Seattle Wealth Tax Teed Up For State Supreme Court

Seattle’s politically progressive elected leaders got what they wanted when the state Court of Appeals invalidated the city’s wealth tax: a pathway towards instituting now-banned income taxes across the state.

The Seattle tax—enacted almost exactly two years ago but never implemented—would hit total income over $250,000 for single filers and $500,000 for joint filers at a rate of 2.25%. The City Council passed the bill not only knowing that it would be challenged in court, but hoping it would be.

The local lawmakers orchestrated an effort to overturn decades-old state precedent that considers income to be intangible property ...