New laws
Driving and chatting on your cell phone can net you a $124 ticket starting Tuesday if you are not using a hands-free device. This is a secondary offense, meaning you’ll be pulled over only if you are also breaking another law at the same time. The new law takes effect immediately, no grace period and likely no warnings if you are caught.
Condo developers could likely have to pay apartment renters even more to move if a proposed law is approved by Mayor Nickels. City Council voted 8-0 in favor of increasing the amount of relocation assistance that developers pay from $500 to three times the monthly rent, for tenants making 80 percent of local median income or less.
Also starting Tuesday, Washington joins 18 other states in requiring online vendors to collect sales tax, shifting e-commerce from an origin-based to destination-based tax system.
The toll to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge will increase $1 to a total of $4 per car, or $2.75 for those who belong to the “Good To Go” program.
As if we weren’t paying enough at the pump, the gas tax is also increasing 1.5 cents per gallon.
Online vendors in WA only have to collect destination based sales tax for orders within Washington state.
It’s still a pain because none of the online tools accommodate this — such as PayPal. For example, in PayPal you can only specify tax at a zip code level, but WA uses multiple sales tax rates within zip codes. And there’s something like 35,000 different rates, making it almost impossible to charge the correct sales tax per destination. This pretty much screws small business. Fun!
I was mostly referring to online vendors that do not have a physical presence in the state. Those companies did not have to charge WA residents sales tax, and it was a great way to pick up expensive electronics for my husband and I. Now, many retailers are going to start charging sales tax or have to pay back taxes if the state decides to sue.
Ah, I see. Although you weren’t being charged sales tax by online vendors previously, you were always supposed to pay "use tax" on the items. Most people didn’t though.
Hmm.. well with our e-commerce sites (both use zencart) we charge sales tax in Washington state and now are legally obligated to charge variable sales tax for WA state depending on regions. Super difficult as you say christy, because turns out the sales taxes are not even consistent within some zipcodes!! So.. could have it custom coded based on… lat/long? what a nightmare! I think we’re going to take our chances for now until the open-source community’s good graces catch up:)