BILL REQ. #:  S-3745.1 

Read first time 01/23/12.   Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

     AN ACT Relating to directing real estate excise tax penalties to the general fund; and amending RCW 82.45.100.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 82.45.100 and 2010 1st sp.s. c 23 s 211 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Payment of the tax imposed under this chapter is due and payable immediately at the time of sale, and if not paid within one month thereafter will bear interest from the time of sale until the date of payment.
     (a) Interest imposed before January 1, 1999, is computed at the rate of one percent per month.
     (b) Interest imposed after December 31, 1998, is computed on a monthly basis at the rate as computed under RCW 82.32.050(2). The rate so computed must be adjusted on the first day of January of each year for use in computing interest for that calendar year. The department must provide written notification to the county treasurers of the variable rate on or before December 1st of the year preceding the calendar year in which the rate applies.
     (2) In addition to the interest described in subsection (1) of this section, if the payment of any tax is not received by the county treasurer or the department of revenue, as the case may be, within one month of the date due, there is assessed a penalty of five percent of the amount of the tax; if the tax is not received within two months of the date due, there will be assessed a total penalty of ten percent of the amount of the tax; and if the tax is not received within three months of the date due, there will be assessed a total penalty of twenty percent of the amount of the tax. The payment of the penalty described in this subsection is collectible from the seller only, and RCW 82.45.070 does not apply to the penalties described in this subsection.
     (3) If the tax imposed under this chapter is not received by the due date, the transferee is personally liable for the tax, along with any interest as provided in subsection (1) of this section, unless an instrument evidencing the sale is recorded in the official real property records of the county in which the property conveyed is located.
     (4) If upon examination of any affidavits or from other information obtained by the department or its agents it appears that all or a portion of the tax is unpaid, the department must assess against the taxpayer the additional amount found to be due plus interest and penalties as provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section. The department must notify the taxpayer by mail, or electronically as provided in RCW 82.32.135, of the additional amount and the same becomes due and must be paid within thirty days from the date of the notice, or within such further time as the department may provide.
     (5) No assessment or refund may be made by the department more than four years after the date of sale except upon a showing of:
     (a) Fraud or misrepresentation of a material fact by the taxpayer;
     (b) A failure by the taxpayer to record documentation of a sale or otherwise report the sale to the county treasurer; or
     (c) A failure of the transferor or transferee to report the sale under RCW 82.45.090(2).
     (6) Penalties collected on taxes due under this chapter under subsection (2) of this section and RCW 82.32.090 (2) through (8) must be deposited in the ((housing trust fund as described in chapter 43.185 RCW)) state general fund.