Washington still has no individual income tax today, and most Washington residents will never owe the one lawmakers passed in 2026. Starting January 1, 2028, a 9.9% tax applies to individual income above a $1,000,000 standard deduction. Voters were asked to repeal it on November 3, 2026, and the unofficial count is running against repeal. A separate court challenge could still end it.
Where the repeal vote stands
Initiative 645 would repeal the tax and bar state and local governments from taxing individual income. The Secretary of State’s count, read on the evening of November 4, 2026, has Yes (repeal) at 42.07% and No at 57.93%, with 36 of 39 counties reporting. Washington marks these results unofficial until certification on November 24, 2026, and ballots are still being counted, so treat that as the state of the count and not as the final result. The November 2026 ballot roundup has the other states.
If the count holds, the initiative’s ban on future income taxes also fails, and the tax stays on the books for its 2028 start.
Who owes it
The tax is levied on Washington taxable income, and only individuals pay it. The Department of Revenue describes it as applying to people with annual adjusted gross income above $1,000,000. The statute is more exact. It starts from federal adjusted gross income, makes Washington-specific changes, then subtracts deductions including the $1,000,000 standard deduction, and the 9.9% applies to what is left. It is a flat rate on the excess, so your first $1,000,000 is untaxed however much you earn.
The first returns are due in 2029, for income received in 2028. If you owe no tax under the act, you do not have to file a return. Estimated payments are not required before July 1, 2029. The Department of Revenue first adjusts the deduction for inflation in October 2029, and it says more guidance is coming.
Worked example: the couple who think they are exempt
Two spouses each earn $700,000 in wages in 2028 and have no other income. Each is under the threshold, and many people would assume that means no tax. Others would assume a couple gets double the deduction. Neither is right.
The statute gives ”$1,000,000 per individual”, but for spouses or state registered domestic partners their combined standard deduction is $1,000,000, whether they file jointly or separately.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Combined income | $1,400,000 |
| Shared standard deduction | $1,000,000 |
| Taxable income | $400,000 |
| Tax at 9.9% | $39,600 |
Two unmarried partners earning the same wages would each stay under their own deduction and owe nothing. A dual-income couple near the line is the group most likely to be surprised, so add both incomes together before deciding this does not reach you.
Deductions, credits and what counts as income
The starting point is federal adjusted gross income, so wages and business income are included. Some adjustments matter for high earners:
- Long-term capital gains. Washington already taxes these at 7%, rising to 9.9% on the highest gains. The new tax counts those gains, then gives a nonrefundable credit for the capital gains tax you paid for the same year. Unused credit cannot be carried to another year or refunded.
- Exempt sales. The act says it intends to leave out sales already exempt from the capital gains tax, including residential and other real property and qualified family-owned small businesses.
- Municipal bonds. Interest excluded from federal income is added back, except interest on Washington state and local obligations. A portfolio of other states’ bonds is exposed.
- Charitable gifts. Deductible up to $100,000, again shared between spouses or domestic partners.
- Business and occupation tax. A nonrefundable credit covers B&O or public utility tax paid on the same income.
If you move in or out
Residents are taxed on income wherever it comes from, and nonresidents on income from Washington sources. Someone domiciled in Washington stays a resident unless they keep no home there, keep one elsewhere, and spend no more than 30 days in the state during the year. A person who lives in Washington for only part of the year has the standard deduction reduced by a fraction, so part-year income can be taxed sooner than the headline number suggests.
Income received before January 1, 2028 is outside this tax, so there is nothing to file or pay for 2026 or 2027. If the tax could change where you live, model your own numbers with the moving states calculator, which models Washington as having no income tax, and read our guide to whether moving to a no-income-tax state is worth it.
The court challenge
News reports before the election said opponents had sued, arguing the state constitution bars the tax, and that the case was pending in Klickitat County Superior Court. We could not read the case record on a Washington court site, so that detail rests on those reports.
What we can read is what a loss would do. If a court of final jurisdiction invalidates the section that imposes the tax, the act says most of the rest of it is void too. That includes the relief the tax pays for:
- the sales tax exemptions for diapers, over-the-counter drugs, and grooming and hygiene products, due from January 1, 2029,
- the expansion of the Working Families Tax Credit, and
- the higher business and occupation tax filing threshold.
A middle-income household therefore has a stake in the case even though it will never owe the tax.
What this means for “no income tax” lists
Through 2027, Washington taxes no wages. From 2028 it has a tax on income above the deduction, unless the courts say otherwise. For how the other states compare, see which states have no income tax and how state income tax works.