Capital gains tax in Washington (state)

In the U.S. state of Washington, a capital gains tax of 7% is levied on profits from the sale or exchange of personal long-term capital assets such as stocks, bonds, business interests, or other investments and tangible assets over $262,000.^[1] Several types of assets are exempt from the tax including real estate, assets held in retirement accounts, livestock, timberlands, commercial fishing privileges, and goodwill from the sale of an auto dealership.^[1] The tax differs from capital gains taxes at the federal level and many states which tax broadly tax both tangible assets such as property as well as intangible assets such as stocks and bonds.^[2][3]

Revenue from the tax goes toward education, childcare, early learning, and school construction.^[4] In its first two years the tax paid for 171 school construction projects though the Common School Construction Account including $3.8 million for additional classrooms in the Lummi School District, $1.6 million for the Whatcom County Skills Center, and four school construction projects, totaling $2.29 million in Skagit County.^[5][6] The capital gains tax also pays for the Fair Start for Kids Act, which the "Budget & Policy Center also credits the capital gains tax with contributing to a roughly $350 million increase in state funding for child care and early learning programs in the current two-year budget," creating more than 10,000 affordable childcare openings.^[7][6][8]