, Columnist
Seattle's Boom Is a Boon for the Tax Man
A liberal city thinks of everything when it comes to raising revenue.
A gusher of potential revenue.
Photographer: George Rose/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
President Donald Trump has renewed his attacks on Amazon, essentially calling it a tax shirker. As with many assertions, Trump is wrong. The e-commerce behemoth does pay taxes. But in its hometown of Seattle, where the politics could not be more different from the president’s, that’s not enough.
The recent Seattle mayoral primary featured a plan for a $100-per-employee “Amazon tax” on companies with 50 or more workers; a head tax is a perennial idea for the left-of-left Seattle City Council. In a city that never met a tax increase it didn’t love, if it is not an Amazon tax, it could be a tax on investment properties or a tax on vacant houses and condos. Tax something.