Bellevue Wants to Change How Your Business is Taxed. Help Us Check the Math.
Date postedOctober 28, 2026
ADVOCACY UPDATE · ADVOCACY
Bellevue Wants to Change How Your Business is Taxed. Help Us Check the Math.
Bellevue Chamber of Commerce | October 28, 2026
The City is proposing to simplify its business taxes and licensing, and a refined package heads to Council later this year. Here’s the short version:
- Gross receipts tax: the exemption jumps from $215,000 to $500,000 in annual sales.
- Square footage tax: it only kicks in above 2,500 square feet (up from 250), and the rate drops to $1.00 per square foot. Gross receipts tax you’ve already paid counts as a credit against it.
- Business license: the one-time $119 fee becomes an annual renewal based on gross receipts:
- Free under $50,000
- $50 for $50,001 to $250,000
- $150 for $250,001 to $1 million
- $350 above $1 million
The City expects the change to be roughly neutral for most businesses. We’d like to know if that’s true for yours!
If you’re a business based in Bellevue, take five minutes with the City’s calculator and send Tony Sprague (tony@bellevuechamber.org) what you pay today versus under the proposal, along with your sector and roughly how many employees you have. We’ll keep individual results confidential.
Send by November 13 so we can bring them to our Policy Council discussion with City staff on November 17.
Categories
The Seattle Times editorial board is weighing in on the statewide payroll tax proposal.
Bellevue Chamber President & CEO Joe Fain: “In practical terms, this means taxpayers and employers from every corner of Washington would be directly subsidizing the City of Seattle’s budget.”
Read the editorial: https://lnkd.in/g-MttGZa
Bellevue Chamber President & CEO Joe Fain: “In practical terms, this means taxpayers and employers from every corner of Washington would be directly subsidizing the City of Seattle’s budget.”
Read the editorial: https://lnkd.in/g-MttGZa
Read more
Bellevue Chamber
3 minutes ago
The Bellevue Chamber joined Washington Roundtable, Association of Washington Business, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and Greater Spokane Inc. in responding to an income tax measure introduced in Olympia. While framed as a personal income tax, the proposal has clear implications for business activity, and deserves careful review.
As we evaluate the legislation, we’re focused on affordability impacts for families and employers, whether outcomes are tangible in communities, and how the policy affects long-term budget sustainability and Washington’s competitiveness.
Chamber President & CEO Joe Fain also flagged several structural issues that need closer review, including treatment of pass-through entities, charitable deductions, a potential marriage penalty, and interactions with other state tax policies.
Read more: https://lnkd.in/g8Uv_wD4
As we evaluate the legislation, we’re focused on affordability impacts for families and employers, whether outcomes are tangible in communities, and how the policy affects long-term budget sustainability and Washington’s competitiveness.
Chamber President & CEO Joe Fain also flagged several structural issues that need closer review, including treatment of pass-through entities, charitable deductions, a potential marriage penalty, and interactions with other state tax policies.
Read more: https://lnkd.in/g8Uv_wD4
Read more
Bellevue Chamber
52 minutes ago