In response to the passage of HB 1403 and HB 1059 this session amending mandatory provisions of the city B&O tax under RCW 35.102, AWC will be convening a work group of city tax managers and finance directors later this month. The work group will update the city B&O tax model ordinance and help AWC develop educational materials about the changes. All B&O tax cities will need to adopt the mandatory changes by January 1, 2020. 

HB 1403 replaces the current test for apportioning service income based on physical contacts with customers to a hierarchy of factors which are based on more common business information. The bill is the result of consensus recommendations from a task force of cities and business representatives, which was convened by the Department of Revenue and worked for more than a year.

HB 1059 moves the due date for annual filers for city B&O taxes from January 31 to April 15; this change is for annual city B&O tax returns for the 2020 tax year, filed in 2021.

If your city has a local B&O tax and is interested in participating on AWC’s work group to update the model ordinance, please contact Sheila Gall.