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Washington State Is High Tax Country

When I tell you that Washington is run by Democrats and has been for a very long time, what comes to mind?  Utopia...or higher taxes.  Do you need high taxes to create Utopia?   Whether Washington State is a "Utopia" or not is certainly up for debate, but the question of higher taxes has been asked and answered.

Chris Cargill is the Eastern Washington Director of the Washington Policy Center and he regularly appears on the radio show to talk about politics and policy and the state of the State Of Washington.  Today the Cargill "tale of the tape" topic is taxation and specifically comparing Washington to Oregon and Idaho in a couple of taxation categories.

Top Five In Sales Tax

Let's start with sales tax.  Now people will defend the Washington sales tax saying, "Yah, but at least we don't have a state income tax," which is true, but what we do have is the 4th spot in the top five states with the highest combined sales tax rates according to the Tax Foundation.

The five states with the highest average combined state and local sales tax rates are Louisiana (9.55 percent), Tennessee (9.547 percent), Arkansas (9.48 percent), Washington (9.29 percent), and Alabama (9.22 percent). The five states with the lowest average combined rates are Alaska (1.76 percent), Hawaii (4.44 percent), Wyoming (5.22 percent), Wisconsin (5.43 percent), and Maine (5.50 percent).

 

How about Oregon -- 4th lowest.  And Idaho -- 9th lowest.  NO wonder people cross the borders to do some of their shopping in neighboring states.

Cell Phone Taxes - Don't Call Me!

Cell phone taxes is another area where Washington shows up on the high end.  At 20.02% Washington has the 3rd highest cell phone taxes in America. Oregon is affordable at #45 and Idaho is the least expensive at #50.

So what is it with Washington? Why are we the Pacific Northwest's high tax outlier?  You may want to ask the candidates you plan on voting for that question this fall.

The Scoop From The Wa Policy Center

Chris Cargill has some more disturbing comparisons to consider.

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