Washington wealth tax delivers huge income to the state
This spring, after decades of discussion, the state finally imposed its first wealth-related levy. The capital gains tax, passed in 2021 and upheld by the state Supreme Court in March, taxes not extreme wealth but the machinations of it — the selling of assets, mostly stocks, in amounts that lead to profits of more than $250,000 in a year.
Estimators modeled that Washington has about 7,000 people who live in this rarefied financial air. These one-tenth percenters would book roughly $8 billion in capital gains, mostly in stock options or returns from investment funds (real estate sales are not taxed). The 7% capital gains tax would then raise $440 million in 2023, to be used for schools.
What ended up happening blew the models out of the water.
According to the state, 3,190 people have paid a total so far of $849 million — nearly twice what was expected. That reflects about $13 billion in underlying capital gains booked by these 3,000-plus people in 2022. That's fewer people than expected. But they turned out to be far richer.
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Automated Archives for May, 27th 2023
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Wallabag Additions
These are articles that which I saved today so that I may read them later. Substance and quality will vary drastically.
- How Life (and Death) Spring From Disorder | Quanta Magazine (quantamagazine.org)
Chess For the Day
Record: 1-1-3
Net Elo Change: -12
Games Played
- matiandrei07 - LOSS
- lilsamer - DRAW
- DamiGC - LOSS
- Equivocation - WIN
- thangappan - LOSS
Blog Posts On This Day
- 2022-05-27 (6 posts)
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