Illustrative back-cast: a 9.9% tax on Washington income over $1M, 1997-2023
Question: What would a 9.9% tax on income above $1M have raised from Washington's $1M+ filers each year, and how much would it have swung?
Result: Illustration only: about $1.57B (2000) to $0.80B (2001, -49%); $7.04B (2021) to $4.40B (2022, -38%) to $3.69B (2023). Without net capital gains: -42% in 2001, -15% in 2022, +15% in 2023.
Operation: illustrativeTaxBillion = 0.099 x (agi1mPlusBillion - returns1mPlus x $1M); illustrativeTaxExNetCgBillion removes net capital gain from the excess first.
Scope: Washington $1M+ AGI class, tax years with a $1M class
- Not a forecast. Ignores compliance, the 4.71% enforcement adjustment, the shared $1M deduction for couples, inflation indexing and any behavioral response.
- Returns are not households; nominal $1M threshold in every year.