Issue Position: Solving Income & Property Tax Inequality

Issue Position

A successful society is one that works for all. No one who works 40-hours a week should live in poverty. We must tackle wealth and income inequality as the gap between the very rich and everyone else is now wider than at any time since the 1920s.

Washington State's tax system is the most regressive in the entire United States. Low-income people pay almost 20% of their income in taxes while wealthy people pay about 2%.

High property taxes are pricing people out and pushing people out of their homes and communities. B&O taxes drain local and small businesses of growth potential. There are currently $50.3 billion in tax exemptions at the state level and $55.5 billion at the local level. Therefore our state's total tax exemptions are $105.9 billion.

Taxes could be restructured on homes such that they would only increase at a certain rate while the owner occupies the home. Then the property tax could be reset when the house is sold to reflect the appreciated value.

We should forbid taxing utilities such as water, sewer and lights, which are infrastructure that everyone needs and are necessary for survival. Currently there is no cap on what municipalities can charge for water and sewer utility taxes.

Intangible property, meaning stocks and bonds, should be included in the tax base as intended by the Washington State Constitution. This would not directly reduce taxes but rather increase the size of the tax base. When tax funds are needed in order to fund the budgets of various elected bodies that amount would then be spread over a larger base. This would result in lower taxes for some and a new tax on those who previously were exempted from paying taxes on stocks and bonds. Retirement funds would be excluded.

The solution is fair taxes for all.

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