Don't Worry About the Income Tax Driving Rich People Out of Seattle
As any honest observer of the debate over Seattle’s proposed income tax will tell you, there exist legitimate legal questions about the proposal. Over the decades, the state Supreme Court and legislature have both weighed in on the idea of income taxes, though never in a way that has been encouraging to tax proponents. As has been oft-reported during the income-tax debate, the Supreme Court in the 1930s issued a series of rulings that found a progressive income tax at odds with the state constitution. There is also a Reagan-era state law barring taxes on net income.
All that said, though, some scholars see a possible path to a legal income tax, and are eager to see Seattle pass its ordinance as a means to test that legality. We won’t go into the intricacies here, but suffice it to say that from a pro-income tax perspective, what’s billed as a detriment to the proposal currently in front of the Seattle City Council (it may be illegal!) is actually an attribute (well, let’s just test that out).
Likewise, we suggest a similar approach to another argument that’s been leveled against the legislation in recent weeks. As Seattle leaders jog toward the July 10 passage of a tax on income above a quarter-million dollars, critics warn that the tax could drive out some of those Seattleites wealthy enough to be affected by it.
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told KIRO Radio that the tax would create an “unfavorable business climate” that could force tech workers out of the city.
Read more: http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/dont-worry-about-the-income-tax-driving-rich-people-out-of-seattle/
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