Raising taxes on businesses will not create jobs, King says

The Washington State Senate today passed Senate Bill 6143, which would create or raise 21 separate taxes, including the state’s business and occupations tax. This is the second time the Senate has passed the massive tax bill due to the Legislature currently being in special session until the majority can agree on a budget.

Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, and former small business owner, issued this statement after the measure passed by a vote of 25-18.

“In the governor’s state of the state address, she said she had a plan to create 40 thousand jobs in Washington. Now the Senate has passed one of the largest tax increases in state history, and contained within is a .25 percent increase in the B&O tax.

“The B&O tax is one of the most oppressive taxes in the country, and Washington is the only state in the nation that utilizes it in this form. Taxing small businesses on their gross receipts penalizes them for being successful. Just because a company may have a hundred thousand dollars in sales doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to make a dime in profit, yet the state will now be collecting more of this tax if they have sales of more than $72 thousand. How does that encourage businesses to create jobs and hire more people?

“Small businesses will be the ones who drive this state out of the economic recession. Business owners are the ones who are going to put this state back to work. This is a bad bill that punishes entrepreneurs by increasing state taxes on gross receipts and I’m proud to have voted against it.”