Seattle Puts 20-Year Tax on Big High-Pay Companies (Corrected)

Large Seattle companies like Amazon.com Inc. are in the crosshairs of a new tax the City Council passed Monday targeting the payroll expenses of high salaries with tax rates that escalate based on the number of zeros on the paychecks and the overall size of the payroll.

The narrowly tailored tax is aimed only at the city’s biggest businesses paying the highest salaries. It would spare small businesses and middle- and lower-class residents struggling to get by in a city where housing prices have continued to rise unabated during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The council bill would provide for levies on ...