Justices weigh effort to balance Washington state’s tax code

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — An effort to balance what is considered the nation’s most regressive state tax code is coming before the Washington state Supreme Court. Washington is one of nine states without an income tax, and its reliance on sales and fuel taxes falls disproportionately on low-income residents. Democrats in Olympia enacted a 7% capital gains tax in 2021 on the sale of stocks, bonds and other high-end assets. It was expected to be paid by 7,000 people and to bring in close to a half-billion dollars a year. But it faces a legal challenge from wealthy residents and business groups who say it violates the state and federal constitutions.