Taxes in WA ? (Seattle, Snohomish: for sale, buy, income)

[Pittgal]

I know there are no state taxes, just sales tax on everything? you buy?

I also wondered if there was a local tax for each town? And what percentage that rate was?

Thanks!

[silverfox]

Hi Pittgal,

There is no sales tax on most food items bought in the store either.
Sales taxes vary buy location. Generally from 8 to 9%. There is also a state sales tax deduction for the time being, that applies to some purchases. Need to check with someone in the know to see if you can qualify. No State income Tax, and thats a Biggy if you have a lot of earned income.
Low auto licence plate fees for the time being. The State is trying their damndest to get the money back they have lost in that area since the rollback a few years ago. If you earn a lot and don't spend a lot, then this is the place to live. If you are retired and have reached that time where you have to start taking your money out of your Traditional IRA or 401K etc. then you will like a State that does not have a State income Tax.
Hope that helps,

Silverfox

[scirocco22]

Hi Pittgal--

There's no state INCOME tax.

The sales tax is not on everything. When I lived there, food items were not taxed.

The portion of tax that is attributed to the state is 6.5% but each county and town will assess its own taxes in addition to the state tax. There can also be additional taxes for various assessments, as an example, I think there's still a tax on restaurant dining in the Seattle area that goes toward the baseball stadium.

Here's a chart that will tell you all the tax rates in all the major towns and cities in Washington by county. As you can see, the highest places for sales taxes are generally where the biggest populations exist, i.e. King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. When reading the chart, the last column will be the total sales tax rate but it's expressed as a percentage so you'll have to move the decimal point over two places. Example: Seattle is .088 so as a percentage it's 8.8%. The chart is in PDF:

http://dor.wa.gov/Docs/forms/ExcsTx/..._Quarterly.pdf

--'rocco

[scirocco22]

oops, sorry, Silverfox. I was composing my post before I read your yours ...sorry for some duplicate info.

--'rocco

[scirocco22]

After scrutinizing the chart contained in that link I gave, I see that even the baseball stadium tax is itemized. It's five-tenths of one percent on restaurant dining in King county and it's called the KCF&B tax or King County Food and Beverage tax.

That chart is very comprehensive in that it breaks down and itemizes the sales tax rate for every major town and city in the state by county. So, Pittgal, you can answer your second question by looking at that chart.

--'rocco

[Pittgal]

Thank you so much for your help! The chart is good to have! He in PA, we pay state taxes and local taxes on our salaries and purchases are taxed 7%. So it looks like its a little cheaper out there!