Business and Occupation Tax.
Washington's major business tax is the business and occupation (B&O) tax. The B&O tax is imposed on the gross receipts of business activities conducted within the state, without any deduction for the costs of doing business. Businesses must pay the B&O tax even though they may not have any profits or may be operating at a loss.
A taxpayer may have more than one B&O tax rate, depending on the types of activities conducted. Major B&O tax rates are 0.471 percent for retailing; 0.484 percent for manufacturing and wholesaling; and 1.5 percent (businesses with taxable income of less than $1 million) or 1.75 percent (businesses with taxable income of $1 million or more) for services and for activities not classified elsewhere. There are many specialized B&O tax rates and preferential rates that apply to specific business activities.
In addition, a taxpayer may be eligible to utilize other tax preferences, including credits and deductions, to reduce their tax liability. For example, a taxpayer engaging in activities subject to different B&O tax rates may be eligible for a multiple activities tax credit. A taxpayer may also be eligible for a small business credit that will either eliminate or reduce their B&O tax liability. The credit is $160 per month for taxpayers that report at least 50 percent or greater of their total B&O taxable amount under service and other activities, real estate brokers, and contests of chance and $55 per month for all other businesses, multiplied by the number of months in the reporting period. The amount of the credit available phases out based on the business's gross receipts.
A business does not have to file an annual B&O tax return if the business does not owe other taxes or fees to the Department of Revenue (DOR) and has annual gross proceeds of sales, gross income, or value of products for all B&O tax classifications of less than $125,000 per year.
Retail Sales and Use Tax.
Retail sales taxes are imposed on retail sales of most articles of tangible personal property, digital products, and some services. A retail sale is a sale to the final consumer or end user of the property, digital product, or service. If retail sales taxes are not collected when the user acquires the property, digital products, or services, then use tax applies to the value of property, digital product, or service when used in this state. The state, all counties, and all cities levy retail sales and use taxes. The state sales and use tax rate is 6.5 percent; local sales and use tax rates vary from 0.5 percent to 4.1 percent, depending on the location.
Retail Services.
Businesses that sell intangible products to customers are generally subject to the B&O tax under the services and other classification. Customers do not pay retail sales and use tax on most services. A select number of services are subject to retail sales and use tax, such as construction services, personal training at athletic and fitness facilities, extended warranties and maintenance agreements, alarm monitoring services, and vehicle towing. If the service is taxable as a retail sale, then the business activity is also subject to the retailing B&O tax.
Information technology products and services sold as a non-itemized package are generally subject to retail sales and use tax. When the products and services are separately stated on a sales invoice or contract, charges for computer hardware and prewritten computer software are subject to retail sales or use tax. Separately stated charges for custom software and customization of prewritten software are not subject to retail sales or use tax.
Digital Products.
Retail sales or use taxes apply to all digital products, regardless of how they are accessed. Digital products are digital goods and digital automated services (DAS). A DAS is any service transferred electronically that uses one or more software applications. A digital good is a sound, image, data, fact, or information, or any combination thereof, transferred or accessed electronically.
Some DAS exclusions exist that exempt specific DAS from the definition of retail sales. A few of those exclusions include, but are not limited to:
Digital goods concurrently available for use inside and outside Washington are not subject to retail sales or use taxes if the goods or services are not for personal use. The above exclusions are exempt from retail sales and use tax and the retailing B&O tax and are instead subject to the service and other activities B&O tax.
Advertising services are defined as services directly related to the creation, preparation, production, or the dissemination of advertisements, including layout, art direction, graphic design, mechanical preparation, production supervision, placement, and rendering advice to a client concerning the best methods of advertising that client's products or services. Advertising services also include online referrals, search engine marketing and lead generation optimization, web campaign planning, the acquisition of advertising space in the internet media, and the monitoring and evaluation of website traffic for purposes of determining the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. Advertising services do not include web hosting services and domain name registration.
A data processing service is defined as a primarily automated service provided to a business or other organization where the primary object of the service is the systematic performance of operations by the service provider on data supplied in whole or in part by the customer to extract the required information in an appropriate form or to convert the data to usable information. Data processing services include processing checks, images, forms, surveys, payroll, claims, and similar activities.
Other Tobacco Products Tax.
Taxes are imposed on the sale, handling, or distribution of all tobacco products at the following rates:
The other tobacco products (OTP) tax is deposited into the state general fund. The OTP tax is in addition to retail sales and use, B&O, and litter taxes that may apply. The definition of tobacco products is made up of a list of forms of tobacco prepared for human consumption, and specifically excludes cigarettes.
Retail Services.
Beginning October 1, 2025, the following select services are classified as retail services and subject to retail sales and use tax and the retailing B&O tax:
Advertising services means all digital and nondigital services related to the creation, preparation, production, or dissemination of advertisements including, but not limited to:
Advertising services do not include:
The following DAS are classified as retail services and subject to retail sales and use tax and the retailing B&O tax:
The following services are excluded from retail sales and use tax and the retailing B&O tax:
Taxation of Nicotine Products.
Beginning January 1, 2026, the definition of tobacco products is expanded to include products that contain nicotine, whether derived from tobacco or created synthetically. Such products are subject to the OTP tax. Nicotine cessation medications approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration are exempted.
(In support) Communities need revenue to provide critical services. State and local governments are already struggling to provide essential services for Washington. This bill raises desperately needed revenue. There is strong support for increasing the tobacco and cigarette taxes as a deterrent for youth. This would encourage people to quit and save 8,500 lives; 8,000 Washington youth would quit smoking. This will prevent cuts to essential services.
(Opposed) Taxing certain services will hurt small businesses. Taxing advertising services will hurt sports teams because they only have a limited number of games per year to earn advertising revenue. This bill will make it difficult for county fairs. Digital and non-digital advertising creates economic concerns. This bill might violate the Internet Tax Freedom Act and the Commerce Clause. This will tax sign advertisements, and this should be removed from the bill.
(Other) There are concerns about the definition of "advertising services" in the bill and the unintended consequences it could pose for sports teams and athletic institutions who rely on advertising for revenue.
(In support) Ashley Fueston, Washington Federation of State Employees; Maggie Humphreys; Ben Buchholz, Vapor Technology Association; Councilmember Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin, City of Port Angeles; Annie Tegen, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; and Seamus Petrie, Washington Public Employees Association.
More than 20 persons signed in. Please contact the House Public Records Office at https://leg.wa.gov/public-records-requests/ or call (360) 786-0926.