BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to vehicle titling and licensing; and amending RCW 46.70.051, 46.12.170, 82.44.023, and 82.44.060.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 46.70.051 and 1996 c 282 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) After the application has been filed, the fee paid, and bond posted, if required, the department shall, if no denial order is in effect and no proceeding is pending under RCW 46.70.101, issue the appropriate license, which license, in the case of a vehicle dealer, shall designate the classification of the dealer. Nothing prohibits a vehicle dealer from obtaining licenses for more than one classification, and nothing prevents any vehicle dealer from dealing in other classes of vehicles on an isolated basis.

(2) An auction company licensed under chapter 18.11 RCW may sell at auction all classifications of vehicles under a motor vehicle dealer's license issued under this chapter including motor vehicles, miscellaneous type vehicles, and mobile homes and travel trailers.

(3) At the time the department issues a vehicle dealer license, the department shall provide to the dealer a current, up-to-date vehicle dealer manual setting forth the various statutes and rules applicable to vehicle dealers. In addition, at the time any such license is renewed under RCW 46.70.083, the department shall provide the dealer with any updates or current revisions to the vehicle dealer manual. The department also shall provide to each dealer on an annual basis, an accurate and up-to-date motor vehicle dealer training manual for the purpose of training dealer employees and staff on the procedures and requirements for vehicle titling, licensing, and the collection of motor vehicle excise taxes. This manual is a supplement to the training programs and training classes provided by the department. The department also shall provide each dealer with any additional information and training (e.g., updates, revisions, or other supplemental materials or training) that the department's subagents and auditors receive. The additional information and training must be provided to dealers at the same time as it is provided to the department's subagents and auditors.

The department shall give dealers no less than sixty days advance written notice of a change in the documentation requirements or a change in the amount of fees or taxes to be collected in connection with the titling, licensing, or registration of vehicles.

(4) To facilitate the collection of motor vehicle excise tax imposed on vehicle sales in this state, the department shall provide to all licensed motor vehicle dealers, on a regular and timely basis and without cost to dealers, accurate and up-to-date motor vehicle excise tax information to allow dealers to accurately and easily determine the correct excise tax amount to be collected on each vehicle. The tax information must be provided to dealers in the same manner and form as it is provided to the department's subagents and auditors, and must be made available to dealers during their normal business hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Until January 1, 2000, in lieu of providing this tax information directly to each dealer, the department may contract with one or more private parties who will publish or otherwise provide dealers with the necessary excise tax information to allow dealers to easily determine the correct excise tax amounts. In that event, the department shall bear the cost and expense of providing all necessary information to those private parties (which information must include, but not be limited to, the original manufacturer's suggested retail price data base, vehicle transaction and registration data base, and excise tax schedules), to facilitate the calculation and dissemination of accurate and up-to-date excise tax amounts. The department may provide this information to private parties notwithstanding RCW 46.12.370. Dealers may rely upon as valid the excise tax information provided to them by these private parties.

Sec. 2. RCW 46.12.170 and 1994 c 262 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

If, after a certificate of ownership is issued, a security interest is granted on the vehicle described therein, the registered owner or secured party shall, within ten days thereafter, present an application to the department, to which shall be attached the certificate of ownership last issued covering the vehicle, or such other documentation as may be required by the department, which application shall be upon a form provided by the department and shall be accompanied by a fee of one dollar and twenty-five cents in addition to all other fees. The department, if satisfied that there should be a reissue of the certificate, shall note such change upon the vehicle records and issue to the secured party a new certificate of ownership.

Whenever there is no outstanding secured obligation and no commitment to make advances and incur obligations or otherwise give value, the secured party must assign the certificate of ownership to the debtor or the debtor's assignee or transferee, and transmit the certificate to the department with an accompanying fee of one dollar and twenty-five cents in addition to all other fees. The department shall then issue a new certificate of ownership and transmit it to the owner. If the affected secured party fails to either assign the certificate of ownership to the debtor or the debtor's assignee or transferee or transmit the certificate of ownership to the department within ten days after proper demand, that secured party shall be liable to the debtor or the debtor's assignee or transferee for one hundred dollars, and in addition for any loss caused to the debtor or the debtor's assignee or transferee by such failure.

Sec. 3. RCW 82.44.023 and 1994 c 227 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

Rental cars as defined in RCW 46.04.465 are exempt from the taxes imposed in RCW 82.44.020 (1) and (2). Effective January 20, 1997, the department of licensing has entered into a pilot project under which the department shall not collect motor vehicle excise tax on a rental car for the months remaining in the vehicle's registration year when a rental car ceases to be used for rental car purposes. This pilot project will continue for a period of two years, and terminates at midnight on January 19, 1999. During the period of the pilot project, when a rental car ceases to be used for rental car purposes and at the time of its retail sale, the ((~~excise tax imposed in RCW 82.44.020 (1) and (2) shall be imposed in an amount equal to one-twelfth of the annual excise tax then in effect, for each full month~~)) selling dealer is not required to collect excise tax for the months remaining in the vehicle's registration year and may rely upon as valid the registration month and year reflected on the current Washington state license plates and tabs on the vehicle.

Upon the termination of the pilot project for any reason, the department of licensing shall either adopt the tax provisions of the pilot project on a permanent basis or implement the following tax collection procedures: A rental car business shall remove the license plates and tabs from a vehicle once the vehicle ceases to be used for rental car purposes. At the time of the first retail sale of the vehicle after the discontinuance of its use as a rental car, motor vehicle excise tax must be collected as provided in RCW 82.44.020 for a full twelve-month registration period, and new license plates and tabs must be purchased for the vehicle.

Sec. 4. RCW 82.44.060 and 1990 c 42 s 304 are each amended to read as follows:

The excise tax hereby imposed shall be due and payable to the department or its agents at the time of registration of a motor vehicle. Whenever an application is made to the department or its agents for a license for a motor vehicle there shall be collected, in addition to the amount of the license fee or renewal license fee, the amount of the excise tax imposed by this chapter, and no dealer's license or license plates, and no license or license plates for a motor vehicle shall be issued unless such tax is paid in full. The excise tax hereby imposed shall be collected for each registration year. The excise tax upon a motor vehicle licensed for the first time in this state shall be levied for one full registration year commencing on the date of the calendar year designated by the department and ending on the same date of the next succeeding calendar year. For vehicles registered under chapter 46.87 RCW, proportional registration, and for vehicle dealer plates issued under chapter 46.70 RCW, the registration year is the period provided in those chapters: PROVIDED, That the tax shall in no case be less than two dollars except for proportionally registered vehicles.

A motor vehicle shall be deemed licensed for the first time in this state when such vehicle was not previously licensed by this state for the registration year immediately preceding the registration year in which the application for license is made or when the vehicle has been registered in another jurisdiction subsequent to any prior registration in this state.

No additional tax shall be imposed under this chapter upon any vehicle upon the transfer of ownership thereof if the tax imposed with respect to such vehicle has already been paid for the registration year or fraction of a registration year in which transfer of ownership occurs.

Collection of a special motor vehicle excise tax levied by a county under RCW 81.100.060 or a regional transit authority ("RTA") under RCW 81.104.160, is the sole responsibility of the respective county or regional transit authority, and the county or the RTA shall levy and collect the special excise tax separate and apart from any other motor vehicle excise tax that may be due at the time of registration of a motor vehicle. Motor vehicle dealers are not responsible or liable in any way for the collection, payment, or remittance of a county or RTA special motor vehicle excise tax at the time of registration of a new or used motor vehicle sold or leased by a vehicle dealer unless and until:

(1) The department of licensing has timely provided vehicle dealers with accurate, up-to-date, and easily decipherable excise tax information that specifies the amount of any such special excise taxes; and

(2) The excise tax information is made available to dealers during the dealers' normal business hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, and is provided to dealers in the same manner and form as that provided to the department's subagents and auditors.

No person may be denied issuance of a license or license plates for a motor vehicle purchased or leased from a motor vehicle dealer due to the nonpayment of any such special excise tax if the special excise tax was not included in the excise tax information provided by the department to dealers.