OLYMPIA — An initiative to repeal the state’s new capital gains tax is dead for this year.<\/p>\n
Sponsors of Initiative 1929<\/a> said June 10 they won’t proceed<\/a> and will instead await the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the legality of the tax.<\/p>\n “While our polling shows that voters overwhelmingly support repealing the capital gains income tax, our coalition has confidence in the strength of the court case and we believe that the lower court decision will be upheld on appeal,” said Mark Funk, a spokesman for the political committee behind the measure. “Therefore we believe the best coalition strategy in 2022 is to place our confidence in the courts to overturn this illegal tax.”<\/p>\n The law at issue was passed in 2021 and took effect Jan. 1. It levies a capital gains tax on annual profits reaped from the sale of long-term assets, such as stocks and bonds, for some individuals and married couples. Under the law, the state will collect 7% of profits above $250,000. The law contains exemptions for retirement accounts, real estate and some agricultural and small businesses.<\/p>\n If the law is upheld, it will generate an estimated $415 million for early learning and child care programs in 2023, the first year of collection.<\/p>\n “Poll after poll shows Washington voters increasingly oppose tax cuts for the super rich, especially when it means cutting hundreds of millions from our schools and childcare” says Treasure Mackley, executive director of Invest in WA Now, which helped pass the capital gains tax.<\/p>\n