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feendog333 t1_j9z5atl wrote

WA has no state income tax.

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tankmode t1_ja0z7jy wrote

but has 3-4% (and increasing) of bullshit payroll taxes PMFL, LTC, LNI

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ardesofmiche t1_j9z5tm2 wrote

No state income tax in Washington

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CaptainBillyum t1_ja0r9vs wrote

dont go to northern Idaho, Aryan Nations operates there, bunch of inbred hillbillies foaming at the mouth for racism

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789Exmo t1_ja01iwe wrote

It depends how your company's business license is set up. You'll need to talk to HR about this. If your company currently has employees working in Washington, that's a pretty good sign you'll be fine.

We went through this almost four years ago. My husband got clearance from his boss in Utah to work remotely in Washington. We sold our home and were on the drive here when he got word from HR that we couldn't actually move because their business license wasn't set up to have employees working in Washington. Fun times.

It was an unfortunate situation and our workaround was to keep a Utah address and pay Utah taxes until my husband got a job locally.

TLDR: talk to your company's HR

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entropic_apotheosis t1_ja2a67x wrote

It doesn’t depend on anything except his state of residence - I’ve worked remotely since 2020- I’ve encountered a bunch of things including working for WA state, who didn’t want to pay L&I insurance so I went to work for another company who had employees scattered all over the US, then I moved to IL and I work for a company based out of North Carolina, each time they have to make sure if they hire you they’re abiding by your home state’s employment laws but that’s not OPs question- he pays WA state income tax which is nothing because he resides in WA. I pay IL state income tax because I reside in IL, where your employer is located doesn’t have anything to do with it, you pay the taxes for the state you reside in.

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789Exmo t1_ja3shaz wrote

You’ve jogged my memory and made me realize it’s even more important for OP to talk to HR than I stated previously.

I’m not sure a business license was the problem – I’m thinking it was the payroll taxes my husband’s employer was going to have to pay to Washington that they didn’t in Utah. We obviously know that employee taxes change from state to state, but don't often remember employer taxes also change from state to state.

How do taxes work for remote workers?

My husband’s employer may have accepted a pay decrease to cover their increased employer taxes. That likely would have been awash in terms of paying taxes in Utah vs. having a pay decrease but no taxes in Washington. That wouldn’t have worked for us because we were already stretching ourselves so thin, financially, to get into a pricier real estate market. We needed that gross salary as high as possible to qualify. But maybe a pay decrease is something OP is okay with. Maybe their employer is willing to pay the increased cost and keep their salary the same. That’s something OP and their HR would work out, not us.

We moved from the exact state u/1150A is living in, to the exact state they’re considering. I think my experience is very relevant here.

Since there were already a couple of other employees telecommuting, my husband’s boss didn’t realize there would be any problems with us moving and my husband telecommuting as well. He wasn’t versed in the taxes and laws, but HR was. Those problems didn’t come out until our home was sold and we were literally on our way with our children and all possessions. We hadn’t even found a home yet.

I'm trying to save OP the stress we went through.

TLDR: talk to your company’s HR u/1150A

ETA: In case it isn't clear, u/entropic_apotheosis, I've not addressed the tax question OP has asked. I'm simply stating they need to talk to HR about the logistics and make sure their home buying decision works with their employer.

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Few-Wallaby9885 t1_j9z7eqq wrote

Not yet but I many of us want to replace the sales tax with an income tax on high earners.

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tdogg241 t1_j9zx38g wrote

Not enough of us. Implementing an income tax (which we've actually done before!) would require an amendment to the state constitution (which we didn't do the first time, oops). We've made one attempt to fix this in the past 40 years, which failed almost 2:1. For any politician outside of the Seattle city limits, proposing a state income tax is political suicide (and it's not a slam-dunk policy for everyone within the city either).

With the way things are now, I seriously doubt we'll ever implement a progressive income tax in this state in my lifetime. My wife and I make enough money that we benefit from our horrible and regressive tax system, and I really wish it wasn't this way. Things will continue to decay.

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Daddy_Thick t1_ja04jzf wrote

No… no one wants to do this. People come to Washington BECAUSE of no income tax. You want to pay through the nose in taxes you can go down south to our neighbor California and watch 10%+ more of your paycheck disappear into the abyss every month if you’d like.

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PNWBirdy t1_ja10a2a wrote

Or if you want to stay in the pnw you can move to Oregon will they will tax you around the same for less services than you get in Wa

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worldclaimer t1_ja19brh wrote

Which services are less?

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PNWBirdy t1_ja778wp wrote

Washington seems to be able to employ people to keep public infrastructure running and clean when compared to Oregon.

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alex2002f t1_ja4fomc wrote

Don’t even have to go to california! Just go to oregon. It’s even worse.

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Old-AF t1_ja1vmj2 wrote

We pay 10% sales tax; zero difference.

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alex2002f t1_ja4g30e wrote

Well, in California the sales tax is 8-10%, plus 10% income tax.

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Old-AF t1_ja4gmnn wrote

That’s why WA doesn’t pass an income tax; the voters don’t trust the politicians not to do this to us.

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Daddy_Thick t1_ja1y4b3 wrote

🤦‍♂️ That’s all I can respond with to that.

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tankmode t1_ja0yvf3 wrote

effing seriously! if you want all the dumb taxes/laws from California that completely strangled the quality of life there for everyone, just move there yourself. its sunnier!

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brtnbrdr33 t1_ja090to wrote

Moved to Washington for the same reason. Company HQ is in Oregon and told them I either WFH or walk. No reason to pay income tax if you can avoid it. Ensure your company doesn’t have you listed as an in office employee in UT and you should be good.

The fact that no income tax is called out in WA constitution means it will be extremely hard to overturn.

Once they boot the bums this state will be dope.

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Quiet-Context_ t1_ja0igah wrote

Pretty sure you only pay the taxes you are a resident in. I'm wfh with a company out of y state, but am a resident in x state, so I pay taxes to x state.

This is a moot point if you are a WA resident, as everyone has said, WA doesn't have a state tax.

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Apprehensive_Ice2101 t1_ja0wjb6 wrote

I work remote. I live and work in WA, and my company is headquartered in another state that utilizes income tax.

I do not pay income tax.

Though I agree with the other comments in this thread. Income tax would generally be better, and is of course less regressive than sales/excise tax. C’est la Vie.

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Capable_Nature_644 t1_ja1l89l wrote

Wa state doesn't have income tax. When you write your taxes you'll just need to report your property tax payment. If you earn income in wa state yes you will need to report it. Since you're from ut you probably won't have an issue with the snow and winter Spokane gets.

I'd also suggest a video camera security system so you can watch your home from afar. I'd highly suggest multiple ring cameras. Amazon has a few drone cameras you can use inside as well. We use these to check our vaca homes now and then. The auto sensor future is awesome. Not so much as a cat gets past us.

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Past_Entrepreneur658 t1_ja1oftl wrote

No income tax is one of the reasons I chose WA over Oregon. I make more than I spend. There are states with higher sales tax than WA, plus an income tax.

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entropic_apotheosis t1_ja29s6g wrote

If you live in WA and are considered a resident of WA but work for a company in another state you pay WA state tax…which is zero.

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Troutmandoo t1_ja3baok wrote

Washington DOES have an income tax. Just not for everyone. It only applies to business owners like myself. They call it Business and Occupations Tax. I pay a percentage of my income to the government. Tell me how giving it a different name makes it not an income tax.

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duuuh t1_j9zc41u wrote

You'll need to pay UT income tax.

Edit: Perhaps not.

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doktorhladnjak t1_j9zgb77 wrote

OP won’t if they’re not in Utah while doing the work. Remote workers paying taxes where the employer is based is only the case in a few “convenience of the employer” states like NY.

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duuuh t1_j9zhoer wrote

You're right, although they seem to have changed it recently, but that may just have been wrt withholding.

​

https://www.ryan.com/about-ryan/news-and-insights/utah-new-remote-working-paradigm/

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doktorhladnjak t1_j9ziwg2 wrote

This is a bit different. That law would allow OP, as a non resident, to physically work in Utah for up to 20 days before having to pay income taxes there. For example, this would allow them to travel to headquarters a few weeks a year and still not have to pay taxes. In states like California, you must pay taxes on day 1 when working there temporarily as a non resident.

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zsnafu t1_j9zps3g wrote

I'm from Utah. May I ask which company is allowing you to work remotely?

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zer04ll t1_ja0c266 wrote

No, you pay excise tax instead here, some cities charge different tax rates and WA is talking about increasing excise taxes to the point it is like income tax.

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povpaw t1_ja1uv21 wrote

Washington doesn’t need anymore Mormons.

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Upstairs-Ad8823 t1_ja1zp01 wrote

Ha ha there are probably more of us in Spokane and Idaho than Salt Lake City. My lesson for you today is you can fuck right off.

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Upstairs-Ad8823 t1_ja1z92r wrote

Zero diversity- 98% white. Only place I’ve heard the N word spoken openly and heard the word mud- baby for a mixed child. Would never live there again

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