With solid voter support for overhaul, here's what's next for Seattle's B&O tax

Seattle voters overwhelmingly supported a major overhaul of the city's business and occupation tax in last week's general election.

The passage of Proposition 2, which has received more than 70% support so far, means four B&O tax updates affecting around 21,000 businesses will go into effect Jan. 1, said city Finance Director Jamie Carnell. Manual filers will see the changes on tax forms starting Feb. 1, and filers who use FileLocal will see the changes by the April 1 filing deadline.

These changes — temporary through 2029 but with an option for the City Council to extend another four years — are expected to reduce the Seattle B&O tax for 90% of all Seattle businesses and exempt 76% of all businesses that currently pay the tax.

Proposition 2 is forecasted to generate a net increase of $81 million for the Seattle general fund in 2026 and will be used to sustain affordable housing, shelter, food access and other services.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2025/11/10/what-next-seattle-businesses-post-tax-overhaul-win.html