// ESSB 5814
Is your service newly taxable in Washington?
Effective October 1, 2025, ESSB 5814 pulled a wide range of services into the retail sale definition and struck four exclusions from the digital automated services definition. Describe a service and this classifier applies the statute's category patterns, the effective-date gate, and the transitional carve-outs — with citations.
Services enumerated as retail sales
IT services and technical support, custom software and website development, temporary staffing, investigation and security services, armored car, and advertising services became retail sales — retail sales tax applies and the seller's B&O classification shifts to Retailing.
Four DAS exclusions struck
The digital automated services exclusions for advertising, data processing, live presentations, and primarily-human-effort services were removed from RCW 82.04.192(3)(b) — those services are now taxable as DAS, except intercompany sales within an affiliated group.
Transitional relief
Contracts signed before October 1, 2025 (and not materially modified) kept their prior treatment through reporting periods ending March 31, 2026; contracts paid in full before the effective date are deemed sold before it.
Classify a Service
Describe the service the way it appears on the invoice or contract. The classifier applies the same category patterns and 2025-10-01 period gate as the Tax Refund Engine.
Drives the 2025-10-01 effective-date gate. Leave blank to see both regimes.
Used only to estimate the sales tax at stake.
How this classifier works
The classification is deterministic — the same category patterns and 2025-10-01 period gate our Tax Refund Engine applies to client AP data, verified against DOR's ESSB 5814 guidance. Nothing you enter is stored. It reads invoice-style descriptions best; a contract's scope of work can change the answer, which is why every result carries a confidence score and the authorities to check.
Paying tax on services like these before October 1, 2025 — or unsure whether a vendor is charging you correctly now? The Tax Refund Engine analyzes your actual transactions row by row, and Delphi can research the statute against your facts.
Get professional help with an ESSB 5814 question