Gov. Ferguson Blames Federal Wealthy Tax Cuts, Wants Millionaires Tax in WA

If you have a net worth of $1 million or more, you are considered a millionaire, and depending on which business data you look at, WA State has anywhere from 463K to 681K of them. Now, the Governor favors a millionaire tax.

  Gov. Ferguson wants a millionaire tax

The governor's office released information Tuesday, December 23rd about his proposed budget, which he says does not raise taxes. However it is important to remember that Ferguson's budget is a "wish list," like any Governor in the US.  They cannot introduce legislation, they depend on "their" party to create bills that carry out his plans.

Just because a Governor's budget doesn't raise taxes, that doesn't mean their party won't push through increases and he won't sign them.  The current millionaire tax being floated is believed to be a 9.9 percent tax on those whose incomes are $1 million or higher. However, income taxes are against the WA State Constitution. That's what happened in Ferguson's inaugural year...he signed virtually every tax increase that Dems passed, despite pledging no new taxes--like his predecessor, Jay Inslee.

According to his press release:

"Ferguson also supports codifying the $1 million threshold, with appropriate adjustment for inflation, into state law. In other words, the millionaires’ tax would be paid on income over $1 million in its first year; and while the amount of annual income that triggers the millionaires’ tax will rise due to inflation, that amount will never impact more than 99 percent of Washingtonians."

Ferguson's math is fuzzy, based on the 681K WA residents who are considered millionaires, that almost 9 percent of the population....not the "1%" he cites in his release.

However, the bulk of WA residents with a net worth of $1 million or income of $1 million or higher are in the tech industry, which has been hit with new taxes in the last legislative session.

Get our free mobile app

There are also credible reports the majority Democrats will introduce legislation to create an unrealized gains tax.  This kind of plan would tax the value of a person's assets, even if they are not sold.  The value of their home, their car and other investments would be taxes on their worth.

While Ferguson says HIS budget doesn't  call for new taxes, there are plenty of reports indicating Democrats will introduce legislation to try to pass:

• increase Business and Occupation taxes
• a new 5% payroll tax on higher earning workers
• sales tax prepayment, making businesses pre-pay their 2027 sales tax liability in 2026.
• raising the cap on property tax increases from 1 to 3 percent.