City Follows Thru on B&O Tax Breaks

Tuesday night, the Tacoma City Council unanimously passed Ordinance No. 27958 adopting breaks on the local B&O tax.

Lead by Mayor Marilyn Stickland, who spoke directly to the issue at the Chamber's Board of Directors during their January 2010 meeting, the Council's action will directly positively impact many smaller businesses. 

The ordinance increases the floor amount of the gross taxable minimum threshold from a set $75,000 (2010) to $250,000 (2011 and beyond), exempting those businesses less than that amount.  As an assistance to those smaller businesses on the margins of the new minimum floor, the Council added an incremental tax credit for gross income between $250,000 and $300,000.

Those incremental steps are:

Gross Income                            Tax Credit % of total tax due

• $250,000                                  $0
• $250,001 thru 260,000               90%
• $260,001 thru 270,000               80%
• $270,001 thru 280,000               70%
• $280,001 thru 290,000               45%
• $290,001 thru 300,000               25%

These changes will apply for tax reporting periods beginning January 1, 2011.

The Chamber expresses its appreciation to the Council and the leadership of Mayor Strickland on behalf of the businesses in the City of Tacoma for this most positive step benefitting the competitiveness of city businesses and improving the economic climate of the community.