Washington State enacted a new and controversial capital gains tax two years ago. Critics of the 7% tax on the sale or exchange of certain long-term capital assets argued that it violated the state’s constitution. But after a court battle, Washington’s state Supreme Court upheld the measure as a valid excise tax on the sale of assets.
Since then, the state’s capital gains tax, paid by a relatively small number of Washington residents, has generated over $800 million in revenue, exceeding projections. However, in hopes of having the tax overturned, conservative think tank the Freedom Foundation filed an appeal Monday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case Quinn v. Washington.
