In accordance with Gov. Jay Inslee’s recent actions, Washington State University will be refunding taxes collected last month as part of the Washington Cares Trust Fund.
On Jan. 27, Inslee signed two bills that delay the fund – known as the Long Term Care benefit – from going into effect for 18 months. Doing so delays deduction of the WaCares tax from paychecks and the taxes collected in January from WSU employees will be refunded on Feb. 10 paychecks.
The refund plan was announced in a Jan. 28 email to WSU employees from Human Resource Services.
The 0.58% WaCares tax will go to funding a trust account to provide Washingtonians support for long-term care needs, such as transportation and meal preparation along with nursing and assisted living services.
Concerns from state employees and employers regarding the status of those who work in Washington but live in other states prompted new legislation. The newly signed bills give out-of-state state employees as well as military families and some disabled veterans the ability to request an exemption. Older state workers who won’t be working long enough to become fully vested will be able to claim a partial benefit based on the number of years they paid into the trust fund as part of the modified legislation.
Collection of the WaCares tax is now expected to begin in July 2023. Additional information on the exemption process is not yet available.
More information can be found on the WA Cares Fund website.
