Washington Administrative Code › Title 458 - Revenue, Department of › Chapter 458-20 - Excise tax rules › Section 458-20-224 - Service and other business activities

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)Chapter 82.04 RCW imposes a tax upon every
			 person for the privilege of engaging in business in this state. Persons engaged
			 in the certain specifically named business activities are subject to a tax rate
			 set out in the statute which is measured by value of products, gross sales or
			 gross income, e.g.: Extracting, manufacturing, retailing, wholesaling, printing
			 and publishing, and building and repairing of publicly owned streets and
			 roads.
(2) Persons engaged in any
			 business activity, other than or in addition to those for which a specific rate
			 is provided in the statute, are taxable under a classification known as service
			 and other business activities, and so designated upon return forms. In general,
			 it includes persons rendering professional or personal services to persons (as
			 distinguished from services rendered to personal property of persons) such as
			 accountants, aerial surveyors and map makers, agents, ambulances, appraisers,
			 architects, assayers, attorneys, automobile brokers, barbers, baseball clubs,
			 beauty shop owners, brokers, chemists, chiropractors, collection agents,
			 community television antenna owners, court reporters, dentists, detectives,
			 employment agents, engineers, financiers, funeral directors, refuse collectors,
			 hospital owners, janitors, kennel operators, laboratory operators, landscape
			 architects, lawyers, loan agents, music teachers, oculists, orchestra or band
			 leaders contracting to provide musical services, osteopathic physicians,
			 physicians, real estate agents, school bus operators, school operators, sewer
			 services other than collection, stenographers, warehouse operators who are not
			 subject to other specific statutory tax classifications, teachers, theater
			 operators, undertakers, veterinarians, and numerous other persons.
(3) It does not include persons engaged in
			 the business of cleaning, repairing, improving, etc., the personal property of
			 others, such as automobile, house, jewelry, radio, refrigerator and machinery
			 repairmen, laundry or dry cleaners. Also, it does not include certain personal
			 and professional services specifically included within the definition of the
			 term "sale at retail" in
			 RCW
			 82.04.050, such as amusement and recreation
			 businesses of a participatory nature (see WAC
			 458-20-183 ); abstract, title
			 insurance and escrow businesses, credit bureau businesses and automobile
			 parking and storage garage businesses. Furthermore, it does not include persons
			 who render services to others in the capacity of employees as distinguished
			 from independent contractors. (See WAC
			 458-20-105.)
(4) Business and occupation tax. Persons
			 engaged in any business activity, other than or in addition to those for which
			 a specific rate is provided in
			 chapter
			 82.04 RCW, are taxable
			 under the service and other business activities classification upon gross
			 income from such business.
(5)
			 Persons engaged in a public service business taxable under
			 chapter
			 82.16 RCW (see WAC
			 458-20-179 ) are exempt from
			 business tax under
			 chapter
			 82.04 RCW with respect to
			 such businesses.
(6) Retail sales
			 tax. The retail sales tax applies upon all sales of tangible personal property
			 made to persons for use or consumption in performing a business activity which
			 is taxable under the service and other business activities classification of
			 chapter
			 82.04 RCW.
Statutory Authority:
				  RCW
				  82.32.300. 86-18-069 (Order 86-16), §
				  458-20-224, filed 9/3/86; 83-17-099 (Order ET 83-6), § 458-20-224, filed
				  8/23/83; 83-07-032 (Order ET 83-15), § 458-20-224, filed 3/15/83; Order ET
				  70-3, § 458-20-224 (Rule 224), filed 5/29/70, effective
				  7/1/70.