Starting October 1st, 2025, the Washington Department of Revenue (DOR) will begin requiring sales tax to be collected on the services mentioned below. It is important that if you offer any of these services, you must collect sales tax on your customers’ receipts or invoices, depending on the services covered by this new regulation. This is a mandatory change at the state level, and all affected businesses must comply with the regulations. Some exemptions may apply, and in those cases, these should be reviewed individually.
Business Activities and/or Services Now Subject to Retail Sales Tax:
- Advertising services: “All digital and nondigital services related to the creation, preparation, production, or dissemination of advertisements”.
- Live presentations: “Lectures, seminars, workshops, or courses where participants attend either in person or via the Internet or telecommunications equipment that allows audience members and the presenter or instructor to give, receive, and discuss information with each other in real time”.
- Information technology services: Assisting with network operations and support, help desk services, in-person training related to hardware or software, date entry services, etc.
- Custom website development services: “Website development service means the design, development, and support of a website provided by a website developer to a customer”.
- Investigation, security, and armored car services: Background checks, security guard and patrol services, personal and event security, security system services and monitoring, etc.
- Temporary staffing services: “Temporary staffing service means providing workers to other businesses for limited periods of time to supplement their workforce and fill employment vacancies on a contract or a fee basis”.
- Sales of custom software and customization of prewritten software: “Retail sale now includes sales of custom software and customization of prewritten computer software to a consumer, regardless of the method of delivery to the end user”.
The WA DOR is planning to publish a series of Interim Guidance Statements (IGSs), to address these services newly subject retail sales tax, within the first two weeks of September 2025. These guidance statements are created with the incorporation of feedback from listening sessions hosted by WA DOR as well as responses from the survey.
Another step that WA DOR is planning to take is that once they have completed these guidance statements, they will be sending direct messages to impacted businesses with links to these guides and related information.
If you would like more details about this update from WA DOR, we invite you to visit WA DOR’s publication on their official website.