Updated October 5, 2026. Quick answer: No. Washington taxes no trust income today, because the Department of Revenue says “Washington does not currently have an individual income tax.” A new 9.9% tax on individuals above $1 million of income starts in 2028.
How Washington treats trust income
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Treatment | Washington has no income tax on individuals today, so a non-grantor trust has no state income tax return or rate to apply. The source says: “Washington does not currently have an individual income tax.” The Department of Revenue prints no separate rule for trusts. |
| Where the no-tax rule is written | The Department of Revenue’s income tax page states the rule, and the 2026 law that creates the new tax says who pays it. The source says: “Only individuals are subject to payment of the tax”. The same law defines an individual as a natural person, so a trust is not the taxpayer. |
| Rate on trust income | There is no rate for trusts. Starting January 1, 2028, the new tax is 9.9% (printed as 9.90 percent in the law) of an individual’s Washington taxable income, with a $1,000,000 standard deduction per individual. |
| Who counts as a resident trust | The 2026 law has no resident trust test. It does tell a resident individual to add income from an incomplete-gift nongrantor trust to the individual’s own base income. The source says: “income from a trust treated as a nongrantor trust”. That income is taxed on the individual, not the trust. |
| Return to file | No Washington income tax return exists today. The Department says the first return under the new tax is due in 2029 and that filing guidance will come later. |
| Not stated in the documents read | The documents do not address a distribution deduction, distributable net income, or a nonresident trust rule, and they print no other tax that applies to trust income. |
A $10,000 example
A trust with $10,000 of taxable income owes $0 of Washington income tax on it. Federal tax on the trust’s income still applies.
Where a trust is administered does not by itself settle the question: other states tax a trust by who created it or who benefits from it, as the by-state table on state taxation of trust income shows.
What changes in 2026
The 2026 Legislature enacted Senate Bill 6346, a 9.9% tax beginning January 1, 2028 on individuals with adjusted gross income above $1 million, and it taxes only individuals.
Federal rules
The state’s treatment sits on top of the federal one. The federal brackets a trust faces are laid out in trust tax brackets versus individual brackets, and capital gains that a trust keeps are covered in capital gains stay in the trust. The IRS explains the federal return in the About Form 1041 page.
Related: how Washington taxes retirement income, whether Washington taxes pensions, what a living trust costs in Washington, trust income tax by state, and federal trust tax brackets.
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Answer againSources
- Income tax (Washington Department of Revenue): https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/income-tax
- Frequently asked questions about income tax (Washington Department of Revenue): https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/income-tax/frequently-asked-questions-about-income-tax
- Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6346, Session Laws 2026 (Washington State Legislature): https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/6346-S.SL.htm
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 5, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.