Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network • Hacker News Board

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#81

Post by DenisM » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 4:03 AM UTC

rdl wrote: post #36

amckenna wrote: post #5

it is just getting better and better to live here in Seattle. Legalization of weed, same-sex marriage, and now high-speed internet

The bad thing about WA state is the tax structure -- no corp or personal income tax (good), but the B&O tax is a gross receipts tax, really complex (it varies by county and by type of business), and has pyramiding (as do all gross receipts taxes) -- it's equivalent to a 12-15% corp income tax for many businesses. If you don't use 2-3 levels of contractors, or have a lot of work done as subassemblies, it should be ok…

Little known fact - income derived from sales to people outside WA is no subject to B&O tax. An Internet startup will likely have only 2% of their users in WA, and so only that much is subject to B&O tax.

This is not a tax advice, consult a competent accountant.

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#82

Post by MartinCron » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 4:05 AM UTC

amckenna wrote: post #5

it is just getting better and better to live here in Seattle. Legalization of weed, same-sex marriage, and now high-speed internet

Putting high speed Internet (and weed, really) on the same level as marriage equality feels a little...cheap.

But, I agree with your sentiment. I love living in Seattle.

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#83

Post by erickhill » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 4:06 AM UTC

So proud of Seattle on a personal and professional level, across multiple recent advancements.

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#84

Post by MartinCron » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 4:06 AM UTC

hoka wrote: post #24

amckenna wrote: post #5

it is just getting better and better to live here in Seattle. Legalization of weed, same-sex marriage, and now high-speed internet

Fix that whole rain thing and I'll be there tomorrow.

Why fix what isn't broken? Some people enjoy the rain.

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#85

Post by drewrv » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 4:13 AM UTC

MartinCron wrote: post #82

amckenna wrote: post #5

it is just getting better and better to live here in Seattle. Legalization of weed, same-sex marriage, and now high-speed internet

Putting high speed Internet (and weed, really) on the same level as marriage equality feels a little...cheap. But, I agree with your sentiment. I love living in Seattle.

The drug wars effect on minority communities is often overlooked. The legalization of weed is a civil rights victory.

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#86

Post by btilly » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 4:16 AM UTC

jlgreco wrote: post #70

enjo wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have the yellowstone volcano here in Colorado...

I think you could say North America has that one.. ;)

The odds are very high that it will not go off in our lifetimes.

The odds are high that it will not go off in the time that the United States of America is a country.

The odds are reasonable that it will not go off in the time that homo sapiens is a species.

If it does go off, it will be the largest disaster on record, the United States as we know it will be destroyed, and it will be a worldwide threat.

Let's not worry about it, shall we?

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#87

Post by rizzom5000 » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 4:17 AM UTC

loeg wrote: post #42

rdl wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bad thing about WA state is the tax structure -- no corp or personal income tax (good), but the B&O tax is a gross receipts tax, really complex (it varies by county and by type of business), and has pyramiding (as do all gross receipts taxes) -- it's equivalent to a 12-15% corp income tax for many businesses. If you don't use 2-3 levels of contractors, or have a lot of work done as subassemblies, it should be ok…

Can you expand on why the lack of personal income tax is a good thing? Instead, WA has roughly 10% sales tax which some would say disproportionately taxes the poor.

Washington's general sales tax rate is 6.5%, which is similar to the general sales tax rate in all other states that have one. Most other states, in addition to a 5-7% general sales tax, also tax personal income. I've looked, but have failed to find what the taxpayers in those states are getting for their overall higher taxes.

As an aside, OR to the south of WA doesn't have a sales tax at all, but rather an income tax, which would come out to about 9% for me if I lived there. In WA I pay about a 9% sales tax on things I purchase excepting housing and food. When you do the math, whether I'm rich or I'm poor; my taxes are lower in WA - unless I'm spending obscene amounts of money buying stuff other than housing and food (edit: or don't have an income but do purchase goods and services).

Also, I don't know if it's related or not, but WA does have a much more vibrant economy than OR and most other states with an income tax.

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#88

Post by MartinCron » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 4:21 AM UTC

drewrv wrote: post #85

MartinCron wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Putting high speed Internet (and weed, really) on the same level as marriage equality feels a little...cheap. But, I agree with your sentiment. I love living in Seattle.

The drug wars effect on minority communities is often overlooked. The legalization of weed is a civil rights victory.

Good point. I have a hard time shaking my "white stoner kid" stereotype.

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#89

Post by jvm » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 4:23 AM UTC

rdl wrote: post #72

jvm wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's good in that it's efficient (consumption = income-savings so it is good that it does not tax savings), but it's bad in that it's regressive. The easiest way to make it progressive is by offering a rebate check to residents for poverty-level spending (or 2x poverty perhaps). This makes it highly progressive: low income earners actually get money from it on net. The problem is that a rebate check provides a perver…

I hadn't thought of the "residency arbitrage" problem at the state level. Presumably it would work a lot better at the federal level as a result; we already have lots of effort put into both becoming a citizen and determining who is and is not a citizen. The other benefit of a negative tax (negative consumption tax or negative income tax) is that we could then get rid of virtually all other benefits and entitlements…

Nice to meet someone with my exact policy views! :-)

There's another huge problem that it solves besides just administrative costs. Currently marginal tax rates near the poverty line are very high due to loss of access to need-based programs like foodstamps (exactly how high depends a lot on individual circumstances). It's a horrible burden on the working poor that nobody seems to understand. More discussion here: http://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-flat-t...

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#90

Post by rhettg » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 4:24 AM UTC

jlgreco wrote: post #76

clauretano wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[citation needed] re: Belltown crime. SLU is a former industrial neighborhood now filled with Amazon offices and cookie-cutter apartments. Basically the positive there is that you're close to work, the neighborhood itself is severely lacking in culture.

Belltown is "dangerous" only for people who have never lived in a city with a real dangerous neighborhood. I have never so much as felt even uncomfortable walking around Belltown alone at night. I can't say the same about most downtowns of other cities I've been in, let alone sketchier neighborhoods. Maybe I've just been desensitized, but I really feel like there is no cause for alarm in Belltown.

I just moved from SOMA in SF to Belltown. Feels like Disneyland.