Funding has to come from somewhere
Editor, The Times:
This is a response to “Proposed state income tax will stymie job creation” [Opinion, April 25].
Let’s be honest. People who earn $40,000 to $80,000 per year pay a much higher tax rate than people who earn $100,000 or more and up. With a sales-tax rate of virtually 10 percent, lower-income earners pay on virtually their entire pay check because they spend nearly all of their earnings each year.
I know they do not pay taxes on groceries, but that is about the only break they get. Washington state has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country. An income tax on high earners would somewhat even that out.
I disagree that small-business owners would be especially be hurt by this tax and would not have funds to reinvest in their companies. If they reinvest money in their businesses, it is no longer net income and therefore not taxable.
The citizens of our fine state want better schools, roads, etc. But they do not seem to want to fund these things. The money has to come from somewhere. Granted, there are still many things that could and should be cut, but there is a limit to that.
Two things that could be done right now are to eliminate the state printing plant and outlaw studded tires in Western Washington.
Studded tires add millions to cost of upkeep on our roads and they are necessary only a day or two each year. The state printing plant should have been closed years ago; most of the states surrounding Washington figured that out and eliminated them a long time ago.
— John Porter, Kirkland
With higher incomes come social obligation to pay fair share in taxes
Thank you Bill Gates Sr. for proposing a state income tax. The tax situation in this state is both unfair and unjust.
The sales tax is most regressive, requiring poor people to spend a greater percentage of their income than their better-off fellow citizens. Property taxes are way too high and the existence of the B&O tax is outrageous.
A state income tax is the only fair way to go.
My wife and I are retired and live on a pension, Social Security and some investment income.
My neighbor lives in a similar house and we both pay the same amount in property taxes. Three people live there: husband, wife and an adult child. All of them work. On the whole, they have three times the income we do, yet we pay the same taxes. They pay more sales tax than we do, but not by much.
People with higher incomes have a social obligation to pay their fair share in taxes, and that means an income tax.
— Walker Blincoe, Seattle
Thank you, Bill
A gentleman and a scholar, is Bill Gates Sr., as he signs Initiative 1077, which would target the earnings of Washington citizens and roll back property taxes on property owners and small businesses. I wish him much success as he and other proponents gather signatures.
I have introduced the income tax many times, always with the reduction of other taxes. Education and health-care forces could use $1 billion a year to bolster their needs. Thank you, Bill.
— Former Rep. Georgette Valle, Burien
Bill’s bills, bills
Too many people will think this income tax proposal is great —let the rich pay without recognizing the trickle-down effect.
Since Bill Gates Sr. is probably one of the wealthy who would have to pay the tax, it would seem on the surface that this would be a good idea.
Think again. The proof is the federal income tax that was for high earners only when it began 96 years ago with a cap of 7 percent. Does any average American fall into this category today? I think not.
This proposal is not acceptable. Do not vote for it.
— Roberta Tarr, Clinton
Give us your estate
If Bill Gates Sr. wants to give back, he is free to send in a check and donate his estate.
It is seductive to get the masses riled up to vote against the rich to take their money and send it to Ron Sim’s Unionized Army. But if we think 20 years ahead, the tax would be on everybody.
The other thing to consider is that state income taxes rely on submission of federal tax returns to state employees who would naturally study each one of us and ponder how to get a little more. How much about yourself do you want Olympia state employees to know: Your income, your Social Security number, your debt?
— Joe Wall, Seattle