Deductions and I-1098
For Washington residents, I-1098 defines taxable income to be adjusted gross income (AGI) as calculated at the bottom of the first page of the federal 1040 income tax form less interest received on federal obligations (which the state is prohibited from taxing). The deductions that are itemized on Schedule A and entered on the second […]
September 17 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
Capital Gains and I-1098
A recent posting on the Economic Opportunity Institute’s Washington Policy Watch Blog wrongly claims that Initiative 1098 income tax proposal provides an exemption for capital gains on the sale of a business (link here). In response to the question: “Would there be an exemption for capital gains income, such as someone selling their home or […]
September 16 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
September Revenue Forecast: Let the Cutting Begin
The September update to the general fund-state revenue forecast is out. The forecast for the current 2009-11 biennium has been reduced by $769.9 million; that for the upcoming 2011-13 biennial by $668.7 million. The revision for the current biennium places the general fund into a deficit. The forecast press release is available here. The PowerPoint […]
August 13 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
Dedicated Fund Transfers to the General Fund
Dick Davis has a piece in the Puget Sound Business Journal today on dedicated funds and the state budget. The first 4 paragraphs are available on the public portion of the PSBJ web site. (A subscription is required to read the whole thing.) Here is a table detailing transfers to and from the General Fund-State […]
August 12 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
Washington's Business Tax Burden
We have published a brief, which is available here, on the business tax burden in Washington.
July 30 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
Arithmetic
Our intern, Nikolai Riabov, recently posted on this blog a table comparing state and local taxes by state based upon the Census Bureau’s 2008 survey of government finances. The state Department of Revenue has just released a research report—Comparative State and Local Taxes 2008—using this same data. DOR’s calculations agree with ours: For the Census […]
June 17 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
June Revenue Forecast
In its quarterly meeting this morning, the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) approved revised forecasts of general fund revenue for the 2009-11 and 2011-13 biennia. Meeting documents are available here. The general fund forecast for the current biennium is now $29,282 million ($29.3 billion). This is an increase of $558 million from the […]
June 14 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
June Economic and Revenue Update
Last Friday, the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (EFRC) posted its monthly progress report, the Economic and Revenue Update, for June. The update sets the stage for Thursday, when EFRC will issue its quarterly update to the state revenue forecast. The U.S. economy has performed largely as anticipated in the February forecast, The economic recovery […]
April 15 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
Seattle Lost More Than 23,000 Private Sector Jobs Between March 2008 and March 2009
The Puget Sound Regional Council has posted estimates of employment in March 2009 for the cities in the four-county PSRC region here. From March 2008 to March 2009, the number of private sector jobs in the city of Seattle fell by 23,173 (5.6%), from 415,165 to 391,992. Of the lost jobs, 3,729 were in construction. […]
January 18 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
Unemployment Insurance Burden
This table compares the unemployment tax burden in Washington with that in other states.