READ FIRST TIME 03/05/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to the sales and use taxation of grain elevators; amending RCW 82.08.820, 82.08.820, 82.08.820, 82.12.820, 82.12.820, and 82.12.820; providing effective dates; providing expiration dates; and declaring an emergency.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 82.08.820 and 2006 c 354 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Wholesalers or third-party warehousers who own or operate warehouses ((or)), grain elevators, or large grain elevator facilities, and retailers who own or operate distribution centers, and who have paid the tax levied by RCW 82.08.020 on:
     (a) Material-handling and racking equipment((,)) or large grain elevator equipment and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving ((the)) all such equipment; or
     (b) Construction of a warehouse or grain elevator, or construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving of a large grain elevator, including materials, and including service and labor costs,
are eligible for an exemption in the form of a remittance. The amount of the remittance is computed under subsection (3) of this section and is based on the state share of sales tax.
     (2) For purposes of this section and RCW 82.12.820:
     (a) "Agricultural products" has the meaning given in RCW 82.04.213;
     (b) "Cold storage warehouse" has the meaning provided in RCW 82.74.010;
     (c) "Construction" means the actual construction of a warehouse ((or)), grain elevator, or large grain elevator that did not exist before the construction began. "Construction" includes expansion, but in the case of a cold storage warehouse, only if the expansion adds at least twenty-five thousand square feet of additional space to an existing cold storage warehouse, or in the case of a warehouse other than a cold storage warehouse, only if the expansion adds at least two hundred thousand square feet of additional space to an existing warehouse other than a cold storage warehouse, or ((additional)) in the case of a grain elevator, only if the expansion adds storage capacity of at least one million bushels to an existing grain elevator. "Construction" does not include renovation, remodeling, or repair;
     (d) "Department" means the department of revenue;
     (e) "Distribution center" means a warehouse that is used exclusively by a retailer solely for the storage and distribution of finished goods to retail outlets of the retailer. "Distribution center" does not include a warehouse at which retail sales occur;
     (f) "Finished goods" means tangible personal property intended for sale by a retailer or wholesaler. "Finished goods" does not include agricultural products stored by wholesalers, third-party warehouses, or retailers if the storage takes place on the land of the person who produced the agricultural product. "Finished goods" does not include logs, minerals, petroleum, gas, or other extracted products stored as raw materials or in bulk;
     (g) "Grain elevator" means a structure used for storage and handling of grain in bulk;
     (h) "Large grain elevator" means storage silos, tanks, conveyers and their supports, scale towers, bins, electrical improvements, scales, foundations, rails and rail beds, and other buildings primarily used to handle, store, organize, condition, analyze, or convey grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof in bulk. Office space, lunchrooms, restrooms, maintenance buildings, control and computer systems used to operate such facilities, and other space necessary for the operation of the large grain elevator are considered part of the large grain elevator as are loading docks and other such space or structures attached or adjacent to the conveyers, and other necessary devices and structures used to receive, convey, or discharge grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof via means of waterborne, rail, highway, or intermodal transport and used for handling of grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof. Roads, landscaping, and parking lots are not considered part of the large grain elevator. A storage yard is not a large grain elevator nor is a structure in which manufacturing takes place;
     (((h))) (i) "Large grain elevator facility" means one or more contiguous parcels of real property with one or more large grain elevators with a combined capacity of at least three million bushels;
     (j) "Large grain elevator equipment" means equipment within a large grain elevator facility that is primarily used to handle, store, organize, convey, condition, or analyze grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof which is not defined as a large grain elevator. The term includes tangible personal property with a useful life of one year or more that becomes an ingredient or component of the equipment, including repair and replacement parts. The term does not include equipment in offices, lunchrooms, restrooms, and other like space, within a large grain elevator facility, or equipment used for nonlarge grain elevator purposes. "Large grain elevator equipment" includes but is not limited to: Samplers, air compressors, quality analyzing equipment, worker and environmental safety equipment, conditioning equipment used to maintain quality, lifts, positioners, cranes, hoists, mechanical arms, and robots; and forklifts and other off-the-road vehicles that are used to lift or move tangible personal property and that cannot be operated legally on roads and streets;
     (k) "Material-handling equipment and racking equipment" means equipment in a warehouse or grain elevator that is primarily used to handle, store, organize, convey, package, or repackage finished goods. The term includes tangible personal property with a useful life of one year or more that becomes an ingredient or component of the equipment, including repair and replacement parts. The term does not include equipment in offices, lunchrooms, restrooms, and other like space, within a warehouse or grain elevator, or equipment used for nonwarehousing purposes. "Material-handling equipment" includes but is not limited to: Conveyers, carousels, lifts, positioners, pick-up-and-place units, cranes, hoists, mechanical arms, and robots; mechanized systems, including containers that are an integral part of the system, whose purpose is to lift or move tangible personal property; and automated handling, storage, and retrieval systems, including computers that control them, whose purpose is to lift or move tangible personal property; and forklifts and other off-the-road vehicles that are used to lift or move tangible personal property and that cannot be operated legally on roads and streets. "Racking equipment" includes, but is not limited to, conveying systems, chutes, shelves, racks, bins, drawers, pallets, and other containers and storage devices that form a necessary part of the storage system;
     (((i))) (l) "Person" has the meaning given in RCW 82.04.030;
     (((j))) (m) "Retailer" means a person who makes "sales at retail" as defined in chapter 82.04 RCW of tangible personal property;
     (((k))) (n) "Square footage" means the product of the two horizontal dimensions of each floor of a specific warehouse. The entire footprint of the warehouse shall be measured in calculating the square footage, including space that juts out from the building profile such as loading docks. "Square footage" does not mean the aggregate of the square footage of more than one warehouse at a location or the aggregate of the square footage of warehouses at more than one location;
     (((l))) (o) "Third-party warehouser" means a person taxable under RCW 82.04.280(4);
     (((m))) (p) "Warehouse" means an enclosed building or structure in which finished goods are stored. A warehouse building or structure may have more than one storage room and more than one floor. Office space, lunchrooms, restrooms, and other space within the warehouse and necessary for the operation of the warehouse are considered part of the warehouse as are loading docks and other such space attached to the building and used for handling of finished goods. Landscaping and parking lots are not considered part of the warehouse. A storage yard is not a warehouse, nor is a building in which manufacturing takes place; and
     (((n))) (q) "Wholesaler" means a person who makes "sales at wholesale" as defined in chapter 82.04 RCW of tangible personal property, but "wholesaler" does not include a person who makes sales exempt under RCW 82.04.330.
     (3)(a) A person claiming an exemption from state tax in the form of a remittance under this section must pay the tax imposed by RCW 82.08.020. The buyer may then apply to the department for remittance of all or part of the tax paid under RCW 82.08.020. For grain elevators with bushel capacity of one million but less than two million, the remittance is equal to fifty percent of the amount of tax paid. For warehouses with square footage of two hundred thousand or more, other than cold storage warehouses, and for grain elevators with bushel capacity of two million or more, the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction, materials, service, and labor, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying material-handling equipment and racking equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving the equipment. For cold storage warehouses with square footage of twenty-five thousand or more, the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction, materials, service, and labor, and one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying material-handling equipment and racking equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving the equipment. For large grain elevator facilities, the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving, and materials, service, and labor of large grain elevators, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying large grain elevator equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving the equipment.
     (b) The department shall determine eligibility under this section based on information provided by the buyer and through audit and other administrative records. The buyer shall on a quarterly basis submit an information sheet, in a form and manner as required by the department by rule, specifying the amount of exempted tax claimed and the qualifying purchases or acquisitions for which the exemption is claimed. The buyer shall retain, in adequate detail to enable the department to determine whether the equipment or construction meets the criteria under this section: Invoices; proof of tax paid; documents describing the material-handling equipment and racking equipment or large grain elevator equipment; location and size of warehouses ((and)), grain elevators, and large grain elevator facilities; and construction invoices and documents.
     (c) The department shall on a quarterly basis remit exempted amounts to qualifying persons who submitted applications during the previous quarter.
     (4) Warehouses, grain elevators, large grain elevators, large grain elevator equipment, and material-handling equipment and racking equipment for which an exemption, credit, or deferral has been or is being received under chapter 82.60, 82.62, or 82.63 RCW or RCW 82.08.02565 or 82.12.02565 are not eligible for any remittance under this section. Warehouses ((and)), grain elevators, and large grain elevators upon which construction was initiated before May 20, 1997, are not eligible for a remittance under this section.
     (5) The lessor or owner of a warehouse ((or)), grain elevator, or large grain elevator is not eligible for a remittance under this section unless the underlying ownership of the warehouse ((or)), grain elevator, or large grain elevator, and the material-handling equipment and racking equipment or large grain elevator equipment vests exclusively in the same person, or unless the lessor by written contract agrees to pass the economic benefit of the remittance to the lessee in the form of reduced rent payments.

Sec. 2   RCW 82.08.820 and 2006 c 354 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Wholesalers or third-party warehousers who own or operate warehouses or grain elevators and retailers who own or operate distribution centers, and who have paid the tax levied by RCW 82.08.020 on:
     (a) Material-handling and racking equipment, or grain elevator equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving ((the)) all such equipment; or
     (b) Construction of a warehouse, or construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving of a grain elevator, including materials, and including service and labor costs,
are eligible for an exemption in the form of a remittance. The amount of the remittance is computed under subsection (3) of this section and is based on the state share of sales tax.
     (2) For purposes of this section and RCW 82.12.820:
     (a) "Agricultural products" has the meaning given in RCW 82.04.213;
     (b) "Cold storage warehouse" has the meaning provided in RCW 82.74.010;
     (c) "Construction" means the actual construction of a warehouse or grain elevator that did not exist before the construction began. "Construction" includes expansion, but in the case of a cold storage warehouse, only if the expansion adds at least twenty-five thousand square feet of additional space to an existing cold storage warehouse, or in the case of a warehouse other than a cold storage warehouse, only if the expansion adds at least two hundred thousand square feet of additional space to an existing warehouse other than a cold storage warehouse((, or additional storage capacity of at least one million bushels to an existing grain elevator)). "Construction" does not include renovation, remodeling, or repair;
     (d) "Department" means the department of revenue;
     (e) "Distribution center" means a warehouse that is used exclusively by a retailer solely for the storage and distribution of finished goods to retail outlets of the retailer. "Distribution center" does not include a warehouse at which retail sales occur;
     (f) "Finished goods" means tangible personal property intended for sale by a retailer or wholesaler. "Finished goods" does not include agricultural products stored by wholesalers, third-party warehouses, or retailers if the storage takes place on the land of the person who produced the agricultural product. "Finished goods" does not include logs, minerals, petroleum, gas, or other extracted products stored as raw materials or in bulk;
     (g) "Grain elevator" means ((a structure used for storage and handling of grain in bulk)) storage silos, tanks, conveyers and their supports, scale towers, bins, electrical improvements, scales, foundations, rails and rail beds, and other buildings primarily used to handle, store, organize, condition, analyze, or convey grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof in bulk. Office space, lunchrooms, restrooms, maintenance buildings, control and computer systems used to operate such facilities, and other space necessary for the operation of the grain elevator are considered part of the grain elevator as are loading docks and other such space or structures attached or adjacent to the conveyers, and other necessary devices and structures used to receive, convey, or discharge grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof via means of waterborne, rail, highway, or intermodal transport and used for handling of grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof. Roads, landscaping, and parking lots are not considered part of the grain elevator. A storage yard is not a grain elevator nor is a structure in which manufacturing takes place;
     (h) "Grain exporting facility" means one or more contiguous parcels of real property with one or more grain elevators;
     (i) "Grain elevator equipment" means equipment within a grain elevator facility that is primarily used to handle, store, organize, convey, condition, or analyze grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof which is not defined as a grain elevator. The term includes tangible personal property with a useful life of one year or more that becomes an ingredient or component of the equipment, including repair and replacement parts. The term does not include equipment in offices, lunchrooms, restrooms, and other like space, within a grain elevator facility, or equipment used for nongrain elevator purposes. "Grain elevator equipment" includes but is not limited to: Samplers, air compressors, quality analyzing equipment, worker and environmental safety equipment, conditioning equipment used to maintain quality, lifts, positioners, cranes, hoists, mechanical arms, and robots; and forklifts and other off-the-road vehicles that are used to lift or move tangible personal property and that cannot be operated legally on roads and streets;
     (j) "Material-handling equipment and racking equipment" means equipment in a warehouse or grain elevator that is primarily used to handle, store, organize, convey, package, or repackage finished goods. The term includes tangible personal property with a useful life of one year or more that becomes an ingredient or component of the equipment, including repair and replacement parts. The term does not include equipment in offices, lunchrooms, restrooms, and other like space, within a warehouse or grain elevator, or equipment used for nonwarehousing purposes. "Material-handling equipment" includes but is not limited to: Conveyers, carousels, lifts, positioners, pick-up-and-place units, cranes, hoists, mechanical arms, and robots; mechanized systems, including containers that are an integral part of the system, whose purpose is to lift or move tangible personal property; and automated handling, storage, and retrieval systems, including computers that control them, whose purpose is to lift or move tangible personal property; and forklifts and other off-the-road vehicles that are used to lift or move tangible personal property and that cannot be operated legally on roads and streets. "Racking equipment" includes, but is not limited to, conveying systems, chutes, shelves, racks, bins, drawers, pallets, and other containers and storage devices that form a necessary part of the storage system;
     (((i))) (k) "Person" has the meaning given in RCW 82.04.030;
     (((j))) (l) "Retailer" means a person who makes "sales at retail" as defined in chapter 82.04 RCW of tangible personal property;
     (((k))) (m) "Square footage" means the product of the two horizontal dimensions of each floor of a specific warehouse. The entire footprint of the warehouse shall be measured in calculating the square footage, including space that juts out from the building profile such as loading docks. "Square footage" does not mean the aggregate of the square footage of more than one warehouse at a location or the aggregate of the square footage of warehouses at more than one location;
     (((l))) (n) "Third-party warehouser" means a person taxable under RCW 82.04.280(4);
     (((m))) (o) "Warehouse" means an enclosed building or structure in which finished goods are stored. A warehouse building or structure may have more than one storage room and more than one floor. Office space, lunchrooms, restrooms, and other space within the warehouse and necessary for the operation of the warehouse are considered part of the warehouse as are loading docks and other such space attached to the building and used for handling of finished goods. Landscaping and parking lots are not considered part of the warehouse. A storage yard is not a warehouse, nor is a building in which manufacturing takes place; and
     (((n))) (p) "Wholesaler" means a person who makes "sales at wholesale" as defined in chapter 82.04 RCW of tangible personal property, but "wholesaler" does not include a person who makes sales exempt under RCW 82.04.330.
     (3)(a) A person claiming an exemption from state tax in the form of a remittance under this section must pay the tax imposed by RCW 82.08.020. The buyer may then apply to the department for remittance of all or part of the tax paid under RCW 82.08.020. For grain elevators with combined bushel capacity of one million ((but less than two million,)) or more and for grain elevators required to be issued a license by the department of agriculture under chapter 22.09 RCW or required to be licensed by the federal government for purposes similar to those of licensure under chapter 22.09 RCW but with bushel capacity of less than one million the remittance is equal to ((fifty)) one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving, and materials, service, and labor relating to a grain elevator, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying grain elevator equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving the equipment. For warehouses with square footage of two hundred thousand or more, other than cold storage warehouses, ((and for grain elevators with bushel capacity of two million)) the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction, materials, service, and labor, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying material-handling equipment and racking equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving the equipment. For cold storage warehouses with square footage of twenty-five thousand or more, the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction, materials, service, and labor, and ((fifty)) one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying material-handling equipment and racking equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving the equipment. ((For cold storage warehouses with square footage of twenty-five thousand or more, the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction, materials, service, and labor, and one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying material-handling equipment and racking equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving the equipment.))
     (b) The department shall determine eligibility under this section based on information provided by the buyer and through audit and other administrative records. The buyer shall on a quarterly basis submit an information sheet, in a form and manner as required by the department by rule, specifying the amount of exempted tax claimed and the qualifying purchases or acquisitions for which the exemption is claimed. The buyer shall retain, in adequate detail to enable the department to determine whether the equipment or construction meets the criteria under this section: Invoices; proof of tax paid; documents describing the material-handling equipment and racking equipment or grain elevator equipment; location and size of warehouses and grain elevators; and construction invoices and documents.
     (c) The department shall on a quarterly basis remit exempted amounts to qualifying persons who submitted applications during the previous quarter.
     (4) Warehouses, grain elevators, ((and)) material-handling equipment and racking equipment, and grain elevator equipment for which an exemption, credit, or deferral has been or is being received under chapter 82.60, 82.62, or 82.63 RCW or RCW 82.08.02565 or 82.12.02565 are not eligible for any remittance under this section. Warehouses ((and grain elevators)) upon which construction was initiated before May 20, 1997, are not eligible for a remittance under this section.
     (5) The lessor or owner of a warehouse or grain elevator is not eligible for a remittance under this section unless the underlying ownership of the warehouse or grain elevator and the material-handling equipment and racking equipment or grain elevator equipment vests exclusively in the same person, or unless the lessor by written contract agrees to pass the economic benefit of the remittance to the lessee in the form of reduced rent payments.

Sec. 3   RCW 82.08.820 and 2006 c 354 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Wholesalers or third-party warehousers who own or operate warehouses or grain elevators and retailers who own or operate distribution centers, and who have paid the tax levied by RCW 82.08.020 on:
     (a) Material-handling and racking equipment or grain elevator equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving ((the)) all such equipment; or
     (b) Construction of a warehouse, or construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving of a grain elevator, including materials, and including service and labor costs, are eligible for an exemption in the form of a remittance. The amount of the remittance is computed under subsection (3) of this section and is based on the state share of sales tax.
     (2) For purposes of this section and RCW 82.12.820:
     (a) "Agricultural products" has the meaning given in RCW 82.04.213;
     (b) "Construction" means the actual construction of a warehouse or grain elevator that did not exist before the construction began. "Construction" includes expansion, but in the case of a warehouse, only if the expansion adds at least two hundred thousand square feet of additional space to an existing warehouse ((or additional storage capacity of at least one million bushels to an existing grain elevator)). "Construction" does not include renovation, remodeling, or repair;
     (c) "Department" means the department of revenue;
     (d) "Distribution center" means a warehouse that is used exclusively by a retailer solely for the storage and distribution of finished goods to retail outlets of the retailer. "Distribution center" does not include a warehouse at which retail sales occur;
     (e) "Finished goods" means tangible personal property intended for sale by a retailer or wholesaler. "Finished goods" does not include agricultural products stored by wholesalers, third-party warehouses, or retailers if the storage takes place on the land of the person who produced the agricultural product. "Finished goods" does not include logs, minerals, petroleum, gas, or other extracted products stored as raw materials or in bulk;
     (f) "Grain elevator" means ((a structure used for storage and handling of grain in bulk)) silos, tanks, conveyers and their supports, scale towers, bins, electrical improvements, scales, foundations, rails and rail beds, and other buildings primarily used to handle, store, organize, condition, analyze, or convey grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof in bulk. Office space, lunchrooms, restrooms, maintenance buildings, control and computer systems used to operate such facilities, and other space necessary for the operation of the grain elevator are considered part of the grain elevator as are loading docks and other such space or structures attached or adjacent to the conveyers, and other necessary devices and structures used to receive, convey, or discharge grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof via means of waterborne, rail, highway, or intermodal transport and used for handling of grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof. Roads, landscaping, and parking lots are not considered part of the grain elevator. A storage yard is not a grain elevator nor is a structure in which manufacturing takes place;
     (g) "Grain elevator facility" means one or more contiguous parcels of real property with one or more grain elevators;
     (h) "Grain elevator equipment" means equipment within a grain elevator facility that is primarily used to handle, store, organize, convey, condition, or analyze grain, oil seeds, and byproducts thereof which is not defined as a grain elevator. The term includes tangible personal property with a useful life of one year or more that becomes an ingredient or component of the equipment, including repair and replacement parts. The term does not include equipment in offices, lunchrooms, restrooms, and other like space, within a grain elevator facility, or equipment used for nongrain elevator purposes. "Grain elevator equipment" includes but is not limited to: Samplers, air compressors, quality analyzing equipment, worker and environmental safety equipment, conditioning equipment used to maintain quality, lifts, positioners, cranes, hoists, mechanical arms, and robots; and forklifts and other off-the-road vehicles that are used to lift or move tangible personal property and that cannot be operated legally on roads and streets;
     (i) "Material-handling equipment and racking equipment" means equipment in a warehouse or grain elevator that is primarily used to handle, store, organize, convey, package, or repackage finished goods. The term includes tangible personal property with a useful life of one year or more that becomes an ingredient or component of the equipment, including repair and replacement parts. The term does not include equipment in offices, lunchrooms, restrooms, and other like space, within a warehouse or grain elevator, or equipment used for nonwarehousing purposes. "Material-handling equipment" includes but is not limited to: Conveyers, carousels, lifts, positioners, pick-up-and-place units, cranes, hoists, mechanical arms, and robots; mechanized systems, including containers that are an integral part of the system, whose purpose is to lift or move tangible personal property; and automated handling, storage, and retrieval systems, including computers that control them, whose purpose is to lift or move tangible personal property; and forklifts and other off-the-road vehicles that are used to lift or move tangible personal property and that cannot be operated legally on roads and streets. "Racking equipment" includes, but is not limited to, conveying systems, chutes, shelves, racks, bins, drawers, pallets, and other containers and storage devices that form a necessary part of the storage system;
     (((h))) (j) "Person" has the meaning given in RCW 82.04.030;
     (((i))) (k) "Retailer" means a person who makes "sales at retail" as defined in chapter 82.04 RCW of tangible personal property;
     (((j))) (l) "Square footage" means the product of the two horizontal dimensions of each floor of a specific warehouse. The entire footprint of the warehouse shall be measured in calculating the square footage, including space that juts out from the building profile such as loading docks. "Square footage" does not mean the aggregate of the square footage of more than one warehouse at a location or the aggregate of the square footage of warehouses at more than one location;
     (((k))) (m) "Third-party warehouser" means a person taxable under RCW 82.04.280(4);
     (((l))) (n) "Warehouse" means an enclosed building or structure in which finished goods are stored. A warehouse building or structure may have more than one storage room and more than one floor. Office space, lunchrooms, restrooms, and other space within the warehouse and necessary for the operation of the warehouse are considered part of the warehouse as are loading docks and other such space attached to the building and used for handling of finished goods. Landscaping and parking lots are not considered part of the warehouse. A storage yard is not a warehouse, nor is a building in which manufacturing takes place; and
     (((m))) (o) "Wholesaler" means a person who makes "sales at wholesale" as defined in chapter 82.04 RCW of tangible personal property, but "wholesaler" does not include a person who makes sales exempt under RCW 82.04.330.
     (3)(a) A person claiming an exemption from state tax in the form of a remittance under this section must pay the tax imposed by RCW 82.08.020. The buyer may then apply to the department for remittance of all or part of the tax paid under RCW 82.08.020. For grain elevators with combined bushel capacity of one million ((but less than two million,)) or more and for grain elevators required to be issued a license by the department of agriculture under chapter 22.09 RCW or required to be licensed by the federal government for purposes similar to those of licensure under chapter 22.09 RCW but with bushel capacity of less than one million the remittance is equal to ((fifty)) one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving, and materials, service, and labor relating to a grain elevator, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying grain elevator equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving the equipment. For warehouses with square footage of two hundred thousand or more ((and for grain elevators with bushel capacity of two million or more)), the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction, materials, service, and labor, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying material-handling equipment and racking equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving the equipment.
     (b) The department shall determine eligibility under this section based on information provided by the buyer and through audit and other administrative records. The buyer shall on a quarterly basis submit an information sheet, in a form and manner as required by the department by rule, specifying the amount of exempted tax claimed and the qualifying purchases or acquisitions for which the exemption is claimed. The buyer shall retain, in adequate detail to enable the department to determine whether the equipment or construction meets the criteria under this section: Invoices; proof of tax paid; documents describing the material-handling equipment and racking equipment or grain elevator equipment; location and size of warehouses and grain elevators; and construction invoices and documents.
     (c) The department shall on a quarterly basis remit exempted amounts to qualifying persons who submitted applications during the previous quarter.
     (4) Warehouses, grain elevators, ((and)) material-handling equipment and racking equipment, and grain elevator equipment for which an exemption, credit, or deferral has been or is being received under chapter 82.60, 82.62, or 82.63 RCW or RCW 82.08.02565 or 82.12.02565 are not eligible for any remittance under this section. Warehouses ((and grain elevators)) upon which construction was initiated before May 20, 1997, are not eligible for a remittance under this section.
     (5) The lessor or owner of a warehouse or grain elevator is not eligible for a remittance under this section unless the underlying ownership of the warehouse or grain elevator and the material-handling equipment and racking equipment or grain elevator equipment vests exclusively in the same person, or unless the lessor by written contract agrees to pass the economic benefit of the remittance to the lessee in the form of reduced rent payments.

Sec. 4   RCW 82.12.820 and 2005 c 513 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Wholesalers or third-party warehousers who own or operate warehouses ((or)), grain elevators, or large grain elevator facilities, and retailers who own or operate distribution centers, and who have paid the tax levied under RCW 82.12.020 on:
     (a) Material-handling equipment and racking equipment or large grain elevator equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving ((the)) all such equipment; or
     (b) Materials incorporated in the construction of a warehouse ((or)), grain elevator, or construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving of a large grain elevator((,)) are eligible for an exemption on tax paid in the form of a remittance or credit against tax owed. The amount of the remittance or credit is computed under subsection (2) of this section and is based on the state share of use tax.
     (2)(a) A person claiming an exemption from state tax in the form of a remittance under this section must pay the tax imposed by RCW 82.12.020 to the department. The person may then apply to the department for remittance of all or part of the tax paid under RCW 82.12.020. For grain elevators with bushel capacity of one million but less than two million, the remittance is equal to fifty percent of the amount of tax paid. For warehouses with square footage of two hundred thousand or more, other than cold storage warehouses, and for grain elevators with bushel capacity of two million or more, the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction materials, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying material-handling equipment and racking equipment. For cold storage warehouses with square footage of twenty-five thousand or more, the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction, materials, service, and labor, and one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying material-handling equipment and racking equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving the equipment. For large grain elevator facilities the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for materials for qualifying construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying large grain elevator equipment.
     (b) The department shall determine eligibility under this section based on information provided by the buyer and through audit and other administrative records. The buyer shall on a quarterly basis submit an information sheet, in a form and manner as required by the department by rule, specifying the amount of exempted tax claimed and the qualifying purchases or acquisitions for which the exemption is claimed. The buyer shall retain, in adequate detail to enable the department to determine whether the equipment or construction meets the criteria under this section: Invoices; proof of tax paid; documents describing the material-handling equipment and racking equipment or large grain elevator equipment; location and size of warehouses, ((if applicable)) grain elevators, and large grain elevator facilities; and construction invoices and documents.
     (c) The department shall on a quarterly basis remit or credit exempted amounts to qualifying persons who submitted applications during the previous quarter.
     (3) Warehouses, grain elevators, ((and)) large grain elevators, large grain elevator equipment, and material-handling equipment and racking equipment, for which an exemption, credit, or deferral has been or is being received under chapter 82.60, ((82.61,)) 82.62, or 82.63 RCW or RCW 82.08.02565 or 82.12.02565 are not eligible for any remittance under this section. Materials incorporated in warehouses ((and)), grain elevators, and large grain elevators upon which construction was initiated prior to May 20, 1997, are not eligible for a remittance under this section.
     (4) The lessor or owner of ((the)) a warehouse ((or)), grain elevator, or large grain elevator is not eligible for a remittance or credit under this section unless the underlying ownership of the warehouse ((or)), grain elevator, or large grain elevator and the material-handling equipment and racking equipment or large grain elevator equipment vests exclusively in the same person, or unless the lessor by written contract agrees to pass the economic benefit of the ((exemption)) remittance to the lessee in the form of reduced rent payments.
     (5) The definitions in RCW 82.08.820 apply to this section.

Sec. 5   RCW 82.12.820 and 2005 c 513 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Wholesalers or third-party warehousers who own or operate warehouses or grain elevators((,)) and retailers who own or operate distribution centers, and who have paid the tax levied under RCW 82.12.020 on:
     (a) Material-handling equipment and racking equipment or grain elevator equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving ((the)) all such equipment; or
     (b) Materials incorporated in the construction of a warehouse or construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving of a grain elevator((,)) are eligible for an exemption on tax paid in the form of a remittance or credit against tax owed. The amount of the remittance or credit is computed under subsection (2) of this section and is based on the state share of use tax.
     (2)(a) A person claiming an exemption from state tax in the form of a remittance under this section must pay the tax imposed by RCW 82.12.020 to the department. The person may then apply to the department for remittance of all or part of the tax paid under RCW 82.12.020. For grain elevators with combined bushel capacity of one million ((but less than two million)) or more and for grain elevators required to be issued a license by the department of agriculture under chapter 22.09 RCW or required to be licensed by the federal government for purposes similar to those of licensure under chapter 22.09 RCW but with bushel capacity of less than one million, the remittance is equal to ((fifty)) one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for materials for qualifying construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving of a grain elevator, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying grain elevator equipment. For warehouses with square footage of two hundred thousand or more, other than cold storage warehouses, ((and for grain elevators with bushel capacity of two million or more,)) the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction materials, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying material-handling equipment and racking equipment. For cold storage warehouses with square footage of twenty-five thousand or more, the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction, materials, service, and labor, and one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying material-handling equipment and racking equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving the equipment.
     (b) The department shall determine eligibility under this section based on information provided by the buyer and through audit and other administrative records. The buyer shall on a quarterly basis submit an information sheet, in a form and manner as required by the department by rule, specifying the amount of exempted tax claimed and the qualifying purchases or acquisitions for which the exemption is claimed. The buyer shall retain, in adequate detail to enable the department to determine whether the equipment or construction meets the criteria under this section: Invoices; proof of tax paid; documents describing the material-handling equipment and racking equipment or grain elevator equipment; location and size of warehouses, ((if applicable)) grain elevators, and grain elevator facilities; and construction invoices and documents.
     (c) The department shall on a quarterly basis remit or credit exempted amounts to qualifying persons who submitted applications during the previous quarter.
     (3) Warehouses, grain elevators, ((and)) grain elevator equipment, and material-handling equipment and racking equipment, for which an exemption, credit, or deferral has been or is being received under chapter 82.60, ((82.61,)) 82.62, or 82.63 RCW or RCW 82.08.02565 or 82.12.02565 are not eligible for any remittance under this section. Materials incorporated in warehouses ((and grain elevators)) upon which construction was initiated prior to May 20, 1997, are not eligible for a remittance under this section.
     (4) The lessor or owner of ((the)) a warehouse or grain elevator is not eligible for a remittance or credit under this section unless the underlying ownership of the warehouse or grain elevator and the material-handling equipment and racking equipment or grain elevator equipment vests exclusively in the same person, or unless the lessor by written contract agrees to pass the economic benefit of the ((exemption)) remittance to the lessee in the form of reduced rent payments.
     (5) The definitions in RCW 82.08.820 apply to this section.

Sec. 6   RCW 82.12.820 and 2006 c 354 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Wholesalers or third-party warehousers who own or operate warehouses or grain elevators((,)) and retailers who own or operate distribution centers, and who have paid the tax levied under RCW 82.12.020 on:
     (a) Material-handling equipment and racking equipment or grain elevator equipment, and labor and services rendered in respect to installing, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving ((the)) all such equipment; or
     (b) Materials incorporated in the construction of a warehouse or construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving of a grain elevator((,)) are eligible for an exemption on tax paid in the form of a remittance or credit against tax owed. The amount of the remittance or credit is computed under subsection (2) of this section and is based on the state share of use tax.
     (2)(a) A person claiming an exemption from state tax in the form of a remittance under this section must pay the tax imposed by RCW 82.12.020 to the department. The person may then apply to the department for remittance of all or part of the tax paid under RCW 82.12.020. For grain elevators with bushel capacity of one million ((but less than two million, the remittance is equal to fifty percent of the amount of tax paid)) or more and for grain elevators required to be issued a license by the department of agriculture under chapter 22.09 RCW or required to be licensed by the federal government for purposes similar to those of licensure under chapter 22.09 RCW but with bushel capacity of less than one million, the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the tax paid for materials for qualifying construction, remodeling, repairing, cleaning, altering, or improving of a grain elevator, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying grain elevator equipment. For warehouses with square footage of two hundred thousand or more ((and for grain elevators with bushel capacity of two million or more)), the remittance is equal to one hundred percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying construction materials, and fifty percent of the amount of tax paid for qualifying material-handling equipment and racking equipment.
     (b) The department shall determine eligibility under this section based on information provided by the buyer and through audit and other administrative records. The buyer shall on a quarterly basis submit an information sheet, in a form and manner as required by the department by rule, specifying the amount of exempted tax claimed and the qualifying purchases or acquisitions for which the exemption is claimed. The buyer shall retain, in adequate detail to enable the department to determine whether the equipment or construction meets the criteria under this section: Invoices; proof of tax paid; documents describing the material-handling equipment and racking equipment or grain elevator equipment; location and size of warehouses((, if applicable)) and grain elevators; and construction invoices and documents.
     (c) The department shall on a quarterly basis remit or credit exempted amounts to qualifying persons who submitted applications during the previous quarter.
     (3) Warehouses, grain elevators, ((and)) grain elevator equipment, and material-handling equipment and racking equipment, for which an exemption, credit, or deferral has been or is being received under chapter 82.60, 82.62, or 82.63 RCW or RCW 82.08.02565 or 82.12.02565 are not eligible for any remittance under this section. Materials incorporated in warehouses ((and grain elevators)) upon which construction was initiated prior to May 20, 1997, are not eligible for a remittance under this section.
     (4) The lessor or owner of ((the)) a warehouse or grain elevator is not eligible for a remittance or credit under this section unless the underlying ownership of the warehouse or grain elevator and material-handling equipment and racking equipment or grain elevator equipment vests exclusively in the same person, or unless the lessor by written contract agrees to pass the economic benefit of the ((exemption)) remittance to the lessee in the form of reduced rent payments.
     (5) The definitions in RCW 82.08.820 apply to this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   Sections 1 and 4 of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and take effect July 1, 2007.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   Sections 2 and 5 of this act take effect January 1, 2009.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   Sections 3 and 6 of this act take effect July 1, 2012.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   Sections 1 and 4 of this act expire January 1, 2009.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 11   Sections 2 and 5 of this act expire July 1, 2012.