Taxes

Sales & Use Tax

The Sales and Use Tax rate is 10.1%. Of that, a little less than 1% is remitted to the City. To verify the tax rate, visit the Washington State Department of Revenue's Tax Lookup page.

Sales tax is Washington's principal tax source. Businesses making retail sales in Washington collect sales tax from their customer and remits it to the Washington State Department of Revenue. Generally, a retail sale is the sale of tangible personal property; however, it is also the sale of services such as installation, repair, cleaning, altering, improving, construction, and decorating. Other services include improving real or personal property, retail recreational services, and lawn maintenance.

Use tax is a tax on the use of goods or certain services in Washington when sales tax has not been paid. Goods used in this state are subject to either sales or use tax, but not both. Thus, the use tax compensates when sales tax has not been paid.

To learn more, visit the Department of Revenue's Taxes and Rates page.

Property Tax

The City imposes a property tax levy annually on all taxable property within City limits. To learn more on this tax, the process of determining and collecting the tax, and more, visit the King County Property Tax page.

Utility Tax

The telephone (including cellular), electric, gas, and garbage utility business activities are required to remit a percentage of gross receipts as a tax for the privilege of so doing business. The rates range from 2% to 4%. To learn if this tax is applicable to your business and how to remit the taxes, visit the Utility Tax page.

Admissions Tax

Businesses and organizations that charge for admission must collect a 5% tax for a person's entrance to an event or establishment. To learn if your business admission charge is subject to this tax and how to remit it to the City, visit the Admissions Tax page.

Gambling Tax

All persons, associations or organizations must pay a tax on all gambling activity occurring within the City. Gambling activities include bingo games, raffles, amusement games, punchboards and pull tabs. The tax rate ranges from 2% to 10%. To learn about exemptions, and how to remit the tax to the City, visit the Gambling Tax page.

Lodging Tax

The City levies a lodging tax of 1% on lodging charges for periods of less than 30 consecutive days for hotels, motels, rooming houses, private campgrounds, RV parks, and similar facilities. The tax is collected by the business from the customer and reported and remitted on to DOR. The use of the tax revenues is restricted to tourism related activities. To learn more about remitting the tax, visit the Department of Revenue's Special Hotel/Motel Tax page.