AN ACT Relating to excise tax administration; amending RCW 82.32.340, 82.32.290, and 82.48.090; and adding new sections to chapter 82.32 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. Section 82.32.340, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 3, chapter 95, Laws of 1979 1st ex. sess. and RCW 82.32.340 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Any tax or penalty which the department of revenue deems to be uncollectible((,)) may be transferred from accounts receivable, subject to approval by the director of financial management, to a suspense account and cease to be accounted an asset. Any item transferred shall continue to be a debt due the state from the taxpayer and may at any time within twelve years from the filing of a warrant covering such amount with the clerk of the superior court be transferred back to accounts receivable for the purpose of collection. The department of revenue may charge off as finally uncollectible any tax or penalty which it deems uncollectible at any time after twelve years from the date that the last tax return for the delinquent taxpayer was or should have been filed if the department of revenue and the attorney general are satisfied that there are no available and lawful means by which such tax or penalty may thereafter be collected.

After any tax or penalty has been charged off as finally uncollectible under the provisions of this section, the department of revenue may destroy any or all files and records pertaining to the liability of any taxpayer for such tax or penalty.

The department of revenue, subject to the approval of the state records committee, may at the expiration of five years after the close of any taxable year, destroy any or all files and records pertaining to the tax liability of any taxpayer for such taxable year, who has fully paid all taxes, penalties and interest for such taxable year, or any preceding taxable year for which such taxes, penalties and interest have been fully paid. In the event that such files and records are reproduced on film pursuant to RCW 40.20.020 for use in accordance with RCW 40.20.030, the original files and records may be destroyed immediately after reproduction and such reproductions may be destroyed at the expiration of the above five-year period, subject to the approval of the state records committee.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section and subject to the approval of the office of financial management, the department may charge off any tax within its jurisdiction to collect that is owed by a taxpayer, including any penalty or interest thereon, up to a maximum of one hundred dollars if the department ascertains that the cost of collecting that tax would be greater than the total amount which is owed or likely in the near future to be owed by the taxpayer.

Sec. 2. Section 82.32.290, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as amended by section 89, chapter 278, Laws of 1975 1st ex. sess. and RCW 82.32.290 are each amended to read as follows:

It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in business without having obtained a certificate of registration as provided herein; or to engage in business after his certificate of registration has been revoked by order of the department of revenue; or to tear down or remove any order or notice posted by the department; or to make any false or fraudulent return or false statement in any return, with intent to defraud the state or evade the payment of any tax or part thereof; or for any person to aid or abet another in any attempt to evade the payment of such tax or any part thereof; or for the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, or other officer of any company to make or permit to be made for any company any false return, or any false statement in any return, with intent to evade payment of any tax hereunder; or for the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, or other officer of any company to carry on the business of any company which has not obtained a certificate of registration or whose certificate of registration has been revoked by order of the department; or for any purchaser to fraudulently sign a resale certificate without intent to resell the property purchased; or for any person to fail or refuse to permit the examination of any book, paper, account, record, or other data by the department or its duly authorized agent; or to fail or refuse to permit the inspection or appraisal of any property by the department or its duly authorized agent; or to refuse to offer testimony or produce any record as required.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a ((~~gross misdemeanor~~)) class C felony in accordance with chapter 9A.20 RCW.

In addition to the foregoing penalties, any person who knowingly swears to or verifies any false or fraudulent return, or any return containing any false or fraudulent statement with the intent aforesaid, shall be guilty of the offense of perjury in the second degree; and any company for which a false return, or a return containing a false statement, as aforesaid, is made, shall be punished, upon conviction thereof, by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars. All penalties or punishments provided in this section shall be in addition to all other penalties provided by law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 82.32 RCW to read as follows:

(1) When there is probable cause to believe that there is property within this state, not otherwise exempt from process or execution, in the possession or control of any taxpayer against whom a tax warrant has been filed which remains unsatisfied, any judge of the superior court or district court in the county in which such property is located may, upon the request of the sheriff or agent of the department authorized to collect taxes, issue a warrant directed to such officers commanding the search for and seizure of the property described in the request for warrant.

(2) Application for, issuance, and execution and return of the warrant authorized by this section and for return of any property seized shall be in accordance with the criminal rules of the superior court and the justice court.

(3) The sheriff or agent of the department shall levy execution upon property seized pursuant to this section as provided in RCW 82.32.220 and 82.32.230.

(4) Nothing in this section shall require the application for and issuance of any warrant not otherwise required by law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 82.32 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The department may retain, by written contract, collection agencies licensed under chapter 19.16 RCW or licensed under the laws of another state or the District of Columbia for the purpose of collecting from sources outside the state of Washington taxes including interest and penalties thereon imposed under this title and RCW 28A.47.440 and 84.33.041.

(2) Only accounts represented by tax warrants filed in the superior court of a county in the state as provided by RCW 82.32.210 may be assigned to a collection agency, and no such assignment may be made unless the department has previously notified or has attempted to notify the taxpayer of his or her right to petition for correction of assessment within the time provided and in accordance with the procedures set forth in chapter 82.32 RCW.

(3) Collection agencies assigned accounts for collection under this section shall have only those remedies and powers that would be available to them as assignees of private creditors. However, nothing in this section limits the right to enforce the liability for taxes lawfully imposed under the laws of this state in the courts of another state or the District of Columbia as provided by the laws of such jurisdictions and RCW 4.24.140 and 4.24.150.

(4) The account of the taxpayer shall be credited with the amounts collected by a collection agency before reduction for reasonable collection costs, including attorneys fees, that the department is authorized to negotiate on a contingent fee or other basis.

Sec. 5. Section 82.48.090, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as amended by section 96, chapter 278, Laws of 1975 1st ex. sess. and RCW 82.48.090 are each amended to read as follows:

In case a claim is made by any person that he has paid an erroneously excessive amount of excise tax under this chapter, he may apply to the department of ((~~revenue~~)) licensing for a refund of the claimed excessive amount. The department shall review such application, and if it determines that an excess amount of tax has actually been paid by the taxpayer, such excess amount shall be refunded to the taxpayer by means of a voucher approved by the department of ((~~revenue~~)) licensing and by the issuance of a state warrant drawn upon and payable from such funds as the legislature may provide for that purpose. No refund shall be allowed, however, unless application for the refund is filed with the department of ((~~revenue~~)) licensing within ninety days after the claimed excessive excise tax was paid and the amount of the overpayment exceeds five dollars.