Newspaper tax preference

AN ACT Relating to newspapers and eligible digital content; 1
amending RCW 82.04.759; reenacting and amending RCW 82.04.759; 2
providing an effective date; and providing expiration dates.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 82.04.759 and 2024 c 252 s 2 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) This chapter does not apply to amounts received by any person 7
for engaging in any of the following activities: 8
(a) Printing a newspaper, publishing a newspaper, or both; or9
(b) Publishing eligible digital content by a person who reported 10
under the printing and publishing tax classification for the 11
reporting period that covers January 1, 2008, for engaging in 12
printing and/or publishing a newspaper, as defined on January 1, 13
2008. 14
(2) The exemption under this section must be reduced by an amount 15
equal to the value of any expenditure made by the person during the 16
tax reporting period. For purposes of this subsection, "expenditure" 17
has the meaning provided in RCW 42.17A.005. 18
(3) If a person who is primarily engaged in printing a newspaper, 19
publishing a newspaper, or publishing eligible digital content, or 20
any combination of these activities, charges a single, nonvariable 21
H-0223.1
HOUSE BILL 1060
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Santos, Orcutt, Shavers, and Duerr
Prefiled 12/13/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Finance.
p. 1 HB 1060
amount to advertise in, subscribe to, or access content in both a 1
publication identified in subsection (1) of this section and another 2
type of publication, the entire amount is exempt under this section.3
(4) For purposes of this section, "eligible digital content" 4
means a publication that: 5
(a) Is published at regularly stated intervals of at least once 6
per month; 7
(b) Features written content, the largest category of which, as 8
determined by word count, contains material that identifies the 9
author or the original source of the material; and10
(c) Is made available to readers exclusively in an electronic 11
format. 12
(5) The exemption under this section applies only to persons 13
primarily engaged in printing a newspaper, publishing a newspaper, or 14
publishing eligible digital content, or any combination of these 15
activities, unless these business activities were previously engaged 16
in by an affiliated person and were not the affiliated person's 17
primary business activity. 18
(6) A person claiming the exemption under this section must file 19
a complete annual tax performance report with the department under 20
RCW 82.32.534.21
(7) Any person claiming the exemption under this section who 22
fails to meet the requirement under subsection (6) of this section is 23
subject to the provisions under RCW 82.32.534(4) equal to the gross 24
income of the business activities under this section multiplied by 25
the rate of 0.484 percent.26
(8) If at any time the department finds that a person is not 27
eligible for the exemption under this section, the amount of taxes 28
for which an exemption has been granted is immediately due equal to 29
the gross income of the business activities under this section 30
multiplied by the rate of 0.484 percent. The department must assess 31
interest, but not penalties, on the taxes for which the person is not 32
eligible for the exemption. The interest must be assessed at the rate 33
provided for delinquent excise taxes under chapter 82.32 RCW, is 34
retroactive to the date the tax exemption was taken, and accrues 35
until the taxes for which the exemption has been used are paid.36
(9) For purposes of this section, the following definitions 37
apply: 38
(a) "Affiliated" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 39
82.04.299. 40
p. 2 HB 1060
(b) "Primarily" means, with respect to a business activity or 1
combination of business activities of a taxpayer, more than 50 2
percent of the taxpayer's gross worldwide income from all business 3
activities, whether subject to tax under this chapter or not, comes 4
from such activity or activities. 5
Sec. 2. RCW 82.04.759 and 2024 c 252 s 2 and 2024 c 164 s 534 6
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 7
(1) This chapter does not apply to amounts received by any person 8
for engaging in any of the following activities: 9
(a) Printing a newspaper, publishing a newspaper, or both; or10
(b) Publishing eligible digital content by a person who reported 11
under the printing and publishing tax classification for the 12
reporting period that covers January 1, 2008, for engaging in 13
printing and/or publishing a newspaper, as defined on January 1, 14
2008. 15
(2) The exemption under this section must be reduced by an amount 16
equal to the value of any expenditure made by the person during the 17
tax reporting period. For purposes of this subsection, "expenditure" 18
has the meaning provided in RCW 29B.10.230. 19
(3) If a person who is primarily engaged in printing a newspaper, 20
publishing a newspaper, or publishing eligible digital content, or 21
any combination of these activities, charges a single, nonvariable 22
amount to advertise in, subscribe to, or access content in both a 23
publication identified in subsection (1) of this section and another 24
type of publication, the entire amount is exempt under this section.25
(4) For purposes of this section, "eligible digital content" 26
means a publication that: 27
(a) Is published at regularly stated intervals of at least once 28
per month; 29
(b) Features written content, the largest category of which, as 30
determined by word count, contains material that identifies the 31
author or the original source of the material; and32
(c) Is made available to readers exclusively in an electronic 33
format. 34
(5) The exemption under this section applies only to persons 35
primarily engaged in printing a newspaper, publishing a newspaper, or 36
publishing eligible digital content, or any combination of these 37
activities, unless these business activities were previously engaged 38
p. 3 HB 1060
in by an affiliated person and were not the affiliated person's 1
primary business activity. 2
(6) A person claiming the exemption under this section must file 3
a complete annual tax performance report with the department under 4
RCW 82.32.534.5
(7) Any person claiming the exemption under this section who 6
fails to meet the requirement under subsection (6) of this section is 7
subject to the provisions under RCW 82.32.534(4) equal to the gross 8
income of the business activities under this section multiplied by 9
the rate of 0.484 percent.10
(8) If at any time the department finds that a person is not 11
eligible for the exemption under this section, the amount of taxes 12
for which an exemption has been granted is immediately due equal to 13
the gross income of the business activities under this section 14
multiplied by the rate of 0.484 percent. The department must assess 15
interest, but not penalties, on the taxes for which the person is not 16
eligible for the exemption. The interest must be assessed at the rate 17
provided for delinquent excise taxes under chapter 82.32 RCW, is 18
retroactive to the date the tax exemption was taken, and accrues 19
until the taxes for which the exemption has been used are paid.20
(9) For purposes of this section, the following definitions 21
apply: 22
(a) "Affiliated" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 23
82.04.299. 24
(b) "Primarily" means, with respect to a business activity or 25
combination of business activities of a taxpayer, more than 50 26
percent of the taxpayer's gross worldwide income from all business 27
activities, whether subject to tax under this chapter or not, comes 28
from such activity or activities. 29
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Section 1 of this act expires January 1, 30
2026.31
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Section 2 of this act takes effect January 32
1, 2026.33
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Section 2 of this act expires January 1, 34
2034.35
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p. 4 HB 1060