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To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (26446)	3/28/2005 3:39:37 PM
From: Steve Lokness	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

<Do you have sales tax on homes in Washington? Isn't there a problem with people going to Oregon - don't they have a lower sales tax?> There is some problem with going to Oregon (as there is to buying online), but it's kind of hard to buy a house in Oregon and work here unless you are close to the border. It use to be that you could buy a car in Oregon and license it there - but that too has been fixed. It is a wonderful way to be taxed (even though as a business owner - I have to mess with it). Every couple of years they try to pass an income tax and every time it gets shot down. The biggest problem is that there are big swings between lean years and years of abundance. It must not be too bad for big business as MSFT, Boeing, Starbucks and Amazon all call Washington home. steve

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (26446)	3/29/2005 12:18:21 PM
From: benwood	Respond to of 116555

No sales tax on homes in Washington. There is an excise tax, about 1.3% last time I bought a house -- that may be county dependent though. Border counties get killed by Oregon shoppers. My parents live about 30 minutes from Oregon and do the bulk of their non-food shopping there. They are looking forward to when Costo goes up in The Dalles, OR, so they can shop Costco sales-tax-free too. Steve mentions our exclusions to medical & food. The tax on food has been added in twice by the legislature, both times shot down by voter initiatives. They've talked for years about tacking the tax onto medical services and utilities but haven't accomplished it yet. I would expect that once the Feds get in on the fun, they will do the same, except it will be impossible to remove the tax from food and medical services once applied. And in keeping with the "go easy on the rich, they've had it tough" philosophy, I would expect their own brand of sales tax to be the most egregious possible towards lower income people. Anecdotes of wealthy escaping all federal taxation aside, sales tax affects the poor disproportionately. Washington State is a haven for wealthy people. One friend of mine who retired (fairly well) and moved to Oregon said he was getting killed by the State Income tax there, which taxes all his retirement income. If he'd stayed in Washington State, his tax load would have been very light since he didn't buy much stuff that was not exempt.