What a taxable index-fund account is actually worth after expense-ratio drag and after Washington takes its share of the gain — which, in most states, is not at the federal preferential rate.
Washington has no general income tax on the gain but does levy a separate capital gains excise above a threshold — so "no income tax state" is not the whole story for an investor. WASHINGTON'S SHARP EXCEPTION. There is no general income tax, but chapter 82.87 RCW imposes an excise tax on individuals' LONG-TERM capital gains allocated to Washington, above a standard deduction that is adjusted annually for inflation. WHAT THE RECORDED NUMBERS MEAN. ratePct 7 is the base rate on the first $1,000,000 of taxable Washington capital gains. Beginning with tax year 2025, ESSB 5813 (ch. 421, Laws of 2025) adds a further 2.9% on the portion above $1,000,000, so the marginal rate above that point is 9.9% -- a second tier this schema has no field for, recorded here instead of being averaged into a single misleading number. exemptionThreshold 278000 is the standard deduction, and it is the CONFIRMED TAX YEAR 2025 figure carried into this 2026 record because the Department of Revenue had not published a 2026 amount at the time of writing -- which is what dollarFiguresYear 2025 on this record discloses. WHAT IS AND IS NOT IN THE BASE. Only LONG-TERM gains count; short-term gains are outside the tax entirely. Expressly exempt: all real estate, and interests in privately held entities to the extent the gain is attributable to real estate the entity owns; retirement account assets; assets subject to condemnation or imminent threat of it; certain farming and ranching livestock; depreciable assets used in a trade or business; timber and timberlands; commercial fishing privileges; and goodwill from the sale of a franchised auto dealership. A qualified family-owned small business deduction and a charitable donation deduction are also available. THE PRACTICAL SHAPE: a Washington resident who sells a house owes nothing under this tax; a Washington resident who sells $500,000 of appreciated index funds from a taxable brokerage account owes 7% on roughly $222,000 of it.
What your state actually takes from a 401(k) withdrawal, a pension, and Social Security — in dollars, not a yes/no list.
2026 limits, employer match, the 60-63 super catch-up, and whether the Roth catch-up mandate applies to you.
When your RMDs start under SECURE 2.0, how much this year's is, and what missing it costs.
Washington charges $0 in state income tax on a typical retirement income, $5,191 in property tax on its median home and $1,650 in insurance — $6,841 together, which is 20th of 50.
What retiring actually costs across all fifty states in 2026 — the three lines that decide it, why ranking states by income tax gets the answer wrong, the federal rules that follow you everywhere, and the decisions that are worth real money before you move.
What moving actually saves, on your own income mix rather than a headline rate — and how to establish domicile so the state you left cannot follow you.
Which account to draw first, priced. The three cliffs a withdrawal can cross without warning, the conversion window almost nobody uses, and why the order is the last big decision you can still change.