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.
Filing Frequency and Due Dates.
Taxpayers are required to electronically file and pay excise taxes monthly. The DOR may provide a quarterly or annual tax filing frequency to taxpayers below a certain annual estimated tax liability. Businesses that collect retail sales and use tax generally file a combined excise tax return that includes both the B&O tax and any sales and use taxes collected by the business. The combined excise tax return for monthly filers is due on the twenty-fifth of the following month. The filing due date for combined excise tax returns creates a delay between when retailers receive the sales tax from their customers and when they remit those funds to the state.
Retail Services.
The following select services and 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:
Business and Occupation Tax.
Beginning January 1, 2026, the B&O tax is imposed upon advertising services at a rate of 3 percent of the gross income derived from such activities. Advertising services include, but are not limited to:
Advertising services do not include web hosting services and domain name registration and services rendered in respect to printing, publishing, radio, and television.
Beginning January 1, 2026, the B&O tax is imposed upon high technology services at a rate of 3 percent of the gross income derived from such activities. High technology services means the following activities:
Taxation of Nicotine Products.
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.
Prepayment of Sales Tax.
Taxpayers who file a monthly combined excise tax return and have $3 million or more taxable retail sales during calendar year 2026 must make a one-time prepayment of state sales tax collected in June 2027. The prepayment of state sales tax is due on June 25, 2027, and must be equal to 80 percent of the state sales tax collected and remitted for the June 2026 reporting period. The remaining tax liability is due on or before July 26, 2027. The taxpayer must correct the collection amounts on the regularly filed excise tax return due on or before July 26, 2027.
A one-time penalty equal to 10 percent of the amount of tax due and payable is assessed on any taxpayer who fails to submit a prepayment or submits a prepayment that is less than 80 percent of the June 2026 state sales tax. The DOR may waive the penalty if the taxpayer demonstrates that the June 2027 taxable retail sales were less than 80 percent of the June 2026 taxable retail sales.
The amended bill:
(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.