Friends and neighbors,
Over the past two years, the Tax Structure Work Group conducted robust economic analysis and held initial listening sessions to find out how the Legislature can create a more equitable, transparent, and stable tax code for working families and small businesses.
Now, the work group is inviting taxpayers to explore several scenarios to change the state’s tax structure and wants to hear from you! Join a 90-minute interactive online Tax Town Hall on Wednesday, November 3 at 2:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. with other South/East Puget Sound residents.
Click here to register for the 2:30 p.m. session.
Click here to register for the 6:30 p.m. session.
Lean more about the Tax Structure Work Group at taxworkgroup.org.
Why do we need change?
Washington’s tax system is the most upside down and regressive in the nation. Asking the state’s lowest-income residents to pay six times more in taxes, as a share of their income, than the state’s highest income households – including some of the wealthiest individuals in the world – is unconscionable and unsustainable.
Why are we not asking the wealthiest Washingtonians, and in some cases the wealthiest people and largest corporations in the world, to pay a more equitable share? Because we don’t have the tools to do it. Under our current tax code, working Washingtonians pay too much and wealthy Washingtonians pay too little.
Additionally, we’ve heard for years that the business and occupation tax (B&O) is deeply problematic, particularly for our small, start-up and low-margin businesses, because it taxes gross revenue rather than net profit. A comprehensive rebalancing and modernization of our tax code is critical to ensuring an equitable and lasting economic recovery for people who live, work, and open small businesses here
We hope you’ll take this great opportunity next week to share your thoughts on how the state can better provide vital state services like schools and public health through an improved tax code.
Sincerely,
Rep. Mia Gregerson & Rep. Tina Orwall