Caterers

From the 2024 DOR Tax Exemption Study

Home Education Industry Guides Wine Industry Business Purchases: Retail Sales Or Use Tax Print Business purchases: Retail sales or use tax You must pay sales or use tax on items or retail services that you purchase for consumption or use in your winery business. Goods used in this state are subject to either sales tax or use tax, but not both. What is use tax? Use tax is a tax on the use of goods and certain services in Washington when sales tax was not paid at the time of purchase. Option to pay sales vs. use tax? If a seller is registered to do business in Washington, the seller is obligated to collect retail sales tax from the buyer, and the buyer is obligated to pay retail sales tax to the seller (assuming no sales tax exemption applies). Although the buyer has no option to choose which tax to pay, if the seller failed to collect the sales tax properly, that failure does not relieve the buyer from either (1) submitting the sales tax to the seller if subsequently requested by the seller, or (2) submitting use tax directly to the department for goods and services used in Washington. Credit for sales or use tax paid elsewhere When a local buyer purchases tangible personal property