[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to including bottled drinking water as a food product exempt from sales and use tax; amending RCW 82.08.0293 and 82.12.0293; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that many people rely on bottled drinking water as a source of clean and safe water for drinking and cooking. The legislature intends that bottled drinking water intended for human consumption be included within the category of products that are exempt from sales and use tax. Bottled water to which flavoring, minerals, or carbonation have been added shall remain subject to retail sales and use tax.

Sec. 2. RCW 82.08.0293 and 1988 c 103 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The tax levied by RCW 82.08.020 shall not apply to sales of food products for human consumption.

"Food products" include cereals and cereal products, oleomargarine, meat and meat products including livestock sold for personal consumption, fish and fish products, eggs and egg products, vegetables and vegetable products, fruit and fruit products, spices and salt, sugar and sugar products, coffee and coffee substitutes, tea, cocoa and cocoa products.

"Food products" include milk and milk products, milk shakes, malted milks, and any other similar type beverages which are composed at least in part of milk or a milk product and which require the use of milk or a milk product in their preparation.

"Food products" include all fruit juices, vegetable juices, bottled drinking water as defined in this section, and other beverages except bottled water products that do not meet the definition of bottled drinking water, spirituous, malt or vinous liquors or carbonated beverages, whether liquid or frozen. "Bottled drinking water" means natural mineral water, spring water, naturally carbonated water, naturally sparkling water, well water, artesian water, drinking water, purified water, and distilled water, as those terms are defined in chapter 69.07 RCW.

"Food products" do not include medicines and preparations in liquid, powdered, granular, tablet, capsule, lozenge, and pill form sold as dietary supplements or adjuncts.

(2) The exemption of "food products" provided for in subsection (1) of this section shall not apply: (a) When the food products are ordinarily sold for immediate consumption on or near a location at which parking facilities are provided primarily for the use of patrons in consuming the products purchased at the location, even though such products are sold on a "takeout" or "to go" order and are actually packaged or wrapped and taken from the premises of the retailer, or (b) when the food products are sold for consumption within a place, the entrance to which is subject to an admission charge, except for national and state parks and monuments, or (c) to a food product, when sold by the retail vendor, which by law must be handled on the vendor's premises by a person with a food and beverage service worker's permit under RCW 69.06.010, including but not be limited to sandwiches prepared or chicken cooked on the premises, deli trays, home-delivered pizzas or meals, and salad bars but excluding:

(i) Raw meat prepared by persons who slaughter animals, including fish and fowl, or dress or wrap slaughtered raw meat such as fish mongers, butchers, or meat wrappers;

(ii) Meat and cheese sliced and/or wrapped, in any quantity determined by the buyer, sold by vendors such as meat markets, delicatessens, and grocery stores;

(iii) Bakeries which only sell baked goods;

(iv) Combination bakery businesses, as prescribed by rule of the department, to the extent that sales of baked goods are separately accounted for and the baked goods claimed for exemption are not sold as part of meals or with beverages in unsealed containers; or

(v) Bulk food products sold from bins or barrels, including but not limited to flour, fruits, vegetables, sugar, salt, candy, chips, and cocoa.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, the exemption of "food products" provided in this section shall apply to food products which are furnished, prepared, or served as meals:

(a) Under a state administered nutrition program for the aged as provided for in the Older Americans Act (P.L. 95-478 Title III) and RCW 74.38.040(6); or

(b) Which are provided to senior citizens, disabled persons, or low-income persons by a not-for-profit organization organized under chapter 24.03 or 24.12 RCW.

(4) Subsection (1) of this section notwithstanding, the retail sale of food products is subject to sales tax under RCW 82.08.020 if the food products are sold through a vending machine, and in this case the selling price for purposes of RCW 82.08.020 is fifty-seven percent of the gross receipts.

This subsection does not apply to hot prepared food products, other than food products which are heated after they have been dispensed from the vending machine.

For tax collected under this subsection, the requirements that the tax be collected from the buyer and that the amount of tax be stated as a separate item are waived.

Sec. 3. RCW 82.12.0293 and 1988 c 103 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The provisions of this chapter shall not apply in respect to the use of food products for human consumption.