New tax proposal targets WA’s largest corporations, including Amazon, Microsoft
Dec 2, 2025, 4:51 PM | Updated: Dec 5, 2025, 5:50 pm
Corporate logos for Amazon, Microsoft. (Photos courtesy of Getty Images file photos)
(Photos courtesy of Getty Images file photos)
A new tax proposal targets Washington’s largest corporations, such as Amazon and Microsoft.
The Well Washington Fund would generate approximately $3 billion a year for things like higher education and healthcare, using a payroll tax on wages over $125,000 at the biggest 1% of Washington companies, according to Democratic State Representative Shaun Scott.
Scott said this is needed to offset the effects of the so-called “Big Beautiful Act,” also known as “H.R. 1,” passed earlier this year by Congress and backed by President Trump.
“H.R. 1 is not a budget — it’s a billionaire bailout paid for by working people,” Scott said. “It hands permanent tax cuts to the ultra-rich while forcing states like Washington to absorb deep federal funding losses. My bill ensures that Washington doesn’t balance its books on the backs of working families.”
“There may be no kings in Washington state, but we most certainly do have elites,” Scott said on the steps of the Washington State Capitol Tuesday. “If these corporations were as enthusiastic about paying their taxes as they were about paying to avoid them, there are millions of Washingtonians who would not have to worry about how to pay for higher education, healthcare, and housing in our state.”
However, State Representative and Washington State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh told “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio that this proposal will be “dead on arrival” when the legislative session begins in January.
“It’s all rhetoric. This would be a state income tax,” Walsh said. “And they can play games and say, well, excise tax is not paid for by the worker, it’s paid for by the employer. That’s blarney. It’s paid for by the worker. And it’s just one more insult.”
The Bellevue Chamber of Commerce is against the proposal.
In a news release, it said the proposal “guarantees to increase costs on working families, exacerbating Washington’s already historic affordability crisis.”
“Washington’s economy is not on a good footing right now,” Bellevue Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Joe Fain told KIRO Newsradio. “It’s concerning to see something that is attempting to strike at the heart of job creators.”
Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.
