Seattle Business Tax Rules
- Questions regarding Seattle's Business Tax Rules?
Please contact the Revenue and Consumer Affairs Division of the Department of Executive Administration at (206) 684-8484,
or email rca.bizlictx@seattle.gov.
- 5-000
- Rules Adopted.
- 5-002
- Business License Requirements.
- 5-003
- Business license suspension and revocation
- 5-004
- Transfer of business license
- 5-005
- Time payments.
- 5-006
- Tax Returns - Filing and Payment.
- 5-007
- Penalties.
- 5-008
- Recordkeeping requirements.
- 5-009
- Limitations on tax assessments.
- 5-030
- Persons making sales through a direct seller's representative
- 5-031
- Measure of Tax - Retailers and Wholesalers
- 5-032
- Measure of Tax - Service and Other Business Activities.
- 5-033
- When tax liability arises.
- 5-034
- Finance charges, carrying charges, interest and penalties.
- 5-035
- Freight and delivery charges.
- 5-037
- Accounting methods.
- 5-038
- Effect of rate changes on prior contracts and sales agreements
- 5-039
- Employees distinguished from persons engaging in business.
- 5-040
- Corporations, Massachusetts trusts.
- 5-042
- Successor liability.
- 5-043
- Engaging in Business
- 5-044
- Value of products.
- 5-045
- Allocation and apportionment methods.
- 5-046
- Valuing the measure of the tax for business activities between related, controlled, or affiliated persons.
- 5-060
- Intrastate, Interstate and foreign selling activity. Inbound and outbound sales of tangible personal property from or to persons outside the City of Seattle, including those persons in other states or foreign countries.
- 5-063
- Returned goods, allowances, cash discounts
- 5-064
- Credit losses, bad debts, recoveries.
- 5-065
- Taxes – deductible and nondeductible.
- 5-066
- Non business income -Grants - Bona fide initiation fees, dues, contributions, tuition fees and endowment funds.
- 5-067
- Accommodation sales, exchange of fungible products.
- 5-068
- Pool purchases.
- 5-100
- Extracting natural products.
- 5-111
- Manufacturing and processing for hire
- 5-112
- Commercial or industrial use.
- 5-125
- Casual or isolated sales.
- 5-126
- Conditional and installment sales, method of reporting.
- 5-127
- Sales to, and by, the State of Washington, counties, cities, school districts and other municipal subdivisions.
- 5-130
- Selling price--Advertised prices including sales tax
- 5-131
- Trade-ins, selling price, sellers' tax measures.
- 5-132
- Leased departments.
- 5-133
- Warranties and maintenance agreements.
- 5-275
- Installing, cleaning, repairing or otherwise altering or improving personal property of consumers.
- 5-276
- Constructing and repairing of new or existing buildings or other structures upon real property (including property owned by governmental entities).
- 5-277
- Clearing land, moving earth, cleaning, fumigating, razing or moving existing buildings, and janitorial services.
- 5-300
- Telecommunications service, telephone business, and telephone service.
- 5-404
- Sales of meals.
- 5-405
- Restaurants, cocktail bars, taverns and similar businesses.
- 5-481
- Motor carriers - Trucking.
- 5-500
- Computer software.
- 5-501
- Computer hardware.
- 5-502
- Taxation of information services and computer related services.
- 5-523
- Sales of precious metal bullion and monetized bullion.
- 5-524
- Abstract, title insurance and escrow business
- 5-530
- Sale or rental of real estate, license to use real estate.
- 5-531
- Sales of real property, standing timber, minerals, natural resources.
- 5-532
- Real estate brokers and salesman.
- 5-536
- Leases or rentals of tangible personal property; financing leases.
- 5-600
- Educational institutions, school districts, student organizations, private schools and child care services.
- 5-700
- Amusement, Recreation, and Physical Fitness Services.
- 5-702
- Coin operated vending machines, amusement devices and service machines.
- 5-720
- Hotels, motels, boarding houses, rooming houses, resorts, summer camps, trailer camps, etc.
- 5-801
- Personal services, service activities.
- 5-802
- Legal, arbitration and mediation services
- 5-803
- Consignees, bailees, factors, agents and auctioneers of tangible personal property.
- 5-804
- Staffing business, staffing services.
- 5-806
- Advertising agencies
- 5-807
- Outdoor advertising and advertising display services.
- 5-809
- Laundry, Dry Cleaning, Linen and Uniform Supply, and Self-service and Coin-operated Laundry Services
- 5-810
- Publishers of newspapers, magazines, and periodicals.
- 5-900
- Admission tax for nightclubs.
- 5-901
- Admission tax exemption for music venues.
- 5-920 (Repealed)
- Imposition of the employee hours tax.
- [Clerk’s Note: The employee hours tax was repealed as of 1/1/10 by Ordinance 123150, available here; however for business activity in Seattle for periods July 1, 2007 through December 31, 2009 the tax was applicable as described in this Rule. For assistance please contact the Revenue and Consumer Affairs Division at 206-684-8484 or at rca.bizlictax@seattle.gov.]
- 5-921
- Exemptions, deductions and credits available under the employee hours tax.
- 5-925
- Parking tax computations.
- 5-930
- Square footage business tax (square footage tax).