Research consistently demonstrates that more equitable societies experience lower mortality rates, longer lives and greater overall well-being.

New estimates show $3.1 billion in the next budget would be lost if voters pass Initiative 645 and eliminate the new levy on higher earners.

Here in Washington, we have some of the richest people in the nation, so why does it feel like all of us are just scraping by?

A person who makes $1,000,100 will pay $9.90 in taxes.

“It’s everything to our family,” says one mom whose son has autism.

The NO on 645 campaign announced endorsements from travel writer Rick Steves and “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings.

From Washington to Kentucky, states are united: The wealthy must pay their fair share.

It’s not only what’s in Initiative 645’s fine print. It’s what is intentionally left out of the fine print.

Opponents of an initiative to repeal Washington’s new high-earners income tax are warning the proposal could also strike down other taxes.

But since the state Legislature passed the capital gains tax in 2021, as its first big try at tapping into tech wealth, Microsoft’s annual profits are up 130% in those five years.

Two events from this month help crystallize this strange, contradictory moment for the U.S. economy.

If you made a lot, you will probably owe a lot. That’s true for most Americans—just not the richest ones.

There are lots of benefits for the 99% of us who won’t pay the tax. That’s what I’ll cover in this column.

When inequality gets extreme enough, it starts to exact a cost on the whole system.

If you’re reading The Stranger, there is a good chance you will not owe any money to the state from Washington’s new millionaire’s tax. 

You may remember that in 2021, ProPublica published an investigation built on a bunch of leaked tax documents revealing what the richest Americans really pay — or don’t. Warren Buffett had a true tax rate of 0.1 percent; Jeff Bezos had 0.98 percent; Michael Bloomberg had 1.3 percent.

Annie Kucklick, policy and research associate with the Economic Opportunity Institute (EOI), a Seattle-based think tank that fights for progressive revenue, said benefits from the income tax depend on the person. But she did break down three ways that she thinks the bill will be a boon for Washingtonians.

Washington has one of the most upside-down tax systems in the nation. Teachers like me often pay a higher percentage of our income in state and local taxes than the multi-millionaires and billionaires who also call our state home.

A new tax on fat paychecks like mine was signed into law yesterday — and I like it.

As a 20-year veteran of the software industry and the son of a successful entrepreneur, I’m far from a marxist crusader.