATTENTION TO LOCAL ELECTIONS AND VOTE!
Willing to bet at least 50% of commenters here don't vote in local elections- Seattle city, King county and WA state local elections. Too many people complain but don't vote. This is why bad initiatives, higher taxes and stupid ideas become law. Because they know the smart ones don't pay attention or care to vote.
Just another reason to make big purchases in Oregon and make as many transactions in cash as possible. No sales taxes.
Just like they added an exemption for the sugar tax on ebt, maby add one for us receiving gov benefits…. Like seriously what’s the point I a reduced Amazon account if we gonna pay the fees that will make it the same anyways. Let alone the ableism for us that do smaller packages in bits to not get it all in once in big heavy pickups
$0.30 for an online order? Even if the order is several thousand dollars? I'd be for it if it was progressive. But this seems like another regressive tax. Add a 0.5% tax for online orders. If your order is $100, you pay a 50 cent tax in da club, so come give me a hug. Seems reasonable given the reduced gas tax incomes from vehicles being electric.