RCW 82.32.730
Sourcing -- Streamlined sales and use tax
agreement.
(1) Except as provided in subsections (5) through (8)
of this section, for purposes of collecting or paying sales or
use taxes to the appropriate jurisdictions, all sales at retail
shall be sourced in accordance with this subsection and
subsections (2) through (4) of this section.
(a) When tangible personal property, an extended warranty, a
digital good, digital code, digital automated service, or other
service defined as a retail sale under RCW 82.04.050 is received
by the purchaser at a business location of the seller, the sale
is sourced to that business location.
(b) When the tangible personal property, extended warranty,
digital good, digital code, digital automated service, or other
service defined as a retail sale under RCW 82.04.050 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.
(c) When (a) and (b) 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.
(d) When (a), (b), and (c) 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.
(e) When (a), (b), (c), or (d) 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
digital code or the computer software delivered electronically
was first available for transmission by the seller, or from which
the extended warranty or digital automated service or other
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.
(2) The lease or rental of tangible personal property, other
than property identified in subsection (3) or (4) of this
section, shall be sourced as provided in this subsection.
(a) For a lease or rental that requires recurring periodic
payments, the first periodic payment is sourced the same as a
retail sale in accordance with subsection (1) of this section.
Periodic payments made subsequent to the first payment are
sourced to the primary property location for each period covered
by the payment. The primary property location shall be as
indicated by an address for the property provided by the lessee
that is available to the lessor from its records maintained in
the ordinary course of business, when use of this address does
not constitute bad faith. The property location is not altered
by intermittent use at different locations, such as use of
business property that accompanies employees on business trips
and service calls.
(b) For a lease or rental that does not require recurring
periodic payments, the payment is sourced the same as a retail
sale in accordance with subsection (1) of this section.
(c) This subsection (2) does not affect the imposition or
computation of sales or use tax on leases or rentals based on a
lump sum or accelerated basis, or on the acquisition of property
for lease.
(3) The lease or rental of motor vehicles, trailers,
semitrailers, or aircraft that do not qualify as transportation
equipment shall be sourced as provided in this subsection.
(a) For a lease or rental that requires recurring periodic
payments, each periodic payment is sourced to the primary
property location. The primary property location is as indicated
by an address for the property provided by the lessee that is
available to the lessor from its records maintained in the
ordinary course of business, when use of this address does not
constitute bad faith. This location is not altered by
intermittent use at different locations.
(b) For a lease or rental that does not require recurring
periodic payments, the payment is sourced the same as a retail
sale in accordance with subsection (1) of this section.
(c) This subsection does not affect the imposition or
computation of sales or use tax on leases or rentals based on a
lump sum or accelerated basis, or on the acquisition of property
for lease.
(4) The retail sale, including lease or rental, of
transportation equipment shall be sourced the same as a retail
sale in accordance with subsection (1) of this section.
(5)(a) This subsection applies to direct mail transactions
not governed by subsection (6) of this section. A purchaser of
direct mail that is not a holder of a direct pay permit shall
provide to the seller in conjunction with the purchase either a
direct mail form or information that shows the jurisdictions to
which the direct mail is delivered to recipients.
(i) Upon receipt of the direct mail form, the seller is
relieved of all obligations to collect, pay, or remit the
applicable tax and the purchaser is obligated to pay or remit the
applicable tax on a direct pay basis. A direct mail form shall
remain in effect for all future sales of direct mail by the
seller to the purchaser until it is revoked in writing.
(ii) Upon receipt of information from the purchaser showing
the jurisdictions to which the direct mail is delivered to
recipients, the seller shall collect the tax according to the
delivery information provided by the purchaser. In the absence
of bad faith, the seller is relieved of any further obligation to
collect tax on any transaction where the seller has collected tax
pursuant to the delivery information provided by the purchaser.
(b) If the purchaser of direct mail does not have a direct
pay permit and does not provide the seller with either a direct
mail form or delivery information as required by (a) of this
subsection, the seller shall collect the tax according to
subsection (1)(e) of this section. This subsection does not
limit a purchaser's obligation for sales or use tax to any state
to which the direct mail is delivered.
(c) If a purchaser of direct mail provides the seller with
documentation of direct pay authority, the purchaser is not
required to provide a direct mail form or delivery information to
the seller.
(6)(a) This subsection applies only with respect to
transactions in which direct mail is delivered or distributed
from a location within this state to a location within this
state. If the purchaser of direct mail provides the seller with
a direct pay permit or an exemption certificate claiming direct
mail, the seller is relieved of all obligations to collect, pay,
or remit the applicable tax and the purchaser is obligated to pay
or remit the applicable tax on a direct pay basis. An exemption
certificate claiming direct mail will remain in effect for all
future sales of direct mail by the seller to the purchaser until
it is revoked in writing.
(b)(i) Except as provided in (b)(ii) of this subsection (6),
if the purchaser of direct mail does not provide the seller with
a direct pay permit or an exemption certificate claiming direct
mail, the seller must collect the tax according to subsection
(1)(e) of this section.
(ii) To the extent the seller knows that a portion of the
sale of direct mail will be delivered or distributed to locations
in another state, the seller must collect the tax on that portion
according to subsection (5) of this section.
(7) The following are sourced to the location at or from
which delivery is made to the consumer:
(a) A retail sale of watercraft;
(b) A retail sale of a modular home, manufactured home, or
mobile home;
(c) A retail sale, excluding the lease and rental, of a
motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or aircraft, that do not
qualify as transportation equipment; and
(d) Florist sales. In the case of a sale in which one
florist takes an order from a customer and then communicates that
order to another florist who delivers the items purchased to the
place designated by the customer, the location at or from which
the delivery is made to the consumer is deemed to be the location
of the florist originally taking the order.
(8)(a) A retail sale of the providing of telecommunications
services, as that term is defined in RCW 82.04.065, is sourced in
accordance with RCW 82.32.520.
(b) A retail sale of the providing of ancillary services, as
that term is defined in RCW 82.04.065, is sourced to the
customer's place of primary use of the telecommunications
services in respect to which the ancillary services are
associated with or incidental to. The definitions of "customer"
and "place of primary use" in RCW 82.32.520 apply to this
subsection (8)(b).
(9) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this
section.
(a) "Delivered electronically" means delivered to the
purchaser by means other than tangible storage media.
(b) "Direct mail" means printed material delivered or
distributed by United States mail or other delivery service to a
mass audience or to addressees on a mailing list provided by the
purchaser or at the direction of the purchaser when the cost of
the items are not billed directly to the recipients. "Direct
mail" includes tangible personal property supplied directly or
indirectly by the purchaser to the direct mail seller for
inclusion in the package containing the printed material.
"Direct mail" does not include multiple items of printed material
delivered to a single address.
(c) "Florist sales" means the retail sale of tangible
personal property by a florist. For purposes of this subsection
(9)(c), "florist" means a person whose primary business activity
is the retail sale of fresh cut flowers, potted ornamental
plants, floral arrangements, floral bouquets, wreaths, or any
similar products, used for decorative and not landscaping
purposes.
(d) "Receive" and "receipt" mean taking possession of
tangible personal property, making first use of digital automated
services or other services, or taking possession or making first
use of digital goods or digital codes, whichever comes first.
"Receive" and "receipt" do not include possession by a shipping
company on behalf of the purchaser.
(e) "Transportation equipment" means:
(i) Locomotives and railcars that are used for the carriage
of persons or property in interstate commerce;
(ii) Trucks and truck tractors with a gross vehicle weight
rating of ten thousand one pounds or greater, trailers,
semitrailers, or passenger buses that are:
(A) Registered through the international registration plan;
and
(B) Operated under authority of a carrier authorized and
certificated by the United States department of transportation or
another federal authority to engage in the carriage of persons or
property in interstate commerce;
(iii) Aircraft that are operated by air carriers authorized
and certificated by the United States department of
transportation or another federal or foreign authority to engage
in the carriage of persons or property in interstate or foreign
commerce; or
(iv) Containers designed for use on and component parts
attached or secured on the items described in (e)(i) through
(iii) of this subsection.
(10) In those instances where there is no obligation on the
part of a seller to collect or remit this state's sales or use
tax, the use of tangible personal property, digital good, digital
code, or of a digital automated service or other service, subject
to use tax, is sourced to the place of first use in this state.
The definition of use in RCW 82.12.010 applies to this
subsection.
[2009 c 535 § 704; 2009 c 289 § 1; 2008 c 324 § 1; 2007 c 6 § 501.]
NOTES:
Reviser's note: This section was amended by 2009 c 289 § 1 and by 2009 c 535 § 704, 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).
Intent -- Construction -- 2009 c 535: See notes following RCW 82.04.192.
Effective date -- 2008 c 324: "This act takes effect July 1, 2008." [2008 c 324 § 2.]
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.