by Collin Hathaway
Proponents of Washington’s new capital gains income tax were sneaky and disingenuous when passing an illegal “excise tax” under an emergency measure which prevents a voter repeal of the tax on this month’s ballot.
To further this charade, the legislature claims this is an excise tax, not an income tax. An excise tax is often used for purchases of goods like alcohol or cigarettes. However, the IRS and the other 49 states in our union all agree that an excise tax on income is, in fact, an income tax. When recently asked by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) if capital gains are considered an excise tax or an income tax the IRS responded that “it is an income tax. More specifically, capital gains are treated as income under the tax code and taxed as such.”
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