Nisqually Valley News Staff
The Washington state Department of Revenue this week announced it was sending out notices to customers explaining the recent expansion of retail sales related taxes that went into effect at the end of July.
The department said the new taxes will affect more than 90,000 businesses in the state.
The new taxes were passed by the Washington state Legislature as part of Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5814, which expands the definition of retail sales, enabling the state to levy sales taxes and business and operating taxes against a number of additional industries.
It also implements a new nicotine tax that expands what was formerly a tax exclusively on a range of tobacco products. The expanded tax applies to all nicotine containing products regardless of the tobacco content.
According to the announcement and the final legislative report on the 2025 legislation, the tax expansion means at least eight new categories of business services and sales will be subject to sales tax.
The new industries subject to retail sales related taxes are: information technology; custom website development; investigation, security and armored car services; temporary staffing; advertising; live presentations; sales of custom software and customization of prewritten software; modifications of digital automated services.
In the short announcement from the state’s Department of Revenue, officials urged businesses potentially affected by the new taxes to visit the Department of Revenue website to learn about updated expectations for collecting sales tax in the state.
Visit https://tinyurl.com/2w9ym7ey to learn more.
