{"id":2382580,"date":"2024-12-21T12:55:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T17:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/billionaire-democratic-supporter-calls-inslees-wealth-tax-boneheaded-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-12-21T12:56:05","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T17:56:05","slug":"billionaire-democratic-supporter-calls-inslees-wealth-tax-boneheaded-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/billionaire-democratic-supporter-calls-inslees-wealth-tax-boneheaded-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Billionaire Democratic supporter calls Inslee\u2019s wealth tax \u2018boneheaded\u2019 &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbillionaire-democratic-supporter-calls-inslees-wealth-tax-boneheaded-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2382580&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In Washington, Governor Jay Inslee&#8217;s proposed wealth\u2062 tax has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/josh-hawley-becomes-gop-cash-cow-despite-dem-targeting\/\" title=\"Josh Hawley Becomes \u2018GOP Cash Cow\u2019 Despite Dem Targeting\">faced intense criticism<\/a> from billionaire Democratic supporter and Seattle entrepreneur Nick \u200bHanauer. hanauer described the proposal as &#8220;impractical&#8221; and predicted serious legal challenges. He argued that while he has historically supported progressive taxation and measures\u2062 to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-reps-jordan-issa-demand-transparency-from-irs-over-partisan-leak-of-tax-records\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE: Reps. Jordan, Issa Demand Transparency From IRS Over \u2018Partisan\u2019 Leak Of Tax Records\">address income inequality<\/a>, the\u200b wealth tax would alienate the state&#8217;s wealthy citizens,\u2063 potentially leading them\u200c to leave Washington. A report from the Washington State Department of Revenue highlighted difficulties \u2063in accurately estimating revenue from such a tax,along with challenges in management and compliance. Additionally, Jason Mercier from the Mountain State&#8217;s Policy Center noted the economic risks associated with wealth taxes, \u200dciting experiences from othre countries such\u2064 as France, where such taxes were repealed due \u2062to emigration of wealthy \u2064individuals.Both Hanauer and Mercier expressed concerns that\u2063 the proposed wealth tax could lead to decreased \u2062revenue \u200dand economic \u2062harm for the state.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Billionaire Democratic supporter calls Inslee&rsquo;s wealth tax &lsquo;boneheaded&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1917813\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square)&nbsp;&ndash; Gov. Jay Inslee&rsquo;s proposal for a &ldquo;wealth tax&rdquo; is drawing sharp criticism from Seattle business leader, entrepreneur and Democratic supporter Nick Hanauer.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Hanauer posted on X, ripping the proposal apart, calling it &ldquo;impractical&rdquo; with &ldquo;serious legal challenges.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve spent my life working to address income inequality &amp; progressive taxation,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NickHanauer\/status\/1869840646300938706\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>posted<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;Hanauer. &ldquo;We worked hard to create the conditions that made the capital gains tax possible and thus many of WA&rsquo;s wealthiest citizens were supportive of its passage. The opposite will be true for this tax.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A&nbsp;wealth tax&nbsp;is imposed on the value of some or all of a taxpayer&rsquo;s assets, such as stocks, real estate, and businesses.<\/p>\n<p>A Nov. 2024&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dor.wa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-11\/Wealth_Tax_Study_Final_Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>report<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;from the state Washington State Department of Revenue on a potential wealth tax noted, &ldquo;Even with updated income, forecasts, and other data points, the fiscal model cannot predict the exact revenue a wealth tax in Washington would generate&hellip; It will also be difficult to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">accurately assess compliance rates<\/a> and behavioral responses.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The DOR report also predicted a wealth tax could be difficult to administer due to legal challenges and risks that wealthy individuals subject to the tax would up and leave the state.<\/p>\n<p>Hanauer pointed this out in his comments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Even if it clears the legal, implementation &amp; other challenges, it&rsquo;s unlikely to raise much [money] given every wealthy person I&rsquo;ve spoken to in the last few days has said they will leave the state,&rdquo; he said. I believe them.&nbsp;Thoughtful taxes don&rsquo;t actually drive people away, boneheaded taxes do.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Jason Mercier, vice president and director of research at Mountain State&rsquo;s Policy Center, told The Center Square in a Friday interview that there&rsquo;s a reason a wealth tax does not exist in the United States and why other countries are repealing them.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They are incredibly economically damaging because people move,&rdquo; Mercier said. &ldquo;When&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/taxfoundation.org\/research\/all\/eu\/wealth-tax-impact\/#:~:text=%5B3%5D%20France%20was%20the%20last,Switzerland%E2%80%94that%20currently%20impose%20one.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>France repealed<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;it&rsquo;s wealth tax, the president acknowledged he was doing it because people were leaving France, and it&rsquo;s much easier to leave a state than it is a country.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Mercier countered the argument that only a handful of people will pay the wealth tax and Washingtonians won&rsquo;t leave because of the additional tax burden.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You want your taxes to be broad based and low rate because when you have discriminatory taxes, when someone moves, you have a problem in your budget,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what happened with Washington&rsquo;s capital gains tax. They created this volatile tax and now they&rsquo;re surprised that it&rsquo;s not collecting what they expected. The same thing is going to happen with a wealth tax.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Those who support a Washington wealth tax argue it would create a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wa-democrats-point-to-initiatives-as-mandate-to-hike-taxes-on-wealthy-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"WA Democrats point to initiatives as mandate to hike taxes on wealthy - Washington Examiner\">narrowly tailored property tax<\/a> on extreme wealth derived from the ownership of stocks, bonds and other financial assets.<\/p>\n<p>A 2024&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/frame\/2023\/03\/09\/wa-state-wealth-tax-proposal-receives-strong-support-in-senate-hearing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>post<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;from Senate Democrats in support of a wealth tax in the form of&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/billsummary?BillNumber=5486&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Senate Bill&nbsp;5486<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong>said&nbsp;proceeds would be &ldquo;dedicated to education, housing, disability services, and tax credits for working families. The first $250 million of assessed value is exempted, meaning only the wealthiest people in Washington would pay the tax, including some of the wealthiest individuals in the world.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Democrats offered up a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/balanceourtaxcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/WA-State-Wealth-Tax-Poll-Results-3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>poll conducted by TargetSmart&nbsp;<\/strong><\/a>showing 66% of respondents supported the Washington State Wealth Tax proposal.<\/p>\n<p>Mercier says a potential wealth tax would likely drop Washington state even further down in state rankings for tax competitiveness.<\/p>\n<p>A recent&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/taxfoundation.org\/research\/all\/state\/2025-state-tax-competitiveness-index\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>study<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;from the Tax Foundation revealed which states are taxpayer-friendly for individuals and businesses, with rankings based on income, sales, excise, property, capital gains, corporate, payroll and estate taxes.<\/p>\n<p>The study found that Wyoming is the most&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mountainstatespolicy.org\/which-state-is-the-most-taxpayer-friendly?utm_campaign=a2d269cd-8b48-46c3-985a-72639cfdcaa9&amp;utm_source=so&amp;utm_medium=mail&amp;cid=ca43d154-d725-4a2d-af80-807aa92e57f4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>taxpayer friendly state<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;and Washington is near the bottom, at 45th despite not taxing income.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When you look at Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the headlines over the last several years were tax cuts,&rdquo; said Mercier. &ldquo;Massive income tax cuts, property tax reform, returning money back to citizens and keeping budgets sustainable, so they didn&rsquo;t face the situation that Washington is now in facing with a massive budget shortfall.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As previously reported by The Center Square, Washington is facing an estimated budget shortfall of at least $10-12 billion over the next four years, with some estimates as high as $16 billion.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you look at the headline in other states going into 2025, the headline in Idaho says income tax reductions and property tax relief; the headline is Montana is income tax and property tax relief; the headline is Wyoming is property tax relief and the headline in Washington is which taxes can we raise now?&rdquo; asked Mercier. &ldquo;Washington is just standing alone, failing to prioritize any tax relief.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1917813\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1917813\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Billionaire Nick Hanauer criticizes Inslee&#8217;s wealth tax as &#8220;boneheaded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2382581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/AP24030755004975-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[5684,47215,22013,32076,40046],"class_list":["post-2382580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-billionaire","tag-democratic-supporter","tag-inslee","tag-washington-examiner","tag-wealth-tax"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/AP24030755004975-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2382580"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2382584,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382580\/revisions\/2382584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2382581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2382580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2382580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2382580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}