Tax on Food in Washington....Just Say No!

I actually read about SB5911 last weekend and was formulating a post about it, but I'm not one for re-inventing the wheel. Writer/farmer/blogger extraordinaire Marilyn Holt of Amicus Agraria has done a very fine job over at her blog. Here's an excerpt and you can read the entire post by clicking on the link that follows:

As if farming is not hard enough, now WA State legislators are trying to sneak the B&O tax onto farmers. This really is a tax on food, which is not taxed in Washington State.

The Capital Press published this story last week, Ag legislator sends out alert about proposed B&O tax. Kudos to Rep. Mark Schoesler, R- Ritzville, ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development Committee and also a member of the Ways & Means Committee.

The B&O tax taxes Washington State businesses selling within Washington State on the GROSS income not the NET income. It is probably the one tax in Washington that hurts businesses the most. However, if you sell your product outside of the state, you do not pay it on that income, and if you import product into the state, you do not pay it on that income, either. This tax has the potential to cripple or even destroy the locally grown food movement in Washington State.

Link to entire post @ Amicus Agraria

How about a tariff on agricultural products NOT grown in Washington State instead? Just a random thought...