BILL REQ. #: S-2011.1
| State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
Read first time 03/03/11. Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.
AN ACT Relating to creating a tax on plastic shopping bags; adding a new chapter to Title 82 RCW; prescribing penalties; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 (1) There is levied and collected a tax in
the amount of two cents on each plastic bag supplied by a seller to a
buyer at retail sale.
(2) The selling price does not include the tax and the tax must be
separately stated on the invoice, bill of sale, or similar document
given to the purchaser.
(3) The tax imposed in this chapter must be paid by the buyer to
the seller. The tax required by this chapter, to be collected by the
seller, is deemed to be held in trust by the seller until paid to the
department. Any seller who appropriates or converts the tax collected
to the seller's 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.
(4) All revenues collected during any month from the tax under this
section must be deposited in the state general fund by the twenty-fifth
day of the following month.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 The definitions in this section apply
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Plastic bag" means a bag or pouch of flexible packaging made
of thin, flexible, plastic film that is designed and intended to be
used for the carrying of goods purchased at a retail establishment and
that is provided to the consumer by the retail establishment at the
point of sale. The term does not include:
(a) A reusable bag or pouch specifically designed for multiple use
and that is made of cloth, fabric or durable plastic of at least 2.25
mils; or
(b) A bag or pouch to carry or bundle produce for delivery to the
point of sale at a retail establishment.
(2) To the extent applicable, all of the definitions of chapters
82.04 and 82.08 RCW apply to the tax imposed in this chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 To the extent applicable, all of the
provisions of chapter 82.32 RCW apply to the tax imposed in this
chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 Sections 1 through 3 of this act constitute
a new chapter in Title
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 This act takes effect October 1, 2011.