Washington Tax Decisions

A corporation engaged in selling, renting, and repairing heavy equipment; selling aggregate; and providing hauling for hire appeals the assessment of retail sales tax on grounds that the measure of tax should be reduced by credit memos. Taxpayer also appeals the negligent penalty on grounds that it did not disregard specific reporting instructions. We deny the petition.

A company protests the assessment of retail sales tax on its Washington sales of hyperbaric chamber systems. Because the primary use of the hyperbaric chamber is not to generate or store medically prescribed oxygen, the company’s sales of the chambers are subject to retail sales tax. We uphold the assessment.

A LLC that owns real property in Washington, appeals the assessment of REET on its transfer of a controlling interest, asserting that the transfer is exempt from REET because it was nontaxable under federal law, or was a mere change in form or identity. Taxpayer alternatively asserts that if REET is due on the transfer, the value of the LLC’s real property is significantly less than that asserted by the Department. We conclude that REET is due on the transfer, but the assessment must be adjusted to remove liability for a second parcel assessed in error, and to reflect a professional appraisal later submitted by Taxpayer. We grant the petition in part, deny it in part.

A Washington corporation objects to the classification of asphalt production as manufacturing for B&O tax purposes. Taxpayer’s petition is denied.

A firm that provides medical imaging services petitions for reconsideration of Det. No. 15-0065, which sustained assessment of B&O tax on fees received from patients that were subsequently paid to physicians who interpreted the medical images. We deny Taxpayer’s petition, finding that Taxpayer neither acted as a billing agent for the physicians nor as an agent of the patients.

A contracting company petitions for the correction of assessment of retail sales tax on acquired capital assets from its predecessor company arguing that it received the capital assets in a business reorganization. Taxpayer’s petition is denied.

Health care provider appeals the denial of its request for refund of service and other activities B&O tax paid on receipts from insurance carriers that participate in the FEHB and MA programs, asserting the tax is preempted by federal law. The taxpayer’s petition is denied.

Taxpayer petitioned for the correction of an assessment, claiming it was entitled to a larger B&O tax credit, because certain deductions for prescription drugs were improperly disallowed by the Audit Division of the Department of Revenue. Taxpayer’s petition is granted.

An out-of-state manufacturer and seller of bedding products protests the assessment of B&O tax and retail sales tax on sales of its products in Washington, contending it did not have sufficient nexus with Washington. We deny Taxpayer’s petition.