Looking For Love In Washington Is About To Get More Expensive

The iconic crooner and "Rat Pack" member Dean Martin may have described this aspect of the human condition better than anyone

Our desire to find love, while viewed primarily as an emotional connection, has also been explained scientifically (more specifically biologically).  Companionship is a fundamental need we can spend decades trying to satisfy, and our methods for finding it have evolved much like we have.

The "Traditional" Ways To Find Love

I'll just rattle a few of them off:

• In the workplace
• Within a group of friends
• At your place of worship
• Blind date
• At a local watering hole (the bar)
• Video dating service

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Once the internet became prominent we had a new way to find love without leaving the house.

Online Dating Became All The Rage

Those of us of a certain age remember when meeting someone in a chat room was the earliest form of online dating.  As the 90s rolled on, the first online dating service came in to existence.  Match.com created a whole new industry dedicated to help the lovelorn find love.

Trying to find a long term relationship with the right person can be a taxing experience in it's own right.  If Washington State lawmakers have their way, it will be more taxing on your wallet if you use an online dating service.

Looking For Love Gets More Painful

House Bill 2071 was introduced today by it's sole sponsor, 32nd District Rep. Lauren Davis (D).  The law would impose an excise tax on the owners of online dating services operating in the state.  The companies would have to pay one dollar for each registered member of the service (paid and free) who live in Washington with said tax being collected monthly.  If a member does not access their account for two years straight (24 months), then that account will no longer be subject to the tax

So a company like Match, who is now a conglomerate that owns 11 different brands, would be forced to pay one dollar for each Washingtonian that uses one offering or multiple offerings.  A number of people use more than one online dating service, and if you stick with the free option that almost all of them offer, then you can search for love in plenty of spaces.  It also means that one Washingtonian (if they used EVERY online dating service) could be $818 of revenue to the state every month.

...and You Know How This Will Work

The online dating services will pass the cost on to you.  It won't just be one dollar though.  You'll be hit for the additional cost the company incurs for having to pay a new tax, be it through manpower hours, filing fees, service cost, and whatever else they will justify.

Rep. Davis believes the tax is needed to generate revenue to combat domestic violence.  That raises another question entirely.  By creating this new tax on online dating services to be used specifically (and only) for that, is there an insinuation that online dating directly contributes to domestic violence in Washington State?

It is a question only the bill's sponsor can answer.  However, what is becoming very clear is that anything that have a tax created will have a tax created in this state.  At some point they will run out of tangible things to tax, and that is not a lovely thought.