AN ACT Relating to the collection of the sales tax on sales made through vending machines; and amending RCW 82.08.050 and 82.08.080.

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

Sec. 1. Section 82.08.050, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 1, chapter 38, Laws of 1985 and RCW 82.08.050 are each amended to read as follows:

The tax hereby imposed shall be paid by the buyer to the seller, and each seller shall collect from the buyer the full amount of the tax payable in respect to each taxable sale in accordance with the schedule of collections adopted by the department pursuant to the provisions of RCW 82.08.060. The tax required by this chapter, to be collected by the seller, shall be deemed to be held in trust by the seller until paid to the department, and any seller who appropriates or converts the tax collected to his own use or to any use other than the payment of the tax to the extent that the money required to be collected is not available for payment on the due date as prescribed in this chapter shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

In case any seller fails to collect the tax herein imposed or having collected the tax, fails to pay it to the department in the manner prescribed by this chapter, whether such failure is the result of his own acts or the result of acts or conditions beyond his control, he shall, nevertheless, be personally liable to the state for the amount of the tax.

The amount of tax, until paid by the buyer to the seller or to the department, shall constitute a debt from the buyer to the seller and any seller who fails or refuses to collect the tax as required with intent to violate the provisions of this chapter or to gain some advantage or benefit, either direct or indirect, and any buyer who refuses to pay any tax due under this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. The tax required by this chapter to be collected by the seller shall be stated separately from the selling price in any sales invoice or other instrument of sale. On all retail sales through vending machines, the tax need not be stated separately from the selling price or collected separately from the buyer. For purposes of determining the tax due from the buyer to the seller and from the seller to the department it shall be conclusively presumed that the selling price quoted in any price list, sales document, contract or other agreement between the parties does not include the tax imposed by this chapter, but if the seller advertises the price as including the tax or that the seller is paying the tax, the advertised price shall not be considered the selling price.

Where a buyer has failed to pay to the seller the tax imposed by this chapter and the seller has not paid the amount of the tax to the department, the department may, in its discretion, proceed directly against the buyer for collection of the tax, in which case a penalty of ten percent may be added to the amount of the tax for failure of the buyer to pay the same to the seller, regardless of when the tax may be collected by the department; and all of the provisions of chapter 82.32 RCW, including those relative to interest and penalties, shall apply in addition; and, for the sole purpose of applying the various provisions of chapter 82.32 RCW, the fifteenth day of the month following the tax period in which the purchase was made shall be considered as the due date of the tax.

Sec. 2. Section 82.08.080, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 48, chapter 278, Laws of 1975 1st ex. sess. and RCW 82.08.080 are each amended to read as follows:

The department of revenue may authorize a seller to pay the tax levied under this chapter upon sales ((~~made through vending machines and similar devices or where sales are~~)) made under conditions of business such as to render impracticable the collection of the tax as a separate item and waive collection of the tax from the customer. Where sales are made by receipt of a coin or coins dropped into a receptacle that results in delivery of the merchandise in single purchases of smaller value than the minimum sale upon which a one cent tax may be collected from the purchaser, according to the schedule provided by the department under authority of RCW 82.08.060, and where the design of the sales device is such that multiple sales of items are not possible or cannot be detected so as practically to assess a tax, in such a case the selling price for the purposes of the tax imposed under RCW 82.08.020 shall be sixty percent of the gross receipts of the vending machine through which such sales are made. No such authority shall be granted except upon application to the department and unless the department, after hearing, finds that the conditions of the applicant's business are such as to render impracticable the collection of the tax in the manner otherwise provided. The department, by regulation, may provide that the applicant, under this section, furnish a proper bond sufficient to secure the payment of the tax.