Seattle exploring millionaires tax; why don’t they just take our paychecks and give us allowance?

The Seattle City Council is asking the city’s legal department to look into the possibility of enacting a millionaires tax in the city.

“Council requests the Law Department research the legal possibilities that exist to impose an excise tax on annual individual or household earnings in excess of $1,000,000,” says the action, which continues:

“It is intended to mitigate the effects of Washington State’s tax structure, the most regressive in the United States, which forces the poorest 20% of the population to pay 16.9% of their income in local taxes while the wealthiest 1% pay only 2.8%. An excise tax on households earning $1,000,000 or more per year could generate revenue to address Seattle’s affordable housing crisis, expand human services, which are currently underfunded and facing cuts, and fund mass transportation projects.”

Council President Tim Burgess tells The Seattle Times he expects the legal team will reveal that such a tax is not allowed.

“Washington law is very clear that the cities do not have the authority to impose any form of income tax, even if it’s called an excise tax. The case law is very clear.”

But socialist Councilmember Kshama Sawant tells the Times it’s their obligation to look at it seriously.

“This is becoming a very unequal city … a 1 percent city and it has to change.”

KIRO Radio’s John Curley says maybe we should just cut to the chase and hand over our full paychecks.

“Why don’t they propose this? That everybody earns their income, the check goes to the state or the city, the city then takes what it needs out of your check, and then it gives you the allowance back as to how much it feels you need. That would be much simpler,” Curley says.

“If you talk to Kshama Sawant, she basically has this idea of you don’t need to have that size house, you don’t need to have that kind of car, you don’t need to have all that money, not when other people don’t have. So she seems to have an idea in mind of how much people need,” says Curley. “So why doesn’t the state dictate that by talking all of your money and giving you an allowance, like a parent would do?”

Tom & Curley Show co-host Tom Tangney says Seattle’s not there yet.

“We’re not a socialist country yet,” says Tom, adding, “But if Kshama Sawant has her way, we will be shortly.”