Call it the ‘boss tax:’ Seattle finally finds
a potent way to tax the rich
Seattle Tims,
by
Danny Westneat
Original Article
Posted By: Ron_lfp,
7/6/2020 11:04:27 AM
After years of trying to mine the wealthy around here, and instead hitting themselves in the face, the Seattle City Council has finally fixed on a potent way to tax the rich.
Seattle’s latest corporate tax scheme will almost certainly run into some familiar obstacles, such as a skeptical mayor and a possible legal challenge from big business.
(snip) this plan instead puts a levy on high employee salaries and compensation packages.
Call it a CEO tax — or more accurately, a management or boss tax. Oh and throw in the millionaire pro athletes, too.
Even critics are straining to come up with strong political arguments against it.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
bamboozle 7/6/2020 11:22:35 AM (No. 468854)
Which, if enacted, will only hasten the departure of the rest of the golden geese. Go for it Seattle!
13 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 7/6/2020 11:23:00 AM (No. 468856)
Wait! Wait! I have a better idea - - a much better idea!
Just put a $10,000 tax on everyone who votes for Trump. That way all the money will come from the evil right wing - - and virtuous woke people will get all the benefits.
Yes - - that's much, much better.
7 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Donna M 7/6/2020 11:23:51 AM (No. 468857)
Seattle Times just loves it. Any company, sports team or athlete that remains in Seattle deserves this punishment. Small companies, where proprietors often report their LLC on their personal tax forms, will be the first to go. Will the large ones leave? Not right away, as it's not a good woke look, but they will do a hollow out and relo their highest paid folks out of Seattle's city limits.
11 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
JL80863 7/6/2020 11:25:15 AM (No. 468858)
Yes indeed! Follow the NYC into bankruptcy.
7 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
bad-hair 7/6/2020 11:28:55 AM (No. 468865)
Hey Seattle corporations. We're filling up fast but we've still got a bit of room in Texas.
8 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
kennedylaw 7/6/2020 11:28:56 AM (No. 468866)
They are circumventing the income tax prohibition by making it a payroll tax. It is not owed or paid by the person receiving the income but by the company paying it. Their bigger problem is that large companies will simply stop hiring high paid employees in Seattle and will accelerate the rate at which they are fleeing the city for lower tax cities and states.
8 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
DVC 7/6/2020 11:37:03 AM (No. 468872)
They can never get enough OPM. All of it isn't enough to satisfy their Marxist greed.
8 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
marbles 7/6/2020 11:38:27 AM (No. 468876)
Robin Hood did not steal from the rich and give to the poor. He took from the government, their collected axes, and gave that to the poor. The left never gets anything correct.
16 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
kono 7/6/2020 11:47:53 AM (No. 468888)
Remove the incentive people have for taking those jobs, many of which induce stress levels beyond what anybody would willingly accept without the higher compensation. More than the financial consequences (which is usually the overt focus of the class-warfare-obsessed commies), this would drain the decision-making levels in the private sector, leaving a vacuum that the Party will GLADLY step into ("for the people's benefit", of course).
PDJT aimed to drain the swamp of government, and now Seattle seeks to start refilling it. In their view, the people should never think of themselves making strategic decisions -- that has to be left to Government / the Party. (roll eyes)
4 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
voxpopuli 7/6/2020 11:51:51 AM (No. 468894)
folks..
you're overlooking the obvious..
THEY'RE not..
put a 100% tax on any IRA/401k over $85,000..
that would effectively exclude EVERYONE in BLM and those with stoodent loans
and that money could then be given to THOSE worthies..
you telling me that's not in the works?
6 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Shells 7/6/2020 11:56:23 AM (No. 468900)
Why not? Taxing the rich worked out great in CT! If you want to check you contact that state’s wealthiest citizens in FL where they all live now.
10 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
mc squared 7/6/2020 11:56:40 AM (No. 468901)
I've tried for a long time to educate people that corporations don't pay taxes: the customers do.
Yes, they write the tax checks but the added expense flows to the cost of their product and services.
Only Individuals pay taxes since there's no way to push the cost 'downhill'.
12 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Shells 7/6/2020 11:58:25 AM (No. 468902)
Why not? Taxing the rich worked out great in CT. If you want to check you can contact that state’s wealthiest citizens in FL where they all live now.
3 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
MickTurn 7/6/2020 12:06:44 PM (No. 468916)
Violates "Equal Protection" Laws, just as all progressive Taxes do.
5 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
john56 7/6/2020 12:44:59 PM (No. 468961)
Re # 5 --- Before those Seattle Corporations move to Texas, they have to undergo a vigorous background check. Well, it's actually one question?
Are you bringing your Seattle leftist politics with you?
If the answer is yes, you cannot move to Texas. Try California or Illinois instead.
7 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
udanja99 7/6/2020 12:51:08 PM (No. 468974)
Should we start a betting pool on how long it takes for Microsoft to bail out of there? How about Starbucks?
5 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
lakerman1 7/6/2020 12:53:16 PM (No. 468977)
It used to be necessary for a company to locate within a particular city, for business reasons.
Detroit and the auto industry, Pittsburgh and the steel industry, nY city and the financial industry are just three examples of that.
But when cities become overwhelmed with greed and big ideas, they can force the industries out.
And the physical location of a company is no longer of great importance.
Seattle will learn that lesson. Wilhelm warren in nyC will learn that lesson.
7 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
andyboy 7/6/2020 12:57:01 PM (No. 468981)
What a brilliant idea -- until the company decides taxes are to high and moves out of Seattle. Then Seattle loses ALL the tax revenue that used to come from the company, its CEO, and all of its employees.
5 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
DrOstrow 7/6/2020 12:57:53 PM (No. 468984)
#7 beat me to it - there is NO LIMIT
As a popular radio host used to say - There is NO LIMIT to the hunger the government has for YOUR money.
If the greedy sub-human morons in government have their way, eventually, you will pay everything you have to 'the government' ( local, state, federal it's all the same bucket essentially ) and then THEY will decide how much you 'get back' to live on.
As absurd as this sounds, I'm willing to bet that this is the ultimate goal - total control of the economy ergo total control of YOU.
I see only one way 'out' of this mess !!
8 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
janjan 7/6/2020 1:33:46 PM (No. 469034)
Seattle voters can’t get enough of taxes that don’t impact them. Or Mayors who are bumbling fools who support BLM and Antifa. What they can’t grasp is that no one is forced to live there or do business there. Punish business owners, corporations and managers enough and they will vanish and take the jobs with them. Why wouldn’t they? They can cry about Bezos’ wealth all they want. He is letting them anywhere near his money. You just can’t fix this kind of stupid.
3 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
Jethro bo 7/6/2020 1:35:31 PM (No. 469036)
Wow! Just $150,000 a year makes one rich in Seattle. Looks like a slough of doctors, nurses, dentist, engineers, pharmaist, psycologist will now be paying their fair share. That will teach Amazon!
3 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
Foont 7/6/2020 2:02:52 PM (No. 469075)
Yet another sterling example of leftist "thought" in action. Given that so many giant corporation are now fully behind the leftist agenda I think it is only fair the big shots in these companies pay for it. Of course, as many have pointed out, these big shots will pull up stakes and abandon the leftist dream cities and states and move to some other place they can screw up...........
On second thought it would be better to have these dimwits stay where they are - so, no, don't levy the tax but do defund the police (I don't want to have them miss ALL the fun).
2 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
Lawsy0 7/6/2020 2:20:19 PM (No. 469096)
Either way, I am suffering from extreme Seattle Fatigue.
4 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
Maggie2u 7/6/2020 2:52:27 PM (No. 469129)
Poster #2, that wouldn't work cause only about 10-20 people in Seattle vote for Republicans.
But what this means is that my little ranch house built in 1953 and sits about 3 miles north of Seattle's border has just jumped about $100,000 in value. Woopie. Our daughter in Texas has been wanting us to move there, soooo who knows.
1 person likes this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 7/6/2020 4:09:34 PM (No. 469192)
The corporations just raise the compensation of the CEO, right before they vote to leave Seattle, like Boeing's Executive Leadership did.
1 person likes this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
Grounded 7/6/2020 4:29:00 PM (No. 469218)
"Tax the rich, feed the poor 'til there ain't no rich no more" Alvin Lee (1944-2013), Ten Years After (1971).
1 person likes this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
Justcurious 7/6/2020 4:30:08 PM (No. 469220)
Short term, this benefits employment across the lake in Bellevue. Long term, the King County Council is increasingly left. Look for the same tax county wide.
1 person likes this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
snowoutlaw 7/6/2020 4:56:57 PM (No. 469241)
It says compensation which is not pay. Compensation is usually much higher than actual pay because it includes Social Security payroll taxes, heathcare and other benefits. So 150K maybe someone that makes less than 80K.
Also if you break the evil 150K line does the whole 150K get taxed or only the amount over 150K? Sure glad I don't have to move to get away from being so rich.
3 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
RuckusTom 7/6/2020 5:50:47 PM (No. 469312)
This will do wonders for business.
2 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
Omen55 7/6/2020 6:05:18 PM (No. 469322)
Amazon was stupid not to leave at the first attempt.
Now they have their new complex up & running.
Who'll buy it if they want to leave now?
2 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
Trigger2 7/7/2020 2:38:54 AM (No. 469654)
Does this logic also apply to demonrat politicians and mayors who rip off taxpayers for their own gain?
0 people like this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
bamboozle 7/7/2020 11:06:47 AM (No. 469974)
Total compensation would include deferred stock options, health insurance,company car, gym memberships, and 401k matches wouldn't it? See how quickly it swallows up most workers?
0 people like this.
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No mention that, again, it is an income tax that violates the state constitution.