Supreme Court Won’t Take up WA State Capital Gains Case

The Supreme Court usually does not give specific reasons why when they decline to hear a case, and in this case, it was the same.

   Supreme Court will not hear the WA capital gains tax case

The court on Tuesday declined to take up a legal challenge to the Capital Gains tax, which went into effect in 2022. It taxes persons 7 percent on gains of $250K or higher from the sale of long-term stock, investments, or other large items.

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According to The Center Square, this appeal had followed the State Supreme Court's 7-2 decision to uphold the tax as an excise tax, however, opponents said even the IRS considers such capital gains as income.  WA State's constitution forbids income taxes.

Several groups weighed in on the decision including the Freedom Foundation, who issued the following statement by way of Media and Marketing Director Joey McCabe:

 “We live in a lawless state where the governor and state Supreme Court justices routinely ignore state laws and the state constitution,” said Brian Minnich, Freedom Foundation Executive Vice President. “To say the least, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to not hear the case and overturn the capital gains income tax is disappointing.”

“Fortunately, this is not the last word regarding this illegal and unfair tax. WA voters this fall will get the final say on the capital gains income tax issue when they have the opportunity repeal the tax through Initiative 2109.”