Back door to income tax

The 16th Amendment to the Constitution established the federal income tax. The initial tax rates in 1913 were 1 percent for incomes up to $20,000 at a time when 99 percent of taxpayers made less than $20,000 annually. They rose to a maximum of 7 percent for incomes over $500,000. The forms and directions totaled four pages.

The federal income tax was popular because the wealthy would pay much more than the average worker. Now, federal tax rates have risen steeply for many taxpayers while forms and directions total innumerable pages and are so complicated that even the most intelligent often must hire experts to complete their tax filing.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has proposed a capital gains tax on profits over $25,000, again vilifying the “wealthy,” suggesting that $25,000 in capital gains makes one wealthy. Once another large bureaucracy of civil service parasites is established, it will be easy to add additional rules and taxes, further justifying even more nonproductive jobs.

This is the back door to a state income tax. How many of us that still possess our sanity after struggling with federal income taxes want to go through the process again with a state income tax? Wise up.

Jim Ebisch

Cheney