Implementation of business license bill

EHB 2005 took effect on July 23, 2017. It has three main provisions:

1. Requires all cities with business licenses to partner for administration of business licenses by 2022 with the state business licensing service (BLS) or by 2020 with FileLocal, the city licensing and local tax administration portal.
   AWC is planning several opportunities to provide cities more information on these options, including presentations by FileLocal and BLS at the AWC conference in June. A similar session is planned for the Washington Finance Officers Association conference in September.
2. Requires cities to adopt a model business license threshold by January 2019.
   We are in the process of convening a group of cities to begin drafting a model license threshold next month. We plan to provide regular updates on the progress of this project as we work towards meeting the June 2018 deadline to develop the model.
3. Creates a task force chaired by the Department of Revenue to recommend changes to the two-factor formula for service income apportionment for local B&O taxes.
   The first meeting of the task force is scheduled for August 16 at the Department of Revenue in Tumwater, and the task force will meet monthly through July 2018. We plan to provide regular updates to cities with a local B&O tax on their work.

Please contact Victoria Lincoln or Sheila Gall if you have questions.