Just did my taxes...

pawz said:

creepycoug said:

SFGbob said:

pawz said:

SFGbob said:

What state do you live in? My effective tax rate didn't increase that much but it did increase. If you're a real high income earner here in California you are going to seriously get hammered with this new tax bill. California already soaks high income earners and with the high property taxes you're sending a lot of money to the state, no longer being able to deduct that from your Federal taxes is going to cause some real pain for some folks.

Selling RE in Bellevue, we are getting A LOT of people coming up from California to get away from astronomical income taxes ....

Washington doesn't have a state income tax correct? Or is it property tax? We get the joy of paying high rates of income, sales and property taxes here.

No income. Property and sales. Companies pay B&O on gross receipts.

Income is coming. Eventually. Current political climate will stall it, but it's inevitable.

Oregon has income, but no sales.

They have to change the State Constitution to get an income tax. Good luck.

Current WA Supreme Ct. jurisprudence agrees with you. The cases are old, mind you, but they hold that income is property (reasonable conclusion) and as such must be taxed like property. Extending that reasoning, under the WA Constitution, a graduated income tax would be unconstitutional because property "must be taxed uniformly and at no more than one percent of its value."

That said, there is a counter constitutional law argument. Hugh Spitzer, who I actually know, is a smart former Muni Bond lawyer (typically an academic group within the profession) and a noted state con law expert who teaches (or taught) that subject at the UW law school, wrote a detailed law review article on it. Irregardless (hi @RaceBannon ) of your politics, Hugh is a sharp dude. He's a pretty moderate, but left-leaning, academic and knows his shit.

That is all to say that our state constitution doesn't say "Thou shall not tax income." It's case law, and damn old case law, and it's been challenged. And remember our state Supreme Court justices are elected, and thus more amenable to the political pressures of the day.

All this to say, a wave of pro-tax sentiment could get it done. But, to date, it has been resisted. I just don't know how much longer that will last. I hope a long time.


Here's a good piece on it:

https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/local-income-taxes-are-illegal-in-washington-state

creepycoug said:

PurpleThrobber said:

creepycoug said:

SFGbob said:

pawz said:

SFGbob said:

What state do you live in? My effective tax rate didn't increase that much but it did increase. If you're a real high income earner here in California you are going to seriously get hammered with this new tax bill. California already soaks high income earners and with the high property taxes you're sending a lot of money to the state, no longer being able to deduct that from your Federal taxes is going to cause some real pain for some folks.

Selling RE in Bellevue, we are getting A LOT of people coming up from California to get away from astronomical income taxes ....

Washington doesn't have a state income tax correct? Or is it property tax? We get the joy of paying high rates of income, sales and property taxes here.

No income. Property and sales. Companies pay B&O on gross receipts.

Income is coming. Eventually. Current political climate will stall it, but it's inevitable.

Oregon has income, but no sales.

Your 'best' tax approach is three legged - Income, Sales and Property. All at moderate rates to offset the highs and lows of economic cycles.

But the tax grabbers just see another income stream without relinquishing their strangle hold on shit like the B&O tax. Free the business side up to run and let the workers pay based on the fruits of their labor.

You just wanted to say 'three - legged'.

The Throbber lives three-legged.

pawz said:

BearsWiin said:

pawz said:

SFGbob said:

What state do you live in? My effective tax rate didn't increase that much but it did increase. If you're a real high income earner here in California you are going to seriously get hammered with this new tax bill. California already soaks high income earners and with the high property taxes you're sending a lot of money to the state, no longer being able to deduct that from your Federal taxes is going to cause some real pain for some folks.

Selling RE in Bellevue, we are getting A LOT of people coming up from California to get away from astronomical income taxes ....

They're not leaving CA to get away from taxes. They're leaving because they want to cash out on their equity and buy something bigger in a lower-priced market. Many are retirees. They're able to do this because other people are willing to buy their CA property at very high prices and are willing to put up with the cost of living here because the economy is so strong.

We've known many people who have left CA. Nobody has said anything about taxes. It's all about cashing out on equity.

That's not the story I'm hearing when I'm showing mid 7-figure to 8-figure homes - like I did today.

For the average techie moving up from the Bay Area ($1m-$3m homes), you are correct.

That's not a very large demographic