Thursday, July 20, 2017

BATTLE: Seattle GOP Urging Residents Not to Pay New Income Tax: 'Civil Disobedience'

Republicans in Washington state are calling for “civil disobedience” as they openly encourage Seattle residents to refuse paying a newly passed income tax that critics claim is illegal, reports FOX News.

The tax, passed by the Seattle City Council, targets high-income earners as part of what local lawmakers call “a new formula for fairness.” 

The tax measure would require residents to pay a 2.25 percent tax if they are a single filer and make more than $250,000 annually or file jointly and make more than $500,000.

Opponents of the tax, however, argue that Seattle’s plan to tax the rich is unconstitutional, because the state of Washington imposes strict limits on taxes; prohibits taxes on net income; and requires cities to get permission to tax residents.

Seattle socialist city council member Kshama Sawant  is rabidly in favor of the tax

“We will no longer tolerate a system that buries poor and working class people in taxes, while giving big business and the super-rich yet another free ride; a system that underfunds affordable housing to the point where thousands are homeless, a system that criminally underfunds education,” Sawant told Fox News in an email Tuesday, adding that the need for the tax is “crystal clear.”

In response to the tax, the state GOP has escalated its opposition by urging residents to “forcefully resist.”

 “This law is unconstitutional, illegal, and against the voter’s will expressed nine times at the ballot box and it deserves nothing less than civil disobedience – that is, refusal to comply, file or pay,” the Washington State Republican Party said in a written statement.

Washington is one of seven states in the country that does not have a personal income tax. 

The state’s voters have rejected an income tax nine separate times. Washington voters did approve an income tax in 1932, but the state Supreme Court ruled the measure was unconstitutional.

 -RW

1 comment:

  1. They should not be merely suggesting civil disobedience. They should set up a way to put the taxes in an escrow account. That would really make the oligarchs mad. Of course it won't happen because the GOP are part of the oligarchy too.

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