June 25 , 2015 - Kriss Sjoblom
Senator Hill introduces tax exemption bill
Sen. Andy Hill introduced a new revenue bill yesterday(SB 6138). Three elements of the bill are in common with the most recent House revenue proposal (PSHB 2269, which we discussed here): Extend economic nexus to wholesaling Increase the B&O tax rate for royalty income from 0.484% to 1.5% Require local governments to provide information on […]
June 22 , 2015 - Emily Makings
New House budget proposal would spend $316 million more than Senate
Today House Appropriations chair Ross Hunter released a new 2015-17 operating budget proposal. The budget bill (2P2SHB 1106) is accompanied by PSHB 2269, which makes revenue changes and additional appropriations. 2P2SHB 1106 would appropriate $37.854 billion, which is significantly less than the House’s June 1 proposal ($38.512 billion) and slightly less than the Senate’s May […]
June 19 , 2015 - Emily Makings
The budget solution won't include a capital gains tax after all
As Opportunity Washington noted this morning, it’s been a little too quiet in Olympia. No longer: Today Gov. Inslee held a press conference in which he said that the two sides are not hung up over a capital gains tax (or any other new tax). Instead, he said there are still disagreements over the amount […]
June 18 , 2015 - Emily Makings
Clashing tax policy models
At our annual dinner this year, economist Rick Evans spoke about open source tax policy models. (We excerpted his talk for an episode of Policy Today.) He noted that there are three groups at the federal level who estimate the effects of tax policy changes: the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Tax Policy Center, and […]
June 17 , 2015 - Emily Makings
June 10 , 2015 - Kriss Sjoblom
Taxes influence international migration of star inventors
On Monday I posted on a paper by Enrico Moretti and Daniel Wilson that state taxes influence the interstate migration of scientists who are prolific patenters. A paper by economists Ufuk Akcigit, Salomé Baslandze, and Stefanie Stantcheva finds a similar impact of national taxes on international migration: Taxation and the International Mobility of Inventors Ufuk […]
June 09 , 2015 - Emily Makings
June 08 , 2015 - Kriss Sjoblom
A new paper shows that low taxes attract star scientists
Over the last 20 years, growth in Seattle has been driven by the high technology and biotechnology sectors. Both of these sectors depend heavily on highly compensated, highly skilled workforces. An important new paper by economists Enrico Moretti and Daniel Wilson indicates that Washington state’s lack of an income tax has contributed to the area’s […]
June 08 , 2015 - Emily Makings
Getting closer to an operating budget resolution
On Friday Senate and House budget negotiators agreed on an overall spending level for 2015-17. But there’s still a lot to do — the caucuses must agree to the figure (which hasn’t been disclosed) and then they must decide how to apportion the spending among programs. Austin Jenkins quotes Office of Financial Management Director David […]