FINAL BILL REPORT

HB 2063

C 315 L 03

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Extending the expiration date for reporting requirements on timber purchases.

Sponsors: By Representatives Kristiansen, Blake, Linville, Schoesler, Hatfield, Eickmeyer and Orcutt.

House Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources

Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water

Background:

Every harvester of timber is required to pay an excise tax of 5 percent of the stumpage value of any trees that he or she harvest. The excise tax applies to timber harvested from both private and public lands.

Every person who purchases more than 200,000 board feet of private timber in a voluntary sale is required to report certain information to the Department of Revenue (Department). Information that is required to be reported includes the sale date, the total sale price, total acreage involved in the sale, net volume of timber purchased, road construction that was required, data from the timber cruise, and any timber thinning information. The Department may assess a penalty of $250 for failure to report the required information.

Information gathered in the report is used by the Department to establish tables of stumpage values. A stumpage table is required to be prepared for each species of tree that is commercially harvested in Washington. The values on the tables indicate the amount that each species would sell for at a voluntary sale made in the ordinary course of business. The stumpage value tables are used to calculate the excise tax due from each timber harvester.

The requirement to report sales information to the Department expires on July 1, 2004.

Summary:

The expiration date of the requirement that data about timber purchases be reported to the Department is extended from 2004 to 2007.

Votes on Final Passage:

House 96  0

Senate 48  0

Effective: July 27, 2003