Kshama Sawant wants to tax Amazon so people can afford to live in Seattle. Can she pull it off?

New tax proposal by the socialist city council member would affect about 825 companies and is expected to raise $300m each year

Just a few months after going head-to-head with an Amazon-backed rival to claim her third term on the Seattle city council, Kshama Sawant has proposed a new tax on the trillion dollar giant and other large Seattle businesses, which she says will "stop at nothing" to try to defeat progressive proposals like this one.

The proposal, which was unveiled last week, would involve a 1.7% payroll tax on the top 3% of companies (based on their payroll) operating out of the city. Sawant estimates the tax will impact about 825 companies, each with about $7m or more in annual payroll. All non-profit organizations, public employers and grocery stores would be exempt.