Democrat Taxing Timeline

Policies increase the price Washingtonians pay for virtually everything, including food, housing, healthcare, and TV streaming

When do Democrat tax/fee increases take effect?

Already in Effect

Capital Gains Tax

  • Rate increases from 7% to 9.9%

Estate Tax

  • Increases the upper level rates and adjusts the estate threshold by inflation

Hunting/Fishing License

  • Fee Increase of 38%

Nursing Home Bed Tax

  • The per bed fee facilities must pay annually doubles or triples

July 27

Marriage License

  • $100 fee increase

Liquor License

  • Additional $17M in fees every two years
  • Impacts grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, catering, banquets
  • Thousands of businesses, with costs likely passed on to consumers

Access to Courts

  • $50 additional fee imposed on roughly 150,000 annual court filings
  •  Virtually all civil case filings, including adoption and unlawful detainer actions

October 1

State & Local Sales Tax Applies to Array of Services

  • $4 billion over 4 years (temporary staffing, security, advertising, digital processing, IT tech)
  • Substantial portion of sales tax on cable/streaming companies likely to be passed on to consumers in the form of higher streaming/cable costs.

Business and Occupation Tax Increase

  • Service Businesses: Rate goes from 1.75% to 2.1% for businesses with over $5M annual gross sales
  • Large Financial Institutions B&O rate increase
  • Credit Unions that merge with a bank after Oct 1 will no longer be exempt from B&O tax

Increase Cost of Public to Access State Parks

  • 50% increase in Discover Pass (Going from $30 to $45)  
  • 15% decline in attendance at state parks predicted

January 1

K-12 Local Levy Rate Tax Increase

  • Most districts will have to get voter approval to access higher authority (for many, this will mean a November ballot measure)
  • Some districts previously received voter approval for levies in an amount exceeding what was authorized by state law at the time. As a result, they do not have to go to voters in November to tap into higher authority 

Tax Preferences

  • Certain preferences expire

Business Surcharges

  • .5% surcharge on certain companies with income over $250M a year
  •  Advanced Computing surcharge increases from $9M a year to $75M a year

Synthetic Nicotine Tax

  • The application of the 95% other tobacco products tax rate is applied to synthetic nicotine products

April 1, 2026 — January 1, 2027

Business and Occupation tax on storage units

  • April 1, 2026
  • Rate goes from 1.5% to 1.75%

Child Care Co-Pays for Low Income Families

  • Oct 1, 2026
  • Monthly co-pays for families on Working Connections Child Care doubles

Tesla Tax

  • Nov 1, 2026
  • State Department of Revenue calculates the tax owed by Tesla

Manufacturers, Wholesalers, and Retailers Business and OccupationTax

  • Jan 1, 2027
  • Rate increases from.471%/.484%  to .5%