BILL REQ. #:  S-1870.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/19/09.   

     AN ACT Relating to harmonizing excise tax statutes with the streamlined sales and use tax agreement in regards to direct sellers, telecommunications ancillary services, commercial parking taxes, and exemption certificates; and amending RCW 82.32.730, 82.08.050, 82.02.230, and 82.32.291.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 82.32.730 and 2008 c 324 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in subsections (5) through (((7))) (8) of this section, for purposes of collecting or paying sales or use taxes to the appropriate jurisdictions, all sales at retail shall be sourced in accordance with this subsection and subsections (2) through (4) of this section.
     (a) When tangible personal property, an extended warranty, or a service defined as a retail sale under RCW 82.04.050 is received by the purchaser at a business location of the seller, the sale is sourced to that business location.
     (b) When the tangible personal property, extended warranty, or a service defined as a retail sale under RCW 82.04.050 is not received by the purchaser at a business location of the seller, the sale is sourced to the location where receipt by the purchaser or the purchaser's donee, designated as such by the purchaser, occurs, including the location indicated by instructions for delivery to the purchaser or donee, known to the seller.
     (c) When (a) and (b) of this subsection do not apply, the sale is sourced to the location indicated by an address for the purchaser that is available from the business records of the seller that are maintained in the ordinary course of the seller's business when use of this address does not constitute bad faith.
     (d) When (a), (b), and (c) of this subsection do not apply, the sale is sourced to the location indicated by an address for the purchaser obtained during the consummation of the sale, including the address of a purchaser's payment instrument, if no other address is available, when use of this address does not constitute bad faith.
     (e) When (a), (b), (c), or (d) of this subsection do not apply, including the circumstance where the seller is without sufficient information to apply those provisions, then the location shall be determined by the address from which tangible personal property was shipped, from which the digital good or the computer software delivered electronically was first available for transmission by the seller, or from which the extended warranty or service defined as a retail sale under RCW 82.04.050 was provided, disregarding for these purposes any location that merely provided the digital transfer of the product sold.
     (2) The lease or rental of tangible personal property, other than property identified in subsection (3) or (4) of this section, shall be sourced as provided in this subsection.
     (a) For a lease or rental that requires recurring periodic payments, the first periodic payment is sourced the same as a retail sale in accordance with subsection (1) of this section. Periodic payments made subsequent to the first payment are sourced to the primary property location for each period covered by the payment. The primary property location shall be as indicated by an address for the property provided by the lessee that is available to the lessor from its records maintained in the ordinary course of business, when use of this address does not constitute bad faith. The property location is not altered by intermittent use at different locations, such as use of business property that accompanies employees on business trips and service calls.
     (b) For a lease or rental that does not require recurring periodic payments, the payment is sourced the same as a retail sale in accordance with subsection (1) of this section.
     (c) This subsection (2) does not affect the imposition or computation of sales or use tax on leases or rentals based on a lump sum or accelerated basis, or on the acquisition of property for lease.
     (3) The lease or rental of motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, or aircraft that do not qualify as transportation equipment shall be sourced as provided in this subsection.
     (a) For a lease or rental that requires recurring periodic payments, each periodic payment is sourced to the primary property location. The primary property location is as indicated by an address for the property provided by the lessee that is available to the lessor from its records maintained in the ordinary course of business, when use of this address does not constitute bad faith. This location is not altered by intermittent use at different locations.
     (b) For a lease or rental that does not require recurring periodic payments, the payment is sourced the same as a retail sale in accordance with subsection (1) of this section.
     (c) This subsection does not affect the imposition or computation of sales or use tax on leases or rentals based on a lump sum or accelerated basis, or on the acquisition of property for lease.
     (4) The retail sale, including lease or rental, of transportation equipment shall be sourced the same as a retail sale in accordance with subsection (1) of this section.
     (5)(a) This subsection applies to direct mail transactions not governed by subsection (6) of this section. A purchaser of direct mail that is not a holder of a direct pay permit shall provide to the seller in conjunction with the purchase either a direct mail form or information that shows the jurisdictions to which the direct mail is delivered to recipients.
     (i) Upon receipt of the direct mail form, the seller is relieved of all obligations to collect, pay, or remit the applicable tax and the purchaser is obligated to pay or remit the applicable tax on a direct pay basis. A direct mail form shall remain in effect for all future sales of direct mail by the seller to the purchaser until it is revoked in writing.
     (ii) Upon receipt of information from the purchaser showing the jurisdictions to which the direct mail is delivered to recipients, the seller shall collect the tax according to the delivery information provided by the purchaser. In the absence of bad faith, the seller is relieved of any further obligation to collect tax on any transaction where the seller has collected tax pursuant to the delivery information provided by the purchaser.
     (b) If the purchaser of direct mail does not have a direct pay permit and does not provide the seller with either a direct mail form or delivery information as required by (a) of this subsection, the seller shall collect the tax according to subsection (1)(e) of this section. This subsection does not limit a purchaser's obligation for sales or use tax to any state to which the direct mail is delivered.
     (c) If a purchaser of direct mail provides the seller with documentation of direct pay authority, the purchaser is not required to provide a direct mail form or delivery information to the seller.
     (6)(a) This subsection applies only with respect to transactions in which direct mail is delivered or distributed from a location within this state to a location within this state. If the purchaser of direct mail provides the seller with a direct pay permit or an exemption certificate claiming direct mail, the seller is relieved of all obligations to collect, pay, or remit the applicable tax and the purchaser is obligated to pay or remit the applicable tax on a direct pay basis. An exemption certificate claiming direct mail will remain in effect for all future sales of direct mail by the seller to the purchaser until it is revoked in writing.
     (b)(i) Except as provided in (b)(ii) of this subsection (6), if the purchaser of direct mail does not provide the seller with a direct pay permit or an exemption certificate claiming direct mail, the seller must collect the tax according to subsection (1)(e) of this section.
     (ii) To the extent the seller knows that a portion of the sale of direct mail will be delivered or distributed to locations in another state, the seller must collect the tax on that portion according to subsection (5) of this section.
     (7) The following are sourced to the location at or from which delivery is made to the consumer:
     (a) A retail sale of watercraft;
     (b) A retail sale of a modular home, manufactured home, or mobile home;
     (c) A retail sale, excluding the lease and rental, of a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or aircraft, that do not qualify as transportation equipment; and
     (d) Florist sales. In the case of a sale in which one florist takes an order from a customer and then communicates that order to another florist who delivers the items purchased to the place designated by the customer, the location at or from which the delivery is made to the consumer is deemed to be the location of the florist originally taking the order.
     (((7))) (8)(a) A retail sale of the providing of telecommunications services ((or ancillary services)), as ((those)) that term((s are)) is defined in RCW 82.04.065, ((shall be)) is sourced in accordance with RCW 82.32.520.
     (((8))) (b) A retail sale of the providing of ancillary services, as that term is defined in RCW 82.04.065, is sourced to the customer's place of primary use of the telecommunications services in respect to which the ancillary services are associated with or incidental to. The definitions of "customer" and "place of primary use" in RCW 82.32.520 apply to this subsection (8)(b).
     (9) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section.
     (a) "Delivered electronically" means delivered to the purchaser by means other than tangible storage media.
     (b) "Direct mail" means printed material delivered or distributed by United States mail or other delivery service to a mass audience or to addressees on a mailing list provided by the purchaser or at the direction of the purchaser when the cost of the items are not billed directly to the recipients. "Direct mail" includes tangible personal property supplied directly or indirectly by the purchaser to the direct mail seller for inclusion in the package containing the printed material. "Direct mail" does not include multiple items of printed material delivered to a single address.
     (c) "Florist sales" means the retail sale of tangible personal property by a florist. For purposes of this subsection (((8))) (9)(c), "florist" means a person whose primary business activity is the retail sale of fresh cut flowers, potted ornamental plants, floral arrangements, floral bouquets, wreaths, or any similar products, used for decorative and not landscaping purposes.
     (d) "Receive" and "receipt" mean taking possession of tangible personal property, making first use of services, or taking possession or making first use of digital goods, whichever comes first. "Receive" and "receipt" do not include possession by a shipping company on behalf of the purchaser.
     (e) "Transportation equipment" means:
     (i) Locomotives and railcars that are used for the carriage of persons or property in interstate commerce;
     (ii) Trucks and truck tractors with a gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand one pounds or greater, trailers, semitrailers, or passenger buses that are:
     (A) Registered through the international registration plan; and
     (B) Operated under authority of a carrier authorized and certificated by the United States department of transportation or another federal authority to engage in the carriage of persons or property in interstate commerce;
     (iii) Aircraft that are operated by air carriers authorized and certificated by the United States department of transportation or another federal or foreign authority to engage in the carriage of persons or property in interstate or foreign commerce; or
     (iv) Containers designed for use on and component parts attached or secured on the items described in (e)(i) through (iii) of this subsection.
     (((9))) (10) In those instances where there is no obligation on the part of a seller to collect or remit this state's sales or use tax, the use of tangible personal property or of a service, subject to use tax, is sourced to the place of first use in this state. The definition of use in RCW 82.12.010 applies to this subsection.

Sec. 2   RCW 82.08.050 and 2007 c 6 s 1202 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) 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.
     (2) 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 or her 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 is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
     (3) 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 or her own acts or the result of acts or conditions beyond his or her control, he or she shall, nevertheless, be personally liable to the state for the amount of the tax, unless the seller has taken from the buyer a resale certificate under RCW 82.04.470, a copy of a direct pay permit issued under RCW 82.32.087, a direct mail form as provided in RCW 82.32.730(5), an exemption certificate claiming direct mail ((form under)) as provided in RCW 82.32.730(((5))) (6), or other information required under the streamlined sales and use tax agreement, or information required under rules adopted by the department.
     (4) Sellers shall not be relieved from personal liability for the amount of the tax unless they maintain proper records of exempt transactions and provide them to the department when requested.
     (5) Sellers are not relieved from personal liability for the amount of tax if they fraudulently fail to collect the tax or if they solicit purchasers to participate in an unlawful claim of exemption.
     (6) Sellers are not relieved from personal liability for the amount of tax if they accept an exemption certificate from a purchaser claiming an entity-based exemption if:
     (a) The subject of the transaction sought to be covered by the exemption certificate is actually received by the purchaser at a location operated by the seller in Washington; and
     (b) Washington provides an exemption certificate that clearly and affirmatively indicates that the claimed exemption is not available in Washington. Graying out exemption reason types on a uniform form and posting it on the department's web site is a clear and affirmative indication that the grayed out exemptions are not available.
     (7)(a) Sellers are relieved from personal liability for the amount of tax if they obtain a fully completed exemption certificate or capture the relevant data elements required under the streamlined sales and use tax agreement within ninety days, or a longer period as may be provided by rule by the department, subsequent to the date of sale.
     (b) If the seller has not obtained an exemption certificate or all relevant data elements required under the streamlined sales and use tax agreement within the period allowed subsequent to the date of sale, the seller may, within one hundred twenty days, or a longer period as may be provided by rule by the department, subsequent to a request for substantiation by the department, either prove that the transaction was not subject to tax by other means or obtain a fully completed exemption certificate from the purchaser, taken in good faith.
     (c) Sellers are relieved from personal liability for the amount of tax if they obtain a blanket exemption certificate for a purchaser with which the seller has a recurring business relationship. The department may not request from a seller renewal of blanket certificates or updates of exemption certificate information or data elements if there is a recurring business relationship between the buyer and seller. For purposes of this subsection (7)(c), a "recurring business relationship" means at least one sale transaction within a period of twelve consecutive months.
     (8) 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 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
     (9) 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.
     (10) 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 twenty-fifth day of the month following the tax period in which the purchase was made shall be considered as the due date of the tax.
     (11) Notwithstanding subsections (1) through (10) of this section, any person making sales is not obligated to collect the tax imposed by this chapter if:
     (a) The person's activities in this state, whether conducted directly or through another person, are limited to:
     (i) The storage, dissemination, or display of advertising;
     (ii) The taking of orders; or
     (iii) The processing of payments; and
     (b) The activities are conducted electronically via a web site on a server or other computer equipment located in Washington that is not owned or operated by the person making sales into this state nor owned or operated by an affiliated person. "Affiliated persons" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 82.04.424.
     (12) Subsection (11) of this section expires when: (a) The United States congress grants individual states the authority to impose sales and use tax collection duties on remote sellers; or (b) it is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, in a judgment not subject to review, that a state can impose sales and use tax collection duties on remote sellers.
     (13) For purposes of this section, "seller" includes a certified service provider, as defined in RCW 82.32.020, acting as agent for the seller.

Sec. 3   RCW 82.02.230 and 2004 c 153 s 405 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) There shall be one statewide rate for sales and use taxes imposed at the state level. This subsection does not apply to the taxes imposed by RCW 82.08.150, 82.12.022, or 82.18.020, or to taxes imposed on the sale, rental, lease, or use of motor vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, modular homes, manufactured homes, or mobile homes.
     (2) There shall be one jurisdiction-wide rate for local sales and use taxes imposed at levels below the state level. This subsection does not apply to the taxes imposed by chapter 67.28 RCW, RCW 35.21.280, 36.38.010, 36.38.040, 67.40.090, 82.80.030, or 82.14.360, or to taxes imposed on the sale, rental, lease, or use of motor vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, modular homes, manufactured homes, or mobile homes.

Sec. 4   RCW 82.32.291 and 1993 sp.s. c 25 s 703 are each amended to read as follows:
     Any person who uses a resale certificate to purchase items or services without payment of sales tax, or who uses a uniform exemption certificate approved by the streamlined sales and use tax agreement governing board to claim a purchase for resale exemption, and who is not entitled to use the resale or exemption certificate for the purchase shall be assessed a penalty of fifty percent of the tax due, in addition to all other taxes, penalties, and interest due, on the improperly purchased item or service. The department may waive the penalty imposed under this section if it finds that the use of the resale or exemption certificate was due to circumstances beyond the taxpayer's control or if the resale or exemption certificate was properly used for purchases for dual purposes. The department shall define by rule what circumstances are considered to be beyond the taxpayer's control.