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# U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear WA capital gains tax case
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/articles/briefs/2024/01/us-supreme-court-declines-hear-wa-capital-gains-tax-case/
- Published: 2024-01-16T13:13:07.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-19T11:17:12.000Z
- Author: Mai Hoang
- Tags: Politics, #brief, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-04-25 08:30, #Import 2025-05-09 14:33, #article

The U.S. Supreme Court [declined to hear a case](https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/011624zor%5Fe1pf.pdf?ref=cascadepbs.org) challenging Washington state’s capital gains tax.

A group looking to repeal the law [appealed to the Supreme Court last August](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-171/275800/20230821144410161%5F2023-8-21%20Final%20Quinn%20cert%20petition.pdf?ref=cascadepbs.org), following a March ruling by the Washington Supreme Court to[ uphold the law,](https://crosscut.com/politics/2023/03/wa-capital-gains-case-settled-whats-next-tax-reform?ref=cascadepbs.org) which puts a 7% tax on profits from the sales of stocks and bonds exceeding $250,000, with exemptions for sales of real estate, retirement accounts, livestock and timber for ranching or farming. There’s also a special deduction for the sale of family-owned businesses.

Those who have pushed the capital gains tax, passed in 2021, see it as a move toward a less-regressive tax system, including a first step toward an income tax. Implementing an income tax, however, has been unpopular — with Washington residents rejecting several measures that would do so.

However, the Washington Supreme Court deemed in its ruling on the case, *Quinn v. Washington,* that the new tax was on the sale of goods and services, not income.

In its first year, the tax [generated $889 million](https://crosscut.com/briefs/2023/11/washington-collects-890m-first-year-new-capital-gains-tax?ref=cascadepbs.org), according to November figures from the state Department of Revenue. The first $500 million was allocated to a state fund for K-12 education and child-care programs. The remaining dollars are expected to go to an account paying for school construction.