RCW 82.32.520
Sourcing of calls.
(1) Except for the
defined telecommunications services listed in subsection (3) of
this section, the sale of telecommunications service as defined
in RCW 82.04.065 sold on a call-by-call basis shall be sourced to
(a) each level of taxing jurisdiction where the call originates
and terminates in that jurisdiction or (b) each level of taxing
jurisdiction where the call either originates or terminates and
in which the service address is also located.
(2) Except for the defined telecommunications services
listed in subsection (3) of this section, a sale of
telecommunications service as defined in RCW 82.04.065 sold on a
basis other than a call-by-call basis, is sourced to the
customer's place of primary use.
(3) The sales of telecommunications service as defined in
RCW 82.04.065 that are listed in subsection (3) of this section
shall be sourced to each level of taxing jurisdiction as follows:
(a) A sale of mobile telecommunications services, other than
air-ground radiotelephone service and prepaid calling service, is
sourced to the customer's place of primary use as required by RCW 82.08.066.
(b) A sale of postpaid calling service is sourced to the
origination point of the telecommunications signal as first
identified by either (i) the seller's telecommunications system,
or (ii) information received by the seller from its service
provider, where the system used to transport such signals is not
that of the seller.
(c) A sale of prepaid calling service or a sale of a prepaid
wireless calling service is sourced as follows:
(i) When a prepaid calling service is received by the
purchaser at a business location of the seller, the sale is
sourced to that business location;
(ii) When a prepaid calling service is not received by the
purchaser at a business location of the seller, the sale is
sourced to the location where receipt by the purchaser or the
purchaser's donee, designated as such by the purchaser, occurs,
including the location indicated by instructions for delivery to
the purchaser or donee, known to the seller;
(iii) When (c)(i) and (ii) of this subsection do not apply,
the sale is sourced to the location indicated by an address for
the purchaser that is available from the business records of the
seller that are maintained in the ordinary course of the seller's
business when use of this address does not constitute bad faith;
(iv) When (c)(i), (ii), and (iii) of this subsection do not
apply, the sale is sourced to the location indicated by an
address for the purchaser obtained during the consummation of the
sale, including the address of a purchaser's payment instrument,
if no other address is available, when use of this address does
not constitute bad faith;
(v) When (c)(i), (ii), (iii), and (iv) of this subsection do
not apply, including the circumstance where the seller is without
sufficient information to apply those provisions, then the
location shall be determined by the address from which tangible
personal property was shipped, from which the digital good or the
computer software delivered electronically was first available
for transmission by the seller, or from which the service defined
as a retail sale under RCW 82.04.050 was provided, disregarding
for these purposes any location that merely provided the digital
transfer of the product sold;
(vi) In the case of a sale of prepaid wireless calling
service, (c)(v) of this subsection shall include as an option the
location associated with the mobile telephone number.
(d) A sale of a private communication service is sourced as
follows:
(i) Service for a separate charge related to a customer
channel termination point is sourced to each level of
jurisdiction in which such customer channel termination point is
located.
(ii) Service where all customer termination points are
located entirely within one jurisdiction or levels of
jurisdiction is sourced in such jurisdiction in which the
customer channel termination points are located.
(iii) Service for segments of a channel between two customer
channel termination points located in different jurisdictions and
which segment of channel are separately charged is sourced fifty
percent in each level of jurisdiction in which the customer
channel termination points are located.
(iv) Service for segments of a channel located in more than
one jurisdiction or levels of jurisdiction and which segments are
not separately billed is sourced in each jurisdiction based on
the percentage determined by dividing the number of customer
channel termination points in the jurisdiction by the total
number of customer channel termination points.
(4) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this
chapter.
(a) "Air-ground radiotelephone service" means air-ground
radio service, as defined in 47 C.F.R. Sec. 22.99, as amended or
renumbered as of January 1, 2003, in which common carriers are
authorized to offer and provide radio telecommunications service
for hire to subscribers in aircraft.
(b) "Call-by-call basis" means any method of charging for
telecommunications services where the price is measured by
individual calls.
(c) "Communications channel" means a physical or virtual
path of communications over which signals are transmitted between
or among customer channel termination points.
(d) "Customer" means the person or entity that contracts
with the seller of telecommunications services. If the end user
of telecommunications services is not the contracting party, the
end user of the telecommunications service is the customer of the
telecommunications service. "Customer" does not include a
reseller of telecommunications service or for mobile
telecommunications service of a serving carrier under an
agreement to serve the customer outside the home service
provider's licensed service area.
(e) "Customer channel termination point" means the location
where the customer either inputs or receives the communications.
(f) "End user" means the person who uses the
telecommunications service. In the case of an entity, the term
end user means the individual who uses the service on behalf of
the entity.
(g) "Home service provider" means the same as that term is
defined in RCW 82.04.065.
(h) "Mobile telecommunications service" means the same as
that term is defined in RCW 82.04.065.
(i) "Place of primary use" means the street address
representative of where the customer's use of the
telecommunications service primarily occurs, which must be the
residential street address or the primary business street address
of the customer. In the case of mobile telecommunications
services, "place of primary use" must be within the licensed
service area of the home service provider.
(j) "Postpaid calling service" means the telecommunications
service obtained by making a payment on a call-by-call basis
either through the use of a credit card or payment mechanism such
as a bank card, travel card, credit card, or debit card, or by
charge made to a telephone number that is not associated with the
origination or termination of the telecommunications service. A
postpaid calling service includes a telecommunications service,
except a prepaid wireless calling service, that would be a
prepaid calling service except it is not exclusively a
telecommunications service.
(k) "Prepaid calling service" means the right to access
exclusively telecommunications services, which must be paid for
in advance and which enables the origination of calls using an
access number and/or authorization code, whether manually or
electronically dialed, and that is sold in predetermined units or
dollars of which the number declines with use in a known amount.
(l) "Prepaid wireless calling service" means a
telecommunications service that provides the right to use mobile
wireless service as well as other nontelecommunications services,
including the download of digital products delivered
electronically, content, and ancillary services, which must be
paid for in advance that is sold in predetermined units or
dollars of which the number declines with use in a known amount.
(m) "Private communication service" means a
telecommunications service that entitles the customer to
exclusive or priority use of a communications channel or group of
channels between or among termination points, regardless of the
manner in which such channel or channels are connected, and
includes switching capacity, extension lines, stations, and any
other associated services that are provided in connection with
the use of such channel or channels.
(n) "Service address" means:
(i) The location of the telecommunications equipment to
which a customer's call is charged and from which the call
originates or terminates, regardless of where the call is billed
or paid;
(ii) If the location in (n)(i) of this subsection is not
known, the origination point of the signal of the
telecommunications services first identified by either the
seller's telecommunications system or in information received by
the seller from its service provider, where the system used to
transport such signals is not that of the seller;
(iii) If the locations in (n)(i) and (ii) of this subsection
are not known, the location of the customer's place of primary
use.
[2007 c 54 § 18; 2007 c 6 § 1001; 2004 c 153 § 403; 2003 c 168 § 501.]
NOTES:
Reviser's note: This section was amended by 2007 c 6 § 1001 and by 2007 c 54 § 18, each without reference to the other. Both amendments are incorporated in the publication of this section under RCW 1.12.025(2). For rule of construction, see RCW 1.12.025(1).
Severability -- 2007 c 54: See note following RCW 82.04.050.
Part headings not law -- Savings -- Effective date -- Severability -- 2007 c 6: See notes following RCW 82.32.020.
Findings -- Intent -- 2007 c 6: See note following RCW 82.14.495.
Retroactive effective date -- Effective date -- 2004 c 153: See note following RCW 82.08.0293.
Effective dates -- Part headings not law -- 2003 c 168: See notes following RCW 82.08.010.