On the
one hand, the Tax Foundation consistently says that Washington has one of the
top ten best business tax climates. We
rank sixth in their 2013 index. But the Institute on Taxation and Economic
Policy's most recent "Who Pays?"
report says Washington is the state with the most regressive tax system.
So who's right?
They both are. One
of the reasons the Tax Foundation has Washington in a privileged spot is because
we don't have a state income tax.
And what makes our
state's tax system uber-regressive is best explained in a brand new study
prepared by the Office of Financial
Management, where we found that:
The state's poorest
20 percent pay 9 percent of their personal incomes in state and local taxes,
while the richest 20 percent pay just 2 percent. You read correctly, the reality
in our state is that the poor pay 4.5 times as much, percentage-wise.
This Crosscut
story has more information on how poor folks are stuck with a larger chunk
of the bill.
