During the last legislative session, Washington State added new services that may be subject to its existing retail sales tax. You can find a list of the services newly covered by the tax on this Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) website.
The one most likely to be relevant to PTAs is the inclusion of “live presentations.” The new law defines “live presentations” as “including, but not limited to, lectures, seminars, workshops, or courses where participants attend either in person or via internet or telecommunications equipment that allows audience members and the presenter or instructor to give, receive, and discuss information with each other in real time.” This may have implications for those of you who run after school enrichment programs or classes, invite paid speakers to your events, or have paid events with speakers or workshops (note that this is not an exhaustive list of PTA programs or events that may be subject to sales tax). The DOR website has created interim guidance specific to live presentations as they work through the implications of the law.
As you read through this DOR guidance, you may have questions. WSPTA has reached out to the DOR with many questions via email. They answered each question by giving us a “Tax Ruling” for each one. Unfortunately, we have been advised to treat these rulings as specific to WSPTA only, and not to local PTAs or Councils. This means that, for now, local PTAs and Councils need to reach out individually to the DOR for guidance and tax rulings. Here is the email to contact the DOR: rulings@dor.wa.gov. Please note that it can take several weeks to hear back with an official ruling. When you are emailing the DOR, be clear and specific with your questions. If you get answers that you feel aren’t clear enough, you can respond to the DOR’s reply with additional questions, and they will get back to you with more clarification.
In cases where PTAs work with vendors or contractors but are not themselves involved in collecting or disbursing payments, it is the vendor’s or contractor’s responsibility to determine how or whether this new legislation applies to them and to get their own tax rulings. PTAs should not be contacting the DOR on anyone else’s behalf.
Some vendors have approached PTAs about taking over payments to take advantage of the school exemptions clauses. Although there are some exemptions for schools, as a PTA you are not a school and therefore do not have those same exemptions. Remember that any time a PTA is approached by an outside organization to process funds that aren’t part of a PTA program, you are risking your tax-exempt status if you agree to it.
We wish we could be of more specific help right now with this process, but we are hopeful that the DOR will have better guidance soon as they hear from businesses across the state regarding their unique situations.