Bill Gates calls for income tax in Washington state

Luxury beliefs. The elite promote agendas that will never impact them directly but will fulfill their internal needs to feel righteous

Having moved from CA to WA I don't see how the lack of an income tax has negatively affected the services up here maybe if someone can explain what WA is lacking compared to states with an income tax

I wonder how much society would change if you were capped with how much wealth you could pass along after you died. The rest going directly to the govt. Maybe a cap that was more than enough per child? 1-10M?

Seattle's problems aren't magically going to go away with more money. In fact I would argue that the city has never had as much money as they do now, its just that they are squandering it away and wasting it on programs that bring misery to the taxpayers, and dont really help those that they are supposedly trying to help. Seattle needs a functional police force, strong enforcement of current laws and more jails.

This headline does a disservice to his statement. He addressed the need to tax wealth, including generational wealth, as well as incomes. The nature of the latter will be contentious in WA given the fact that the area has a high COLA, is tech heavy, and that many of the workers here are 1st generation immigrants whose only source of stability and wealth is their income.

His statement should be considered in the context of the fact that WA has the most regressive tax system in this country (source: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;itep.org&#x2F;washington&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;itep.org&#x2F;washington&#x2F;</a>).

I’m 100% against income tax or any other tax on workers. Close tax loopholes and make the billionaire and millionaire pay higher effective rates before you go after workers.<p>I want to see a higher capital gains tax directly tied to the value of your assets.

This article is pretty substanceless, but especially since it references Bill Gates, got me thinking- why is no one calling for a tax on intellectual property? The article implies that a lack of income tax is regressive, but it seems that the value of the monopoly on IP accrues to a tiny slice of the populace.

I’m pretty opposed to any income tax.<p>Property tax makes sense, I’m essentially supporting my country &#x2F; region through payment to protect said land.<p>Tax on goods crossing boarder makes sense, I have to pay for inspections and potentially for protection.<p>Tax on sale of good kind of makes sense, because again we need protection (likely equivalent to worth of good).<p>Income tax is this weird one because it seems like punishment for being productive. Arguably we are paying back society for being productive? But that seems odd given we are taxed for everything else.<p>I’m any case, my gripe here is no one should be pro tax IMO, maybe pro “free medical care”. But why would anyone call for taxes. Wealth redistribution already happens with estate tax and honestly (from what we’ve seen in history) wealth redistribution kind of happens automatically.

Almost everyone supports taxes on OTHER people.

That&#x27;s nice Bill, how much of the money you made after moving Microsoft to Washington because they didn&#x27;t have income tax are you gonna donate to this cause? Becaue I am sure a certain other company who set up in Washington because of their lack of income tax is gonna be spending a lot of money on keeping the status quo.

Bill Gates really disappointed me with this post. Washington&#x27;s lack of an income tax, and its relatively uniform tax structure means that everyone has &quot;skin in the game&quot; and the state has to be focused and efficient with its spending. California is a great example of the inefficacy of huge tax revenues - the quality of life and services in California is not that great, and definitely no better than Washington, despite aggressive taxation.

He&#x27;s right. Seattle is suffering a crisis of mentally ill and&#x2F;or drug addicted homeless people. However, the problem is much bigger than the city — many of these people come from outside Seattle and the city simply can&#x27;t afford to solve the problem on its own.<p>This is both a nationwide and statewide problem. But the lack of state income tax makes it harder for Washington to better fund mental health facilities in the state. The state prides itself on its progressivism and compassion, but it&#x27;s 23rd in the nation for per capita mental health funding.