The News Tribune Business Team will keep you updated on what's happening in the South Sound and beyond. Check here for news about economic development, aerospace, shopping and much more.
Talk to us
Got something to say? Here's the place to say it. We welcome your comments on what's going on in business in the South Sound that we should be discussing, reporting or analyzing here on our blog or in the pages of The News Tribune.
Contributors
Marce Edwards is the business editor. She has been at The News Tribune for seven years and has written about technology and big businesses in the South Sound including Weyerhaeuser and Russell. Before moving to Tacoma, she worked at The Idaho Statesman in Boise. She is a Northwest native who likes to garden and refuses to use an umbrella. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and two kids.
C.R. Roberts is a Tacoma native. Before joining The News Tribune, he worked as a freelance writer and part-time cowhand on a cattle ranch in Northern Idaho. He writes about small business, personal finance and other business issues.
John Gillie writes about the aerospace and airline industries, commercial development and consumer issues. During his 30-year-tenure at The News Tribune he has covered issues as diverse as the Native American fishing rights disputes, crime and the courts, the wood products industry and energy. He lived in Tacoma with his family for 25 years, but now lives in Kent because his wife heads a five-state non-profit foundation headquartered in Ballard, and it only seemed a sensible compromise to make considering their workplaces are 40 miles apart.
Kelly Kearsley has been a business reporter at The News Tribune since 2005. She covers the Port of Tacoma and international trade. Being born and raised in Spokane she’s used to living in cities with inferiority complexes and, in fact, prefers it. Prior to working at The News Tribune, she spent three years as a reporter for The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon and another year working stints for The Associated Press and Seattle Times. She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and miniature schnauzer.
- All
- Aerospace (1477)
- Banking (179)
- Commercial Real Estate (145)
- Consumer Alert (28)
- Downtown Tacoma (225)
- Economic Development (273)
- Employment/Workplace (283)
- Food (32)
- General (1920)
- Labor (178)
- Port and trade (275)
- Residential Real Estate (77)
- Restaurants (145)
- Retail (63)
- Shopping (320)
- Technology (133)
- Tourism (742)
- Your view (7)
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| << < | > >> | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
- October 2009 (59)
- September 2009 (83)
- August 2009 (109)
- July 2009 (98)
- June 2009 (107)
- May 2009 (108)
- April 2009 (124)
- March 2009 (100)
- February 2009 (95)
- January 2009 (112)
- December 2008 (100)
- November 2008 (101)
- More...
XML Feeds- MrSinister
- artman77
- elcidvicious
- Guest Users: 402
Washington loses up to $375 million annually – equal to about 5 percent of tax collections – to as many at 164,000 unregistered businesses operating in the state, according to a new study issued by the Washington State Department of Revenue.
The department recovers about $25 million annually from unregistered businesses through its tax discovery efforts, but the findings will help it bring more businesses into compliance through a combination of education and enforcement, Director Cindi Holmstrom said Thursday. “Legitimate businesses have told us time and again that nobody should enjoy a competitive advantage simply by evading taxes.”
The analysis found that an estimated 99,000 businesses conducting business in Washington were registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) but not the state, costing the state an estimated $225 million in annual tax revenue, equal to 3 percent of taxes collected from registered businesses. An additional $150 million may be lost to another 65,000 businesses that are not registered with either the IRS or the state.
By comparison, the state has 760,000 registered businesses, though only about 460,000 those have to file and pay taxes after small business credits are considered.
The study confirms that out-of-state businesses operating in Washington comprise the bulk of the tax losses, with an estimated $155 million of the $225 million in unpaid tax. These businesses comprise about 25,000 of the 99,000 businesses registered with the IRS but not the state. Many may not realize that their activity requires them to register to do business in Washington. Most of the Department’s current tax discovery efforts are targeted at identifying these businesses and getting them registered and paying taxes.
Washington-based sole proprietors comprise the largest number of unregistered businesses, at 45,000 of the 99,000. Professional and management services constituted the largest dollar loss at $19.6 million of the $52 million in unpaid taxes.
