The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

     (1) "Applicant" means a person applying for a tax deferral under this chapter.

     (2) "Corporate headquarters" means a facility or facilities where corporate staff employees are physically employed, and where the majority of the company's management services are handled either on a regional or a national basis. Company management services may include: Accounts receivable and payable, accounting, data processing, distribution management, employee benefit plan, financial and securities accounting, information technology, insurance, legal, merchandising, payroll, personnel, purchasing procurement, planning, reporting and compliance, research and development, tax, treasury, or other headquarters-related services. "Corporate headquarters" does not include a facility or facilities used for manufacturing, wholesaling, or warehousing.

     (3) "Department" means the department of revenue.

     (4) "Eligible area" means a designated community empowerment zone approved under RCW 43.31C.020.

     (5)(a) "Eligible investment project" means an investment project in a qualified building or buildings in an eligible area, as defined in subsection (4) of this section, which will have employment at the qualified building or buildings of at least three hundred employees in qualified employment positions, each of whom must earn for the year reported at least the average annual wage for the state for that year as determined by the employment security department.

     (b) The lessor or owner of a qualified building or buildings is not eligible for a deferral unless:

     (i) The underlying ownership of the building or buildings vests exclusively in the same person; or

     (ii)(A) The lessor by written contract agrees to pass the economic benefit of the deferral to the lessee;

     (B) The lessee that receives the economic benefit of the deferral agrees in writing with the department to complete the annual survey required under RCW 82.82.020; and

     (C) The economic benefit of the deferral passed to the lessee is no less than the amount of tax deferred by the lessor and is evidenced by written documentation of any type of payment, credit, or other financial arrangement between the lessor or owner of the qualified building and the lessee.

     (6) "Investment project" means a capital investment of at least thirty million dollars in a qualified building or buildings including tangible personal property and fixtures that will be incorporated as an ingredient or component of such buildings during the course of their construction, and including labor and services rendered in the planning, installation, and construction of the project.

     (7) "Manufacture" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 82.04.120.

     (8) "Operationally complete" means a date no later than one year from the date the project is issued an occupancy permit by the local permit issuing authority.

     (9) "Person" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 82.04.030.

     (10) "Qualified building or buildings" means construction of a new structure or structures or expansion of an existing structure or structures to be used for corporate headquarters. If a building is used partly for corporate headquarters and partly for other purposes, the applicable tax deferral is determined by apportionment of the costs of construction under rules adopted by the department.

     (11) "Qualified employment position" means a permanent full-time employee employed in the eligible investment project during the entire tax year. The term "entire tax year" means a full-time position that is filled for a period of twelve consecutive months. The term "full-time" means at least thirty-five hours a week, four hundred fifty-five hours a quarter, or one thousand eight hundred twenty hours a year.

     (12) "Recipient" means a person receiving a tax deferral under this chapter.

     (13) "Warehouse" means a building or structure, or any part thereof, in which goods, wares, or merchandise are received for storage for compensation.

     (14) "Wholesale sale" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 82.04.060.

[2008 c 15 § 1.]

NOTES:

     Effective date -- 2008 c 15: "This act takes effect July 1, 2009." [2008 c 15 § 10.]