County B&O tax

AN ACT Relating to authorizing counties to impose a business and 1
occupation tax; adding a new chapter to Title 36 RCW; providing 2
effective dates; and providing an expiration date. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. FINDINGS— INTENT. (1) The legislature finds 5
no reason that counties in Washington state should not be permitted 6
to levy business and occupation taxes. To fund services related to 7
behavioral health, public safety, transit, and waste management, 8
Washington counties rely primarily on sales taxes, property taxes, 9
and federal grants. Sales taxes are the most regressive form of tax 10
possible because they consume a disproportionate share of the income 11
of poor and middle class spenders. Property taxes are often hard on 12
middle-income and working-class homeowners; in section 1, chapter 39, 13
Laws of 2015 3rd sp.s., the legislature recognized that "property 14
taxes impose a substantial financial burden on those with fixed 15
incomes." In addition, the prospect of depending upon federal grants 16
has become increasingly dubious under the current presidential 17
administration.18
(2) Therefore, the legislature intends to authorize Washington 19
counties to impose business and occupation taxes to fund services 20
that Washingtonians rely on. 21
H-2477.1
HOUSE BILL 2097
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Scott, Doglio, Peterson, Wylie, Parshley, Farivar,
Macri, Hill, and Pollet
Prefiled 12/04/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Finance.
p. 1 HB 2097
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. APPLICATION. This chapter does not apply 1
to any person with respect to a business activity to which tax 2
liability is specifically imposed under chapter 82.16 RCW including 3
amounts derived from activities for which a deduction is allowed 4
under RCW 82.16.050. The exemption in this section does not apply to 5
sales of natural gas, including compressed natural gas and liquefied 6
natural gas used or sold to manufacture transportation fuel, and 7
renewable natural gas, by a gas distribution business, if such sales 8
are exempt from the tax imposed under chapter 82.16 RCW as provided 9
in RCW 82.16.310.10
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. DEFINITIONS. The definitions in this 11
section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly 12
requires otherwise.13
(1) "Business" has the same meaning as in RCW 82.04.140.14
(2) "Business and occupation tax" or "gross receipts tax" means a 15
tax imposed on or measured by the value of products, the gross income 16
of the business, or the gross proceeds of sales, as the case may be, 17
and that is the legal liability of the business. 18
(3) "City" means a city, town, or code city. 19
(4) "County" means any county of the state. 20
(5) "Gross income of the business" has the same meaning as in RCW 21
82.04.080. 22
(6) "Gross proceeds of sales" has the same meaning as in RCW 23
82.04.070. 24
(7) "Value of products" has the same meaning as in RCW 82.04.450.25
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE A TAX. A county 26
legislative authority may impose a business and occupation tax in 27
accordance with the terms of this chapter.28
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. MODEL ORDINANCE — MANDATORY PROVISIONS. 29
(1)(a) Washington state counties, working through the Washington 30
state association of counties, must form a model ordinance 31
development committee made up of a representative sampling of 32
counties that intend to levy a business and occupation tax on or 33
after July 1, 2027. The committee must also include a representative 34
sampling of cities that impose a business and occupation tax. The 35
committee may include other relevant parties. This committee must use 36
a process to adopt a model ordinance and subsequent amendments that 37
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includes opportunity for substantial input from business stakeholders 1
and other members of the public. Input must be solicited from 2
statewide business associations and from local chambers of commerce 3
and business associations. 4
(b) The department of commerce must contract to post the model 5
ordinance on an internet website and to make paper copies available 6
for inspection upon request. The department of revenue and the 7
department of licensing must post copies of or links to the model 8
ordinance on their internet websites. Additionally, a county that 9
imposes a business and occupation tax must make copies of its 10
ordinance available for inspection and copying as provided in chapter 11
42.56 RCW. 12
(c) The definitions and tax classifications in the model 13
ordinance may not be amended more frequently than once every four 14
years, however the model ordinance may be amended at any time to 15
comply with changes in state law. Any amendment to a mandatory 16
provision of the model ordinance must be adopted with the same 17
effective date by all counties. 18
(2) A county that imposes a business and occupation tax must 19
adopt the mandatory provisions of the model ordinance. The following 20
provisions are mandatory: 21
(a) A system of credits that meets the requirements of section 9 22
of this act and a form for such use; 23
(b) A uniform, minimum small business tax threshold of at least 24
the equivalent of $20,000 in gross income annually. A county may 25
elect to deviate from this requirement by creating a higher threshold 26
or exemption, but it must not deviate lower than the level required 27
in this subsection (2)(b); 28
(c) Tax reporting frequencies that meet the requirements of 29
section 10 of this act; 30
(d) Penalty and interest provisions that meet the requirements of 31
sections 11 and 12 of this act; 32
(e) Claim periods that meet the requirements of section 13 of 33
this act; 34
(f) Refund provisions that meet the requirements of section 14 of 35
this act; and 36
(g) Definitions, which at a minimum, must include the definitions 37
in sections 3 and 15 of this act. The definitions in chapter 82.04 38
RCW must be used as the baseline for all definitions in the model 39
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ordinance, and any deviation in the model ordinance from these 1
definitions must be described by a comment in the model ordinance.2
(3) The model ordinance must be drafted to address the issue of 3
multiple taxation for those tax classifications that are in addition 4
to those enumerated in section 9 (3) through (5) of this act. The 5
objective of any such provisions must be to eliminate multiple 6
taxation of the same income by two or more counties or by a city 7
located within a county. 8
(4) The model ordinance must be drafted to include a provision 9
allowing a credit against the county tax imposed under this chapter 10
for the full amount of any city business and occupation tax imposed 11
under chapter 35.102 RCW upon the same taxable event.12
(5) In addition to the deduction required by section 21 of this 13
act and the system of credits developed to address multiple taxation 14
under section 9 of this act, a county may adopt its own provisions 15
for tax exemptions, tax credits, preferential rates, and tax 16
deductions. 17
(6) Any county that adopts an ordinance that deviates from the 18
nonmandatory provisions of the model ordinance must make a 19
description of such differences available to the public, in written 20
and electronic form. 21
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. IMPOSITION OR INCREASE OF BUSINESS AND 22
OCCUPATION TAX — REFERENDUM PROCEDURE REQUIRED — EXCLUSIVE PROCEDURE. 23
(1) Every county first imposing a business and occupation tax or 24
increasing the rate of tax must provide for a referendum procedure to 25
apply to an ordinance imposing the tax or increasing the rate of the 26
tax. This referendum procedure must specify that a referendum 27
petition may be filed within seven days of passage of the ordinance 28
with a filing officer, as identified in the ordinance. Within 10 29
days, the filing officer must confer with the petitioner concerning 30
form and style of the petition, issue the petition an identification 31
number, and secure an accurate, concise, and positive ballot title 32
from the designated local official. The petitioner has 30 days in 33
which to secure the signatures of not less than 15 percent of the 34
registered voters of the county, as of the last county general 35
election, upon petition forms which contain the ballot title and the 36
full text of the measure to be referred. The filing officer must 37
verify the sufficiency of the signatures on the petition and, if 38
sufficient valid signatures are properly submitted, must certify the 39
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referendum measure to the next election ballot pursuant to RCW 1
29A.04.321. 2
(2) This referendum procedure must be exclusive in all instances 3
for any county ordinance imposing a business and occupation tax or 4
increasing the rate of the tax and must supersede the procedures all 5
other statutory or charter provisions for initiative or referendum 6
which might otherwise apply. 7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. TAXATION OF RETAIL BUSINESSES. Any county 8
that imposes a tax upon business activities consisting of the making 9
of retail sales of tangible personal property that are measured by 10
gross receipts or gross income from such sales, must impose such tax 11
at a single uniform rate upon all such business activities. This 12
section does not apply to any business activities subject to the tax 13
imposed by chapter 82.16 RCW. For purposes of this section, the 14
providing to consumers of competitive telephone service, as defined 15
in RCW 82.04.065, or the providing of payphone service as defined in 16
RCW 35.21.710, must be subject to tax at the same rate as business 17
activities consisting of the making of retail sales of tangible 18
personal property.19
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. NEXUS REQUIRED. A county may not impose a 20
business and occupation tax on a person unless that person has nexus 21
with the county. For the purposes of this section, nexus means 22
business activities conducted by a person sufficient to subject that 23
person to the taxing jurisdiction of a county under the standards 24
established for interstate commerce under the commerce clause of the 25
United States Constitution. Mere registration under or compliance 26
with the streamlined sales and use tax agreement does not constitute 27
nexus for the purposes of this section.28
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. MULTIPLE TAXATION— CREDIT SYSTEM. A county 29
that imposes a business and occupation tax must provide for a system 30
of credits to avoid multiple taxation as follows:31
(1) Persons who engage in business activities that are within the 32
purview of more than one classification of the tax must be taxable 33
under each applicable classification. 34
(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, if 35
imposition of the tax would place an undue burden upon interstate 36
commerce or violate constitutional requirements, a taxpayer must be 37
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allowed a credit only to the extent necessary to preserve the 1
validity of the tax. 2
(3) Persons taxable under the retailing or wholesaling 3
classification with respect to selling products in a county must be 4
allowed a credit against those taxes for any eligible gross receipts 5
taxes paid by the person: (a) With respect to the manufacturing of 6
the products sold in the county; and (b) with respect to the 7
extracting of the products, or the ingredients used in the products, 8
sold in the county. The amount of the credit must not exceed the tax 9
liability arising with respect to the sale of those products.10
(4) Persons taxable under the manufacturing classification with 11
respect to manufacturing products in a county must be allowed a 12
credit against that tax for any eligible gross receipts tax paid by 13
the person with respect to extracting the ingredients of the products 14
manufactured in the county and with respect to manufacturing the 15
products other than in the county. The amount of the credit must not 16
exceed the tax liability arising with respect to the manufacturing of 17
those products. 18
(5) Persons taxable under the retailing or wholesaling 19
classification with respect to selling products in a county must be 20
allowed a credit against those taxes for any eligible gross receipts 21
taxes paid by the person with respect to the printing, or the 22
printing and publishing, of the products sold within the county. The 23
amount of the credit must not exceed the tax liability arising with 24
respect to the sale of those products. 25
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. REPORTING FREQUENCY. A county that 26
imposes a business and occupation tax must allow reporting and 27
payment of tax on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. The 28
frequency for any particular person may be assigned at the discretion 29
of the county, except that monthly reporting may be assigned only if 30
it can be demonstrated that the taxpayer is remitting excise tax to 31
the state on a monthly basis. Payment is due within the same time 32
period provided under RCW 82.32.045.33
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. COMPUTATION OF INTEREST. (1) A county 34
that imposes a business and occupation tax must compute interest 35
charged a taxpayer on an underpaid tax or penalty in accordance with 36
RCW 82.32.050.37
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(2) A county that imposes a business and occupation tax must 1
compute interest paid on refunds or credits of amounts paid or other 2
recovery allowed a taxpayer in accordance with RCW 82.32.060.3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. PENALTIES. A county that imposes a 4
business and occupation tax must provide for the imposition of 5
penalties in accordance with chapter 82.32 RCW.6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. CLAIM PERIOD. The provisions of a 7
business and occupation tax relating to the time period allowed for 8
an assessment or correction of an assessment for additional taxes, 9
penalties, or interest must be in accordance with chapter 82.32 RCW.10
NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. REFUND PERIOD. The provisions of a 11
business and occupation tax relating to the time period allowed for a 12
refund of taxes paid must be in accordance with chapter 82.32 RCW.13
NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. DEFINITIONS— TAX CLASSIFICATIONS. (1) In 14
addition to the definitions in section 3 of this act, the following 15
terms and phrases must be defined in the model ordinance under this 16
chapter, and the definitions must include any specific requirements 17
as noted in this subsection:18
(a) Commercial and industrial use; 19
(b) Eligible gross receipts tax; 20
(c) Engaging in business; 21
(d) Extracting; 22
(e) Manufacturing. Software development may not be defined as a 23
manufacturing activity; 24
(f) Person; 25
(g) Retail sale; 26
(h) Retailing; 27
(i) Services. Services must exclude retail or wholesale services;28
(j) To manufacture; 29
(k) Wholesale sale; and 30
(l) Wholesaling. 31
(2) Any tax classifications in addition to those enumerated in 32
subsection (1) of this section that are included in the model 33
ordinance must be uniform among all counties. 34
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. MAXIMUM RATE ESTABLISHED. (1) The taxing 1
authority granted to counties for taxes upon business activities 2
measured by gross receipts or gross income from sales must not exceed 3
a rate of 0.0020.4
(2) The rate may not be increased unless the qualified voters of 5
a county, by majority vote, approve rates in excess of the limit in 6
subsection (1) of this section. 7
(3) Counties that impose a license fee or tax upon business 8
activities consisting of the making of retail sales of tangible 9
personal property that are measured by gross receipts or gross income 10
from such sales must be required to submit an annual report to the 11
state auditor identifying the rate established and the revenues 12
received from the tax. 13
NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. ALLOCATION AND APPORTIONMENT OF INCOME. A 14
county that imposes a business and occupation tax must provide for 15
the allocation and apportionment of a person's gross income, other 16
than persons subject to the provisions of chapter 82.14A RCW, as 17
follows:18
(1) Gross income derived from all activities other than those 19
taxed as service or royalties must be allocated to the location where 20
the activity takes place. 21
(a) In the case of sales of tangible personal property, the 22
activity takes place where delivery to the buyer occurs.23
(b)(i) In the case of sales of digital products, the activity 24
takes place where delivery to the buyer occurs. The delivery of 25
digital products occurs at: 26
(A) The seller's place of business if the purchaser receives the 27
digital product at the seller's place of business;28
(B) If not received at the seller's place of business, the 29
location where the purchaser or the purchaser's donee, designated as 30
such by the purchaser, receives the digital product, including the 31
location indicated by instructions for delivery to the purchaser or 32
donee, known to the seller; 33
(C) If the location where the purchaser or the purchaser's donee 34
receives the digital product is not known, the purchaser's address 35
maintained in the ordinary course of the seller's business when use 36
of this address does not constitute bad faith; 37
(D) If no address for the purchaser is maintained in the ordinary 38
course of the seller's business, the purchaser's address obtained 39
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during the consummation of the sale, including the address of a 1
purchaser's payment instrument, if no other address is available, 2
when use of this address does not constitute bad faith; and3
(E) If no address for the purchaser is obtained during the 4
consummation of the sale, the address where the digital good or 5
digital code is first made available for transmission by the seller 6
or the address from which the digital automated service or service 7
described in RCW 82.04.050 (2)(g) or (6)(b) was provided, 8
disregarding for these purposes any location that merely provided the 9
digital transfer of the product sold. 10
(ii) If none of the methods in (b)(i) of this subsection (1) for 11
determining where the delivery of digital products occurs are 12
available after a good faith effort by the taxpayer to apply the 13
methods provided in (b)(i)(A) through (E) of this subsection (1), 14
then the county and the taxpayer may mutually agree to employ any 15
other method to effectuate an equitable allocation of income from the 16
sale of digital products. The taxpayer is responsible for petitioning 17
the county to use an alternative method under this subsection 18
(1)(b)(ii). The county may employ an alternative method for 19
allocating the income from the sale of digital products if the 20
methods provided in (b)(i)(A) through (E) of this subsection (1) are 21
not available and the taxpayer and the county are unable to mutually 22
agree on an alternative method to effectuate an equitable allocation 23
of income from the sale of digital products. 24
(iii) For purposes of this subsection (1)(b), the following 25
definitions apply: 26
(A) "Digital automated services," "digital codes," and "digital 27
goods" have the same meaning as in RCW 82.04.192; 28
(B) "Digital products" means digital goods, digital codes, 29
digital automated services, and the services described in RCW 30
82.04.050 (2)(g) and (6)(b); and 31
(C) "Receive" has the same meaning as in RCW 82.32.730.32
(c)(i) If a business activity allocated under this subsection (1) 33
takes place in more than one county and all counties impose a gross 34
receipts tax, or in a city located within a county and both the city 35
and the county impose a gross receipts tax, a credit must be allowed 36
as provided in section 9 of this act. 37
(ii) If not all the cities or counties impose a gross receipts 38
tax, the affected cities and counties must allow another credit or 39
allocation system as they and the taxpayer agree. 40
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(2) Gross income derived as royalties from the granting of 1
intangible rights must be allocated to the commercial domicile of the 2
taxpayer. 3
(3) Gross income derived from activities taxed as services must 4
be apportioned to a county by multiplying apportionable income by a 5
fraction, the numerator of which is the payroll factor plus the 6
service-income factor and the denominator of which is two.7
(a) The payroll factor is a fraction, the numerator of which is 8
the total amount paid in the county during the tax period by the 9
taxpayer for compensation and the denominator of which is the total 10
compensation paid everywhere during the tax period. Compensation is 11
paid in the county if: 12
(i) The individual is primarily assigned within the county;13
(ii) The individual is not primarily assigned to any place of 14
business for the tax period and the employee performs 50 percent or 15
more of his or her service for the tax period in the county; or16
(iii) The individual is not primarily assigned to any place of 17
business for the tax period, the individual does not perform 50 18
percent or more of the individual's service in any county, and the 19
employee resides in the county. 20
(b) The service income factor is a fraction, the numerator of 21
which is the total service income of the taxpayer in the county 22
during the tax period, and the denominator of which is the total 23
service income of the taxpayer everywhere during the tax period. 24
Service income is in the county if the customer location is in the 25
county. 26
(c) Gross income of the business from engaging in an 27
apportionable activity must be excluded from the denominator of the 28
service income factor if, with respect to such activity, the gross 29
income is attributable under (b) of this subsection (3) to a county 30
within the United States or foreign country in which the taxpayer is 31
not taxable. For purposes of this subsection (3)(c), not taxable 32
means that the taxpayer is not subject to a business activities tax 33
by that county within the United States or by that foreign country, 34
except that a taxpayer is taxable in a city or county within the 35
United States or in a foreign country in which it would be deemed to 36
have a substantial nexus with the city or county within the United 37
States or with the foreign country under the standards in section 8 38
of this act regardless of whether that city or county within the 39
United States or that foreign country imposes such a tax.40
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(d) If the allocation and apportionment provisions of this 1
subsection (3) do not fairly represent the extent of the taxpayer's 2
business activity in the county, the taxpayer may petition for or the 3
tax administrator may require, with respect to all or any part of the 4
taxpayer's business activity, if reasonable: 5
(i) Separate accounting; 6
(ii) The exclusion of any one or more of the factors;7
(iii) The inclusion of one or more additional factors that will 8
fairly represent the taxpayer's business activity in the county; or9
(iv) The employment of any other method to effectuate an 10
equitable allocation and apportionment of the taxpayer's income.11
(e) The party petitioning for, or the tax administrator 12
requiring, the use of any method to effectuate an equitable 13
allocation and apportionment of the taxpayer's income pursuant to (d) 14
of this subsection (3) must prove by a preponderance of the evidence:15
(i) That the allocation and apportionment provisions of this 16
subsection (3) do not fairly represent the extent of the taxpayer's 17
business activity in the county; and 18
(ii) That the alternative to such provisions is reasonable. The 19
same burden of proof must apply whether the taxpayer is petitioning 20
for, or the tax administrator is requiring, the use of an 21
alternative, reasonable method to effectuate an equitable allocation 22
and apportionment of the taxpayer's income. 23
(f) If the tax administrator requires any method to effectuate an 24
equitable allocation and apportionment of the taxpayer's income, the 25
tax administrator may not impose any civil or criminal penalty with 26
reference to the tax due that is attributable to the taxpayer's 27
reasonable reliance solely on the allocation and apportionment 28
provisions of this subsection (3). 29
(g) A taxpayer that has received written permission from the tax 30
administrator to use a reasonable method to effectuate an equitable 31
allocation and apportionment of the taxpayer's income may not have 32
that permission revoked with respect to transactions and activities 33
that have already occurred unless there has been a material change 34
in, or a material misrepresentation of, the facts provided by the 35
taxpayer upon which the tax administrator reasonably relied in 36
approving a reasonable alternative method. 37
(4) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this 38
section. 39
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(a) "Apportionable income" means the gross income of the business 1
taxable under the service classifications of a county's gross 2
receipts tax, including income received from activities outside the 3
county if the income would be taxable under the service 4
classification if received from activities within the county, less 5
any exemptions or deductions available. 6
(b) "Business activities tax" means a tax measured by the amount 7
of, or economic results of, business activity conducted in a city or 8
county within the United States or within a foreign country. Business 9
activities tax includes taxes measured in whole or in part on net 10
income or gross income or receipts. Business activities tax does not 11
include a sales tax, use tax, or a similar transaction tax, imposed 12
on the sale or acquisition of goods or services, whether or not 13
denominated a gross receipts tax or a tax imposed on the privilege of 14
doing business. 15
(c) "Compensation" means wages, salaries, commissions, and any 16
other form of remuneration paid to individuals for personal services 17
that are or would be included in the individual's gross income under 18
the federal internal revenue code. 19
(d) "Customer" means a person or entity to whom the taxpayer 20
makes a sale or renders services or from whom the taxpayer otherwise 21
receives gross income of the business. 22
(e) "Customer location" means the following: 23
(i) For a customer not engaged in business, if the service 24
requires the customer to be physically present, where the service is 25
performed. 26
(ii) For a customer not engaged in business, if the service does 27
not require the customer to be physically present:28
(A) The customer's residence; or 29
(B) If the customer's residence is not known, the customer's 30
billing or mailing address. 31
(iii) For a customer engaged in business: 32
(A) Where the services are ordered from; 33
(B) At the customer's billing or mailing address if the location 34
from which the services are ordered is not known; or35
(C) At the customer's commercial domicile if none of the above 36
are known. 37
(f) "Individual" means any individual who, under the usual common 38
law rules applicable in determining the employer-employee 39
relationship, has the status of an employee of that taxpayer.40
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(g) "Primarily assigned" means the business location of the 1
taxpayer where the individual performs the individual's duties.2
(h) "Service income" means gross income of the business subject 3
to tax under either the service or royalty classification.4
(i) "Tax period" means the calendar year during which tax 5
liability is accrued. If taxes are reported by a taxpayer on a basis 6
more frequent than once per year, taxpayers must calculate the 7
factors for the previous calendar year for reporting in the current 8
calendar year and correct the reporting for the previous year when 9
the factors are calculated for that year, but not later than the end 10
of the first quarter of the following year. 11
NEW SECTION. Sec. 18. COUNTY BUSINESS AND OCCUPATION TAX — 12
CONFIDENTIALITY, PRIVILEGE, AND DISCLOSURE. A county that imposes a 13
business and occupation tax may by ordinance provide that return or 14
tax information is confidential, privileged, and subject to 15
disclosure in the manner provided by RCW 82.32.330.16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 19. ALLOCATION OF INCOME — PRINTING AND 17
PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES. (1) Notwithstanding section 17 of this act, a 18
county that imposes a business and occupation tax must allocate a 19
person's gross income from the activities of printing, and of 20
publishing newspapers, periodicals, or magazines, to the principal 21
place in this state from which the taxpayer's business is directed or 22
managed. As used in this section, the activities of printing, and of 23
publishing newspapers, periodicals, or magazines are those activities 24
to which the exemption in RCW 82.04.759 and the tax rate in RCW 25
82.04.280(1)(a) apply.26
(2) This section expires January 1, 2034. 27
NEW SECTION. Sec. 20. ALLOCATION OF INCOME — PRINTING AND 28
PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES. Notwithstanding section 17 of this act, a 29
county that imposes a business and occupation tax must allocate a 30
person's gross income from the activities of printing, and of 31
publishing newspapers, periodicals, or magazines, to the principal 32
place in this state from which the taxpayer's business is directed or 33
managed. As used in this section, the activities of printing, and of 34
publishing newspapers, periodicals, or magazines are those activities 35
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to which the tax rates in RCW 82.04.260(13) and 82.04.280(1)(a) 1
apply. 2
NEW SECTION. Sec. 21. PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYER ORGANIZATIONS — TAX 3
DEDUCTION. (1) A county that imposes its business and occupation tax 4
on professional employer services performed by a professional 5
employer organization, regardless of the tax classification 6
applicable to such services, must provide a deduction identical to 7
the deduction in RCW 82.04.540(2).8
(2) For the purposes of this section, "professional employer 9
organization" and "professional employer services" have the same 10
meaning as in RCW 82.04.540. 11
NEW SECTION. Sec. 22. RCW 82.32.805 and 82.32.808 do not apply 12
to this act.13
NEW SECTION. Sec. 23. Sections 2 through 19 and 21 of this act 14
take effect January 1, 2027.15
NEW SECTION. Sec. 24. Section 20 of this act takes effect 16
January 1, 2034.17
NEW SECTION. Sec. 25. Sections 1 through 22 of this act 18
constitute a new chapter in Title 36 RCW.19
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