AN ACT Relating to the business and occupation tax; and amending RCW 82.04.260, 82.04.240, 82.04.250, 82.04.270, and 82.04.440.

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

Sec. 1. Section 5, chapter 3, Laws of 1983 2nd ex. sess. and RCW 82.04.260 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of buying wheat, oats, dry peas, dry beans, lentils, triticale, corn, rye and barley, but not including any manufactured or processed products thereof, and selling the same at wholesale; the tax imposed shall be equal to the gross proceeds derived from such sales multiplied by the rate of one one-hundredth of one percent.

(2) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of food processing, including: (a) Manufacturing wheat into flour, soybeans into soybean oil, or sunflower seeds into sunflower oil; ((~~as to such persons the amount of tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the value of the flour or oil manufactured, multiplied by the rate of one-eighth of one percent.~~

~~(3) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of~~)) (b) splitting or processing dried peas; ((~~as to such persons the amount of tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the value of the peas split or processed, multiplied by the rate of one-quarter of one percent.~~

~~(4) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of~~)) (c) manufacturing seafood products which remain in a raw, raw frozen, or raw salted state at the completion of the manufacturing by that person; ((~~as to such persons the amount of tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the value of the products manufactured, multiplied by the rate of one-eighth of one percent.~~

~~(5) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of~~)) and (d) manufacturing by canning, preserving, freezing or dehydrating fresh fruits and vegetables; as to such persons the amount of tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the value of the ((~~products canned, preserved, frozen or dehydrated multiplied by the rate of three-tenths~~)) processed food products multiplied by the rate of one-eighth of one percent.

((~~(6)~~)) (3) Upon every nonprofit corporation and nonprofit association engaging within this state in research and development, as to such corporations and associations, the amount of tax with respect to such activities shall be equal to the gross income derived from such activities multiplied by the rate of forty-four one-hundredths of one percent.

((~~(7)~~)) (4) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of slaughtering, breaking and/or processing perishable meat products and/or selling the same at wholesale only and not at retail; as to such persons the tax imposed shall be equal to the gross proceeds derived from such sales multiplied by the rate of thirty-three one-hundredths of one percent.

((~~(8)~~)) (5) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of making sales, at retail or wholesale, of nuclear fuel assemblies manufactured by that person, as to such persons the amount of tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the gross proceeds of sales of the assemblies multiplied by the rate of twenty-five one-hundredths of one percent.

((~~(9)~~)) (6) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of manufacturing nuclear fuel assemblies, as to such persons the amount of tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the value of the products manufactured multiplied by the rate of twenty-five one-hundredths of one percent.

((~~(10)~~)) (7) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of acting as a travel agent; as to such persons the amount of the tax with respect to such activities shall be equal to the gross income derived from such activities multiplied by the rate of twenty-five one-hundredths of one percent.

((~~(11)~~)) (8) Upon every person engaging within this state in business as an international steamship agent, international customs house broker, international freight forwarder, vessel and/or cargo charter broker in foreign commerce, and/or international air cargo agent; as to such persons the amount of the tax with respect to only international activities shall be equal to the gross income derived from such activities multiplied by the rate of thirty-three one-hundredths of one percent.

((~~(12)~~)) (9) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of stevedoring and associated activities pertinent to the movement of goods and commodities in waterborne interstate or foreign commerce; as to such persons the amount of tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the gross proceeds derived from such activities multiplied by the rate of thirty-three one hundredths of one percent. Persons subject to taxation under this subsection shall be exempt from payment of taxes imposed by chapter 82.16 RCW for that portion of their business subject to taxation under this subsection. Stevedoring and associated activities pertinent to the conduct of goods and commodities in waterborne interstate or foreign commerce are defined as all activities of a labor, service or transportation nature whereby cargo may be loaded or unloaded to or from vessels or barges, passing over, onto or under a wharf, pier, or similar structure; cargo may be moved to a warehouse or similar holding or storage yard or area to await further movement in import or export or may move to a consolidation freight station and be stuffed, unstuffed, containerized, separated or otherwise segregated or aggregated for delivery or loaded on any mode of transportation for delivery to its consignee. Specific activities included in this definition are: wharfage, handling, loading, unloading, moving of cargo to a convenient place of delivery to the consignee or a convenient place for further movement to export mode; documentation services in connection with the receipt, delivery, checking, care, custody and control of cargo required in the transfer of cargo; imported automobile handling prior to delivery to consignee; terminal stevedoring and incidental vessel services, including but not limited to plugging and unplugging refrigerator service to containers, trailers, and other refrigerated cargo receptacles, and securing ship hatch covers.

((~~(13)~~)) (10) Upon every person engaging within this state in the business of disposing of low-level waste, as defined in RCW 43.145.010; as to such persons the amount of the tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the gross income of the business, excluding any fees imposed under chapter 43.21F RCW, multiplied by the rate of thirty percent.

If the gross income of the taxpayer is attributable to activities both within and without this state, the gross income attributable to this state shall be determined in accordance with the methods of apportionment required under RCW 82.04.460.

((~~(14)~~)) (11) Upon every person engaging within this state as an insurance agent, insurance broker, or insurance solicitor licensed under chapter 48.17 RCW; as to such persons, the amount of the tax with respect to such licensed activities shall be equal to the gross income of such business multiplied by the rate of one percent.

Sec. 2. Section 82.04.240, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 1, chapter 172, Laws of 1981 and RCW 82.04.240 are each amended to read as follows:

Upon every person except persons taxable under subsections (2), ((~~(3),~~)) (4), (5), ((~~(7), (8), or (9)~~)) or (6) of RCW 82.04.260 engaging within this state in business as a manufacturer; as to such persons the amount of the tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the value of the products, including byproducts, manufactured, multiplied by the rate of forty-four one-hundredths of one percent.

The measure of the tax is the value of the products, including byproducts, so manufactured regardless of the place of sale or the fact that deliveries may be made to points outside the state.

Sec. 3. Section 82.04.250, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 2, chapter 172, Laws of 1981 and RCW 82.04.250 are each amended to read as follows:

Upon every person except persons taxable under RCW 82.04.260((~~(8)~~))(5) engaging within this state in the business of making sales at retail, as to such persons, the amount of tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the gross proceeds of sales of the business, multiplied by the rate of forty-four one-hundredths of one percent.

Sec. 4. Section 82.04.270, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 4, chapter 172, Laws of 1981 and RCW 82.04.270 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Upon every person except persons taxable under subsections (1) or ((~~(8)~~)) (5) of RCW 82.04.260 engaging within this state in the business of making sales at wholesale; as to such persons the amount of tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the gross proceeds of sales of such business multiplied by the rate of forty-four one-hundredths of one percent.

(2) The tax imposed by this section is levied and shall be collected from every person engaged in the business of distributing in this state articles of tangible personal property, owned by them from their own warehouse or other central location in this state to two or more of their own retail stores or outlets, where no change of title or ownership occurs, the intent hereof being to impose a tax equal to the wholesaler's tax upon persons performing functions essentially comparable to those of a wholesaler, but not actually making sales: PROVIDED, That the tax designated in this section may not be assessed twice to the same person for the same article. The amount of the tax as to such persons shall be computed by multiplying forty-four one-hundredths of one percent of the value of the article so distributed as of the time of such distribution: PROVIDED, That persons engaged in the activities described in this subsection shall not be liable for the tax imposed if by proper invoice it can be shown that they have purchased such property from a wholesaler who has paid a business and occupation tax to the state upon the same articles. This proviso shall not apply to purchases from manufacturers as defined in RCW 82.04.110. The department of revenue shall prescribe uniform and equitable rules for the purpose of ascertaining such value, which value shall correspond as nearly as possible to the gross proceeds from sales at wholesale in this state of similar articles of like quality and character, and in similar quantities by other taxpayers: PROVIDED FURTHER, That delivery trucks or vans will not under the purposes of this section be considered to be retail stores or outlets.

Sec. 5. Section 82.04.440, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 5, chapter 172, Laws of 1981 and RCW 82.04.440 are each amended to read as follows:

Every person engaged in activities which are within the purview of the provisions of two or more of sections RCW 82.04.230 to 82.04.290, inclusive, shall be taxable under each paragraph applicable to the activities engaged in: PROVIDED, That persons taxable under RCW 82.04.250 or 82.04.270 shall not be taxable under RCW 82.04.230, 82.04.240 or subsection (2)((~~, (3), (4), (5), or (7)~~)) or (4) of RCW 82.04.260 with respect to extracting or manufacturing of the products so sold, and that persons taxable under RCW 82.04.240 or RCW 82.04.260 subsection (4) shall not be taxable under RCW 82.04.230 with respect to extracting the ingredients of the products so manufactured.