AGCW opposes proposed margin tax — AGC’s Michele Willms testified that AGC of Washington is opposed to Senate Bill 5284, which would replace the current B&O tax with the margin tax. Senate Bill 5482 will pick winners and losers in the business community and even within the construction industry. In reviewing the Dept. of Revenue’s information about this bill, contractors that have a gross under $10 million would pay more than they pay under the current B&O tax. Contractors over $10 million would pay less. (Individual results would vary!) The bill doesn’t deal with local governments that have a B&O tax. Another concern raised was that tax rate has increased with each presentation on the margin tax since last November so we really don’t know what the tax rate would be on businesses if the bill passes and is implemented. When Texas adopted their franchise tax, on which this margin tax is modeled, they had to increase their tax rate because it wasn’t bringing in the revenue they projected.
Below are some links regarding the margin tax, including a tax calculator so you can see how it would impact your business.
- Tax Calculator — Tax Structure Work Group (taxworkgroup.org)
- Overview of margin-tax proposal — developed by the Tax Structure Work Group for the 2023 legislature
- Comparison of margin-tax proposal, Texas’ franchise tax, and Washington’s business & occupation (B&O) tax
- Current law: business and occupation (B&O) tax incentives in the margin-tax proposal
- Business-tax incidence graphs: comparison of business and occupation (B&O) tax vs. margin tax by industry and firm size
- Margin-tax bill: SB 5482, concerning the margin tax
It’s not likely this bill will be adopted this year, but we still would like to hear back from members regarding their concern on the margin tax. For more information contact AGC’s Michele Willms.