Washington Business Fall 2018 | Legislative Review & Vote Record | Page 39

issue area reports | taxation
forums outside of Olympia, and the require-
ment to award attorney’s fees in certain
cases.
HB 2967
capital gains tax
Failed/AWB Opposed
Sen. Sharon Brown, R-Kennewick, is the ranking member of the Senate Economic Development &
International Trade Committee.
EHB 2777
tax appeals
Passed/AWB Supported
Sp o n s o r e d b y R e p. L a u r ie J i n k i n s ,
D-Tacoma, this bill sought to increase
the qualifications and staffing level at
the Board of Tax Appeals — an executive
branch agency that is supposed to provide
an independent review of Department of
Revenue assessments. The aim of the legis-
lation is to deal with a multi-year backlog of
tax appeals. AWB supports legislation that
improves the fairness and efficiency of the
tax appeals process. This bill did not rep-
resent AWB’s preferred path to improving
tax appeals, but as amended it did include
elements that would have made incremen-
tal progress for taxpayers, such as a stay of
collections pending appeal and the ability
to obtain attorney’s fees for some prevail-
ing parties. AWB would have preferred the
elimination of the Board of Tax Appeals in
favor of a specialized Tax Court within
the judicial branch, which was proposed
by Senate Bill 5866 in 2017. A Tax Court
would reduce the layers of appeal, increase
predictability and consistency, and provide
a truly independent and expert review. In
past sessions, Tax Court legislation has not
received a hearing in the House Judiciary
Committee chaired by Rep. Jinkins, despite
passing in the Senate. The reforms to the
Board of Tax Appeals bill passed 98-0 in the
House and 48-1 in the Senate. The governor
vetoed numerous provisions, including all
amendments that were supported by AWB
and added during the legislative process,
such as a provision to specify the number of
tax referees, a provision to hold hearings at
Sp on s ore