the Global Observatory

According to a recent Policy Highlighter of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, following are the rankings for Washington state on the tax front among all the states:

Gunn & Co. talk about “Washington’s impressive ranking” – let’s discuss that.

Now, apart from personal and corporate income taxes, Washington pretty much taxes us to death.

In the “State+Local taxes per $1000 in personal income” category, Washington is sitting at a pretty 28. Does this include King County’s 10% sales tax? In MLK country (see KC’s new logo), we are taxed a wee bit more.

Washingtonians sometimes complain about the relatively high gas prices – no wonder with 37.5 cents per gallon in taxes, our average prices rival most of California and New England.

Our prices actually should be lower – we are the primary gateway for Alaskan oil and there’s no shortage of refineries in the Bellingham area. But, no, the Donkeys have to tax away all any price advantage we might have had.

Sales tax at 6.5% statewide and 10% in KC shouldn’t make any one happy. The last time I bought a laptop, I paid $200 in taxes alone. The TV cost me $180.The truck – almost $4000, which includes an additional .3 “motor vehicle use tax.”

Without such high taxes, I would spent the $4,380 at local businesses or even invested it (however tiny the amount may be) and helped create jobs. It’s the standard argument, but it’s true even at these levels.

Say, a $100 family dinner at a restaurant pays for about 4 employees @ $15/hr for an hour, taking the cost of the food into consideration. $4000 pays for many more.

The only reprieve is that grocery items are not taxed.

As an entrepreneur, I am always wary of any kind of tax. With a 1% use tax on gross receipts that Washington imposes, I have to have a gross margin of at least 1.1% to make a hypothetical profit. Any kind of gross profit gets lowered by 1% (of revenue). A big business like Microsoft doesn’t really care, but Main Street hurts.

The 16.43% on my wireless bill also affect me everyday. My $39 Verizon plan goes up to $40 mostly through taxes and levies supposedly allowed by the state or FCC.

A personal income tax would really be the last straw for me personally. If Gregoire ever manages to impose one on us, I am going to move out. So will a lot of mobile professionals.