Outdated and Unfair — talking taxes in Washington

USA Today recently reported that Washington had “by far the most regressive tax system nationwide.” Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D – Seattle) outlines Washington’s broken and regressive tax structure, and explains how Washington’s high reliance on a sales tax has placed an unfair tax burden on its poorest residents. According to the data in the USA Today story, the poorest 20% of Washington families pay nearly 17% of their income in state and local taxes, while the wealthiest 1% in Washington pay just 2.4% — “one of the highest such ratios nationwide.”