H-0070.2 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 1539
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 52nd Legislature 1991 Regular Session
By Representatives Holland, Basich, Heavey, Hargrove, Sheldon, Brumsickle, Forner, Moyer and Winsley.
Read first time January 31, 1991. Referred to Committee on Revenue.
AN ACT Relating to the excise tax on real estate sales; and amending RCW 82.45.010.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 82.45.010 and 1981 c 93 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
As used in this chapter, the term "sale" shall have its ordinary meaning and shall include any conveyance, grant, assignment, quitclaim, or transfer of the ownership of or title to real property, including standing timber, or any estate or interest therein for a valuable consideration, and any contract for such conveyance, grant, assignment, quitclaim, or transfer, and any lease with an option to purchase real property, including standing timber, or any estate or interest therein or other contract under which possession of the property is given to the purchaser, or any other person by his direction, which title is retained by the vendor as security for the payment of the purchase price.
The term shall not include a transfer by gift, devise, or inheritance, a transfer of any leasehold interest other than of the type mentioned above, a cancellation or forfeiture of a vendee's interest in a contract for the sale of real property, whether or not such contract contains a forfeiture clause, or deed in lieu of foreclosure of a mortgage or the assumption by a grantee of the balance owing on an obligation which is secured by a mortgage or deed in lieu of forfeiture of the vendee's interest in a contract of sale where no consideration passes otherwise or the partition of property by tenants in common by agreement or as the result of a court decree, the transfer of real property or an estate in real property, when: (1) The only consideration paid is the relief from a debt secured by the property; and (2) when a new loan may be required for a like amount due to a present loan restriction with no net proceeds to the seller, any transfer, conveyance, or assignment of property or interest in property from one spouse to the other in accordance with the terms of a decree of divorce or in fulfillment of a property settlement agreement incident thereto, the assignment or other transfer of a vendor's interest in a contract for the sale of real property, even though accompanied by a conveyance of the vendor's interest in the real property involved, transfers by appropriation or decree in condemnation proceedings brought by the United States, the state or any political subdivision thereof, or a municipal corporation, a mortgage or other transfer of an interest in real property merely to secure a debt, or the assignment thereof, any transfer or conveyance made pursuant to an order of sale by the court in any mortgage or lien foreclosure proceeding or upon execution of a judgment, or deed in lieu of foreclosure to satisfy a mortgage, a conveyance to the federal housing administration or veterans administration by an authorized mortgagee made pursuant to a contract of insurance or guaranty with the federal housing administration or veterans administration, nor a transfer in compliance with the terms of any lease or contract upon which the tax as imposed by this chapter has been paid or where the lease or contract was entered into prior to the date this tax was first imposed, nor the sale of any grave or lot in an established cemetery, nor a sale by or to the United States, this state or any political subdivision thereof, or a municipal corporation of this state.
The
term sale shall further not include a transfer to a corporation or partnership
which is wholly owned by the transferor and/or the transferor's spouse or
children: PROVIDED, That if thereafter such transferee corporation or
partnership voluntarily transfers such real property, or such transferor,
spouse, or children voluntarily transfer stock in the transferee corporation or
interest in the transferee partnership capital, as the case may be, to other
than (((1))) (a) the transferor and/or the transferor's spouse or
children, (((2))) (b) a trust having the transferor and/or the
transferor's spouse or children as the only beneficiaries at the time of the
transfer to the trust, or (((3))) (c) a corporation or
partnership wholly owned by the original transferor and/or the transferor's
spouse or children, within five years of the original transfer to which this
exemption applies, excise taxes shall become due and payable on the original
transfer as otherwise provided by law.