Articles about Tax

FAQ: What the millionaires tax means for Seattle startup founders, investors, and tech workers

GeekWire spoke with legal experts and wealth advisors to learn more about how the new income tax may impact different people in Washington’s tech ecosystem. Read More

Opinion: The wrong tax at the wrong time for Washington

Seattle entrepreneur Jesse Proudman on why he’s saddened by the state’s new income tax, writing that it comes at the “worst possible moment” amid the AI boom. Read More

Opinion: The ‘millionaires tax’ is not an existential threat to Washington’s startup economy

Editor’s note: GeekWire publishes guest opinions to foster informed discussion and highlight a diversity of perspectives on issues shaping the… Read More

An ‘extinction-level event’ for startups: Seattle tech leaders fight new state tax proposal

Several startup leaders voiced opposition during public testimony on Tuesday against a proposed bill that would expand the state’s capital gains tax. Read More

Washington state lawmaker says proposed payroll tax could benefit large tech companies

A newly proposed payroll tax would add new costs for large businesses in Washington state. But Rep. Shaun Scott, a Seattle Democrat sponsoring the bill, argues it would protect the basic services that help companies recruit and retain talent. Read More

Seattle tax hike on big businesses set to pass after early voting returns

Proposition 2 will reshape the city’s business and occupation (B&O) tax that applies to gross revenue — impacting both small startups and large tech companies such as Amazon. Read More

Seattle’s proposed business tax overhaul could ease costs for tech startups — until they scale

Seattle voters will decide this November on a major overhaul of the city’s business-and-occupation (B&O) tax. Supporters pitch it as… Read More

‘It’s unbelievable’: Digital agencies slam new sales tax law in Washington as legal challenge looms

Curtis Costner spent Memorial Day Weekend on a trip with his father in Utah. As they passed through the so-called… Read More

Washington governor approves new business taxes, acknowledges potential ‘unintended consequences’

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday approved controversial new taxes on businesses that will help plug the state’s massive $16… Read More

Is Washington still the best place to do business? New taxes spark concern and fear from tech leaders

Washington state lawmakers passed a series of tax increases on businesses as part of an effort to plug a massive… Read More

‘A real blow’: Washington state sales tax on tech and digital services rattles industry

Follow-up: Is Washington still the best place to do business? New taxes spark concern and fear from tech leaders A… Read More

Amazon and Seattle: Mayor Bruce Harrell on tech giant’s full return to office, and relationship with city

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is threading the needle with Amazon. In an interview with GeekWire this week, Harrell explained how… Read More

Seattle considers expanding ‘JumpStart’ tax on Amazon and others to plug budget deficit

Seattle is thinking about taxing big business in a bigger way. The city this week released findings from a report… Read More

Matt McIlwain: 7 reasons why the capital gains tax is bad for Washington state

Editor’s note: We asked two Seattle venture capitalists — Civic Ventures’ Nick Hanauer and Madrona’s Matt McIlwain — to defend their… Read More

Nick Hanauer: 7 reasons why the capital gains tax is good for Washington state

Editor’s note: We asked two Seattle venture capitalists — Civic Ventures’ Nick Hanauer and Madrona’s Matt McIlwain — to defend their… Read More

Capital gains tax ruled constitutional by Washington state Supreme Court

The Washington state Supreme Court ruled that a statewide tax on capital gains is lawful, allowing the legislation to move… Read More

Satya Nadella sells half his Microsoft stock, weeks before state implements capital gains tax

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sold half of his stake in the company in a series of transactions last week, divesting… Read More

Jeff Bezos says Amazon is ‘supportive of a rise in the corporate tax rate’

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos today endorsed the Biden administration’s call for a higher corporate tax rate to help pay for… Read More

Biden calls out Amazon for not paying federal income tax: ‘I’m going to put an end to that’

The debate over how much Amazon pays in federal income tax is heating up yet again. President Joe Biden called… Read More

How Seattle’s new payroll tax on Amazon and other big businesses will work

Seattle’s new plan to tax top salaries at the city’s highest-paying businesses is raising questions from the region’s tech community.… Read More

Seattle City Council unveils new payroll tax targeting Amazon and other large companies

The Seattle City Council introduced a new proposal Tuesday to tax the largest companies in the city, the latest in… Read More

Seattle officials unveil plan to tax Amazon, other high-paying companies to fund affordable housing

Seattle City Councilmembers unveiled draft legislation Wednesday that details their plan to tax the city’s highest paying businesses to fund… Read More

Amazon and Microsoft back proposed business tax in breakthrough for fight against homelessness

The Seattle-area business community is throwing its weight behind a proposal to tax high-paying companies in the region to fund… Read More

Proposed tax seeks $121M a year from Amazon, Microsoft and other big Seattle-area companies to address homelessness

Washington state lawmakers are considering a new regional tax that would raise an estimated $121 million a year from some… Read More

Driver wars: Uber-backed advocacy group protests potential tax, unionization effort in Seattle

The debate over how to deal with gig economy workers has pitted two groups of Uber and Lyft drivers against… Read More

TLDR Editor’s Picks: How Tech is Changing Seattle

This week on TLDR, we’re looking back at some of the top stories of 2018 so far. Today’s topic: Tech… Read More

Podcast

Week in Geek Podcast: The story behind the dramatic reversal of the ‘Amazon tax’ in Seattle

The fight over taxing big businesses in Seattle took a dramatic turn this week. The Seattle City Council voted to… Read More

Live: Watch the raucous debate as Seattle City Council considers repealing new head tax

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dFy1lUXmbo Update: The council voted 7-2 to repeal the head tax. Read GeekWire’s full story here. Another heated debate is taking… Read More

Amazon suspends construction in Seattle while the city considers a new tax on its biggest businesses

Amazon is pausing construction on a new office tower at its Seattle headquarters and may put one of its biggest… Read More

Is the ‘Amazon effect’ worth it for cities? Researcher calls for more transparency and data about corporate incentives

Government incentives and tax credits face new scrutiny, driven in-part by Amazon’s wishlist as it searches for a city to… Read More