Tax voluntary disclosure

AN ACT Relating to codifying the voluntary disclosure tax program 1
and authorizing temporary tax amnesty; amending RCW 82.32.080; and 2
adding new sections to chapter 82.32 RCW. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 82.32 5
RCW to read as follows: 6
(1) Beginning July 1, 2027, the department shall implement a 7
voluntary disclosure program for all persons. All persons, including 8
affiliates and subsidiaries of such persons, may participate in the 9
voluntary disclosure program unless otherwise provided in this 10
section. The department shall waive all penalties for participating 11
entities of the voluntary disclosure program for the purpose of 12
registering and collecting revenue due from persons subject to the 13
tax levied under chapter 82.04 RCW. 14
(2) In order to apply for the voluntary disclosure program, a 15
person must: 16
(a) Disclose all relevant taxable activity to the department;17
(b) Have not engaged in fraud, evasion, or misrepresentation in 18
reporting tax liabilities; 19
H-2992.1
HOUSE BILL 2615
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Walen, Orcutt, Jacobsen, and Barnard
Read first time 01/22/26. Referred to Committee on Finance.
p. 1 HB 2615
(c) Have not been directly contacted by the department during the 1
current calendar year or the four calendar years prior to submitting 2
an application; and 3
(d) Meet any general application requirements set forth by the 4
department. 5
(3) The department may make rules to implement the voluntary 6
disclosure program created in this section. 7
(4) The department may rescind a voluntary disclosure agreement 8
within one year of the application if a business entity is found to 9
have misrepresented or falsified any information on their application 10
for the voluntary disclosure program. 11
(5) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions 12
apply: 13
(a)"Persons" has the same meaning as in RCW 82.04.030; and14
(b) "Directly contacted" means that contact was made to the 15
applicant by the department for tax enforcement purposes and the 16
department required the person to take some form of action by a date 17
certain in response to the contact. 18
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 82.32 19
RCW to read as follows: 20
(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (4) and (5) of 21
this section, the department must waive all penalties and interest 22
otherwise due under this chapter that are unpaid as of the effective 23
date of this section if all the following circumstances are met:24
(a) The penalties and interest are imposed with respect to: (i) 25
State business and occupation tax, state public utility tax, state or 26
local sales tax, or state or local use tax; and (ii) tax liability 27
that first became due to the department before July 1, 2026, which 28
includes taxes billed to the taxpayer, or disclosed by the taxpayer 29
to the department, on or after July 1, 2026, but that were required 30
by this chapter to have been reported and paid by the taxpayer before 31
July 1, 2026; 32
(b) The taxpayer must file with the department no later than 33
August 17, 2026: 34
(i) All outstanding tax returns for the taxes specified in (a)(i) 35
of this subsection (1); and 36
(ii) Any amended returns covering tax liabilities with respect to 37
which a penalty and interest waiver under this section is requested;38
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(c) Before October 1, 2026, the taxpayer must remit full payment 1
to the department of the balance due on all tax liabilities for which 2
a penalty and interest waiver under this section is requested. If a 3
waiver is requested for penalties or interest associated with an 4
invoice that has been billed to the taxpayer, the taxpayer must remit 5
full payment to the department of the entire balance due on that 6
invoice other than any penalty and interest eligible for waiver under 7
this section, even if the invoice includes taxes not specified in 8
(a)(i) of this subsection (1). If the invoice is a tax warrant, the 9
taxpayer must also remit full payment to the department of any filing 10
or other fees added to the tax warrant, including the filing fees 11
provided in RCW 36.18.012 (2) and (10), the fees imposed in RCW 12
36.18.016(4), and the surcharge imposed in RCW 40.14.027;13
(d) The taxpayer must file and pay in full by the due date all 14
tax returns that become due after June 30, 2026, and before October 15
1, 2026, for all taxes administered by the department under this 16
chapter; 17
(e) No later than August 17, 2026, the department must receive a 18
completed application for penalty and interest waiver under this 19
section in a form and manner prescribed by the department;20
(f) The taxpayer must never have had an evasion penalty assessed 21
against the taxpayer by the department under RCW 82.32.090 or a 22
penalty assessed against the taxpayer by the department under RCW 23
82.32.291 for misusing a reseller permit or resale certificate;24
(g) The taxpayer must never have been a defendant in a criminal 25
prosecution related to an offense involving the failure to collect or 26
pay the proper amount of any tax administered by the department under 27
this chapter; and 28
(h) The taxpayer is not in the process of being audited by the 29
department or the taxpayer does not have a past due balance owed to 30
the department. 31
(2) Taxpayers receiving penalty or interest relief under this 32
section may not seek a refund, or otherwise challenge the amount, of 33
any tax liability paid as required by subsection (1)(c) of this 34
section. This subsection (2) applies to refund requests or appeals 35
filed directly with the department and to proceedings brought in any 36
court or administrative tribunal. 37
(3) All tax liability reported and paid as required in subsection 38
(1) (b), (c), and (d) of this section is subject to verification by 39
the department as provided in RCW 82.32.050. This section does not 40
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preclude the assessment of taxes, penalties, and interest with 1
respect to any amounts determined by the department to have been 2
underpaid for any tax period for which the taxpayer previously 3
received penalty or interest relief under this section.4
(4) This section does not authorize the department to waive the 5
evasion penalty currently authorized by RCW 82.32.090 or the penalty 6
currently authorized by RCW 82.32.291 for misusing a reseller permit 7
or resale certificate. 8
(5) If taxpayers are current for tax returns due as of March 31, 9
2026, tax liability that accrues after that date would not qualify 10
under this section. 11
(6) Nothing in this section may be construed as requiring a 12
taxpayer to have first paid any penalty or interest for which a 13
waiver is sought under this section. 14
(7) Solely for purposes of determining whether a taxpayer 15
qualifies for a waiver of penalties or interest under this section 16
with respect to a balance owing as of the effective date of this 17
section on any invoice issued by the department, any payments made to 18
the department on that taxpayer's account before October 1, 2026, are 19
deemed to have been applied first to any of the taxes specified in 20
subsection (1)(a)(i) of this section, then to any other taxes, and 21
then to penalties or interest, if such payments were applied either:22
(a) To that invoice; or 23
(b) Against any liability reflected in that invoice before that 24
invoice was issued by the department. 25
(8) A taxpayer in a bankruptcy proceeding is ineligible for 26
relief under this section to the extent that the payment of any tax 27
debt by the taxpayer to the department as required under this section 28
violates the federal bankruptcy code. 29
Sec. 3. RCW 82.32.080 and 2015 c 86 s 311 are each amended to 30
read as follows: 31
(1) When authorized by the department, payment of the tax may be 32
made by uncertified check under such rules as the department 33
prescribes, but, if a check so received is not paid by the bank on 34
which it is drawn, the taxpayer, by whom such check is tendered, will 35
remain liable for payment of the tax and for all legal penalties and 36
interest, the same as if such check had not been tendered.37
(2)(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, payment 38
of the tax must be made by electronic funds transfer, as defined in 39
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RCW 82.32.085. As an alternative to electronic funds transfer, the 1
department may authorize other forms of electronic payment, such as 2
payment by credit card. All taxes administered by this chapter are 3
subject to this requirement, except that the department may exclude 4
any taxes not reported on the combined excise tax return or any 5
successor return from the electronic payment requirement in this 6
subsection. 7
(b) The department may waive the electronic payment requirement 8
in this subsection for any taxpayer or class of taxpayers, for good 9
cause or for whom the department has assigned a reporting frequency 10
that is less than quarterly. In the discretion of the department, a 11
waiver under this subsection may be made temporary or permanent, and 12
may be made on the department's own motion. 13
(c) The department is authorized to accept payment of taxes by 14
electronic funds transfer or other acceptable forms of electronic 15
payment from taxpayers that are not subject to the mandatory 16
electronic payment requirements in this subsection.17
(3)(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, returns 18
must be filed electronically using the department's online tax filing 19
service or other method of electronic reporting as the department may 20
authorize. 21
(b) The department may waive the electronic filing requirement in 22
this subsection for any taxpayer or class of taxpayers, for good 23
cause or for whom the department has assigned a reporting frequency 24
that is less than quarterly. In the discretion of the department, a 25
waiver under this subsection may be made temporary or permanent, and 26
may be made on the department's own motion. 27
(c) The department is authorized to allow electronic filing of 28
returns from taxpayers that are not subject to the mandatory 29
electronic filing requirements in this subsection.30
(4)(a)(i) The department, for good cause shown, may extend the 31
time for making and filing any return, and may grant such reasonable 32
additional time within which to make and file returns as it may deem 33
proper, but any permanent extension granting the taxpayer a reporting 34
date without penalty more than ten days beyond the due date, and any 35
extension in excess of thirty days must be conditional on deposit 36
with the department of an amount to be determined by the department 37
which is approximately equal to the estimated tax liability for the 38
reporting period or periods for which the extension is granted. In 39
the case of a permanent extension or a temporary extension of more 40
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than thirty days the deposit must be deposited within the state 1
treasury with other tax funds and a credit recorded to the taxpayer's 2
account which may be applied to taxpayer's liability upon 3
cancellation of the permanent extension or upon reporting of the tax 4
liability where an extension of more than thirty days has been 5
granted. 6
(ii) The department must review the requirement for deposit at 7
least annually and may require a change in the amount of the deposit 8
required when it believes that such amount does not approximate the 9
tax liability for the reporting period or periods for which the 10
extension is granted. 11
(b) During a state of emergency declared under RCW 43.06.010(12), 12
the department, on its own motion or at the request of any taxpayer 13
affected by the emergency, may extend the time for making or filing 14
any return as the department deems proper. The department may not 15
require any deposit as a condition for granting an extension under 16
this subsection (4)(b). 17
(5)(a) The department must keep full and accurate records of all 18
funds received and disbursed by it. Subject to the provisions of RCW 19
82.32.105, 82.32.052, section 2 of this act, and 82.32.350, the 20
department must apply the payment of the taxpayer in the following 21
order, without regard to any direction of the taxpayer: (i) Interest; 22
(ii) penalties; (iii) fees that are not within the definition of tax 23
in RCW 82.32.020; (iv) other nontax amounts; (v) taxes, except 24
spirits taxes; and (vi) spirits taxes. 25
(b) For purposes of this subsection, "spirits taxes" has the same 26
meaning as in RCW 82.08.155. 27
(6) The department may refuse to accept any return that is not 28
accompanied by a remittance of the tax shown to be due thereon or 29
that is not filed electronically as required in this section. When 30
such return is not accepted, the taxpayer is deemed to have failed or 31
refused to file a return and is subject to the procedures provided in 32
RCW 82.32.100 and to the penalties provided in RCW 82.32.090. The 33
above authority to refuse to accept a return may not apply when a 34
return is timely filed electronically and a timely payment has been 35
made by electronic funds transfer or other form of electronic payment 36
as authorized by the department. 37
(7) Except for returns and remittances required to be transmitted 38
to the department electronically under this section and except as 39
otherwise provided in this chapter, a return or remittance that is 40
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transmitted to the department by United States mail is deemed filed 1
or received on the date shown by the post office cancellation mark 2
stamped upon the envelope containing it. A return or remittance that 3
is transmitted to the department electronically is deemed filed or 4
received according to procedures set forth by the department.5
(8)(a) For purposes of subsections (2) and (3) of this section, 6
"good cause" means the inability of a taxpayer to comply with the 7
requirements of subsection (2) or (3) of this section because:8
(i) The taxpayer does not have the equipment or software 9
necessary to enable the taxpayer to comply with subsection (2) or (3) 10
of this section; 11
(ii) The equipment or software necessary to enable the taxpayer 12
to comply with subsection (2) or (3) of this section is not 13
functioning properly; 14
(iii) The taxpayer does not have access to the internet using the 15
taxpayer's own equipment; 16
(iv) The taxpayer does not have a bank account or a credit card;17
(v) The taxpayer's bank is unable to send or receive electronic 18
funds transfer transactions; or 19
(vi) Some other circumstance or condition exists that, in the 20
department's judgment, prevents the taxpayer from complying with the 21
requirements of subsection (2) or (3) of this section.22
(b) "Good cause" also includes any circumstance that, in the 23
department's judgment, supports the efficient or effective 24
administration of the tax laws of this state, including providing 25
relief from the requirements of subsection (2) or (3) of this section 26
to any taxpayer that is voluntarily collecting and remitting this 27
state's sales or use taxes on sales to Washington customers but has 28
no legal requirement to be registered with the department.29
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