FactHub saved analysis

Increases by who pays

Which groups directly pay the enacted increases?

Coverage: Legislative sessions 2017 through 2026 (enactments January 2017 – March 2026); status as of 2026-10-11

Node: dataset:wa-legislature-tax-fee-changes-2017-2026:1:analysis:increases-by-who-pays

Contained in Washington Legislature tax and fee changes, 2017–2026 sessions (itemized).

What this dataset measures

Existing public lists count bills, mix taxes with fees and local authority, and are maintained by partisan caucuses. This dataset counts individual changes, separates clear from debatable increases, records cuts alongside increases, and cites a source for every row so each item can be checked.

Geography: Washington State, United States
Unit of observation: One individual tax or fee change enacted in a bill
Update cadence: Irregular; may be updated after future sessions or corrections
Curator: FactHub contributor (research compiled with Claude, Anthropic)

Supporting files

Source snapshots, manifests, quality reports, documentation, and other materials used to produce or review this release.

methodology.md Documentation · text/markdown · 5.7 KB (5,803 bytes)
Definitions, classification rules, sources, corrections and limitations.

Saved analyses

Increases by who pays

Question: Which groups directly pay the enacted increases?

Result: Drivers / vehicle owners: 42 clear of 45; Specific industries: 35 clear of 61; Consumers: 14 clear of 20; Homeowners / property buyers: 9 clear of 13; Licensed trades / regulated: 9 clear of 16; Large businesses: 9 clear of 12; High earners / wealthy: 6 clear of 8; Outdoor recreation: 4 clear of 5; Out-of-state buyers / sellers: 3 clear of 7; Small businesses: 3 clear of 4; Businesses generally: 3 clear of 6; Workers (payroll): 2 clear of 3; Other: 2 clear of 3; Local option (voters/councils decide): 0 clear of 27

Operation: Group increases.csv by who_pays_group; count all rows and rows with debatable='no'.

Scope: All increase rows

View this analysis

Counts are a floor: small agency-set fees and some minor licensing-fee bills may be missing.
The unit is an individual change; how a bill is split into changes involves judgment (see methodology.md).
Groups record who pays directly, not who ultimately bears the cost.
Grouping is editorial and keyword-based.

Sources

WA Department of Revenue, 2017 Summary of Tax Legislation Primary source for 2017 session tax changes
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured August 7, 2026
WA Department of Revenue, 2018 Summary of Tax Legislation Primary source for 2018 session tax changes
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured October 12, 2026
WA Department of Revenue, 2019 Summary of Tax Legislation Primary source for 2019 session tax changes
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured October 12, 2026
WA Department of Revenue, 2020 Summary of Tax Legislation Primary source for 2020 session tax changes
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured October 12, 2026
WA Department of Revenue, 2021 Summary of Tax Legislation Primary source for 2021 session tax changes
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured October 12, 2026
WA Department of Revenue, 2022 Summary of Tax Legislation Primary source for 2022 session tax changes
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured October 12, 2026
WA Department of Revenue, 2023 Summary of Tax Legislation Primary source for 2023 session tax changes
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured October 12, 2026
WA Department of Revenue, 2024 Summary of Legislation Primary source for 2024 session tax changes
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured August 7, 2026
WA Department of Revenue, 2025 Summary of Legislation Primary source for 2025 session tax changes
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured August 7, 2026
WA Department of Revenue, 2026 Legislative Report Primary source for 2026 session tax changes
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured August 7, 2026
Legislative revenue summary, 2025 ESSB 5801 (transportation revenue) Primary source for the individual 2025 transportation taxes and fees
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured October 12, 2026
Final bill report, 2026 ESSB 6346 (millionaires' income tax and related tax changes) Primary source for 2026 SB 6346 increase and cut rows
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured October 12, 2026
Final bill report, 2022 ESSB 5974 (Move Ahead Washington revenue) Primary source for the individual 2022 transportation fees
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Washington State public record. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured October 12, 2026
Clark County November 2019 sample ballot (statewide advisory votes 20-31) Advisory-vote ballot text naming 2019 tax bills and their 10-year cost estimates
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Public election material; publisher copyright may apply. Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured October 12, 2026
Washington House Republican Caucus, 'Tax increases passed by Democrats' (2017-2026) Partisan checklist used only as a starting point; every item verified against other sources
Retrieved October 11, 2026. Publisher copyright (Washington House Republican Caucus). Linked only; not redistributed in this dataset

Archived copy captured October 12, 2026

Limitations and reproducibility

Manually curated; row-level sources provided: Rows were compiled by reading official summaries, bill reports, session laws and fiscal notes; no automated extraction pipeline. Each row carries its main source URL so it can be checked independently. Saved analyses are simple row counts that can be reproduced from the published CSV files.

Counts are a floor: small agency-set fees and some minor licensing-fee bills may be missing.
The unit is an individual change; splitting bills into changes involves judgment (a single rate schedule is one row; distinct taxes, fees, surcharges or newly taxed service categories are separate rows).
The debatable flag, who-pays grouping and cut packaging are editorial classifications.
Revenue estimates are copied as stated by each source for differing periods and are not comparable or summable.
Status reflects information available on 2026-10-11; the 2026 millionaires' income tax and the cuts tied to it depend on a pending court challenge and the I-645 repeal vote on November 3, 2026.
Some sources were read via text extraction rather than the original file.
A partisan caucus list was used as a starting checklist; all its items were verified against other sources, and several were corrected.

Publications using this dataset

Version details

The exact citing versions, and the version of this dataset each cites.

Article wa-tax-fee-increases-2017-2026 — version 1 (published) cites version 1
Chart wa-tax-fee-increases-by-session — version 1 (published) cites version 1