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For years Washington’s Department of Commerce has highlighted the state not having an income tax as being a competitive advantage for employers. Surprisingly, Commerce recently updated its “Choose Washington” website to remove the reference about the state not having an income tax on its “Pro-Business” webpage. Commerce’s sudden removal is contrary to years of statements acknowledging that no income tax was a powerful inducement to locate business in the state.
When testifying on SB 5096 (9% income tax on capital gains) last week, I mentioned that Commerce had changed that webpage but didn’t know why. I now have the details after this exchange with Commerce: