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On February 27, 2023, the Washington Court of Appeals held that a provider of pharmacy services and pharmacy benefits services (PBM) to its affiliate’s enrollees met the insurance business exemption to the Business and Occupation Tax because its activities were at least functionally related to insurance business. The taxpayer fulfilled the PBM services required by…

The Washington Court of Appeals held that a company’s collection of data from electric and natural gas meters constituted data processing services exempt from the retail sales tax. The taxpayer collected data from meters used by an energy company’s customers, converted the data into a usable form, and transmitted the data to the energy company…

The King County Superior Court in Washington dismissed a class action lawsuit which alleged that Kroger, Whole Foods, Safeway, and Town & Country Markets improperly collected sales tax on exempt items. In dismissing the claim, the court found that the sales tax at issue is an excise tax. Further, the court found that the exclusive…

On November 4, 2022, the Washington Department of Revenue adopted WAC 458-20-290, a regulation explaining the state’s workforce education investment surcharge on select advanced computing businesses. The regulation defines a select advanced computing business as “a person who is a member of an affiliated group with at least one member of the affiliated group engaging…

The Administrative Review and Hearings Division of the Washington Department of Revenue recently issued Determination No. 21-0055 in which it determined receipts from the provision of genealogy services should be apportioned based on the customer location for purposes of the Business and Occupation Tax. The genealogy company performs research, primarily online, investigating the customer’s ancestry,…

The Washington Department of Revenue’s Administrative Review and Hearings Division recently ruled that a company’s account access services provided to credit unions constituted digital automated services subject to sales tax.

The taxpayer provided an online banking platform and an automated phone system to member credit unions, which in turn provided those services to their individual…

The Washington Department of Revenue released a notice providing that effective June 9, 2022, qualifying businesses and tenants may apply for a sales and use tax exemption for purchases of server equipment and infrastructure for computer data centers located in urban areas pursuant to 2022 House Bill 1846. Eligible urban areas are those counties…

The Washington Department of Revenue upheld a retail sales tax assessment on a taxpayer who failed to collect retail sales tax on sales to a renewable energy company. The taxpayer stated that it did not collect tax on certain sales because it believed that the energy company qualified for the exemption provided by Wash. Rev.…

On April 25, the Washington Court of Appeals held that a company that arranges and manages displays for installation and placement in multiple retail brands’ stores through subcontractors was subject to the state’s retailing business and occupation tax (the “B&O tax”) and retail sales tax as a retailer making retail sales, rather than a provider…