Each year, the Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) requires taxpayers who participated in one or more of the state’s tax incentive programs to complete and file a survey or report regarding the programs’ use. These filings are due by May 31 following the year in which the incentive, credit, or reduced tax rate was claimed.

Businesses must file a separate survey or report for each tax reporting account in Washington. The survey or report must be filed electronically through the state’s e-filing system. Failure to file a completed survey or report by the deadline could result in a partial loss of the applicable incentive, credit, or reduced tax rate.

Who Must File an Annual Survey?

Participation in the following tax incentive programs requires you to file a tax incentive survey with the DOR:

• Fruit and vegetable processors’ business and occupation (B&O) tax exemption
• Dairy and seafood products B&O tax exemption
• Sales and use tax deferral or waiver on construction of cold storage and certain food manufacturing or processing facilities
• Biotechnology and medical device manufacturing sales and use tax deferral or waiver
• Reduced B&O tax rate for timber extraction and manufacturing
• Sales and use tax deferral or waiver for locating corporate headquarters in a community empowerment zone
• Sales and use tax deferral (or waiver, for manufacturing facilities) in counties with high unemployment
• Customized employment training tax credit

Who Must File an Annual Report?

Participation in the following tax incentive programs requires you to file an annual report with the DOR:

Aerospace

• B&O tax credit for aerospace product development expenditures
• Reduced B&O tax rate for aerospace businesses
• B&O tax credit for property and leasehold taxes paid on aerospace manufacturing facilities

Aluminum Smelting

• Reduced B&O tax for aluminum smelting
• B&O tax credit to offset the state portion of sales tax on materials used in aluminum smelting
• B&O tax credit to offset property tax for aluminum smelters
• Use tax exemption on brokered natural gas

Semiconductor Manufacturing

• Reduced B&O tax rate for manufacturers of semiconductor materials
• Sales and use tax exemption for purchases of semiconductor gases and chemicals

Miscellaneous

• Public utility tax exemption on power for electrolyte processing
• Reduced B&O tax rate for newspaper publishers
• Reduced B&O tax rate for manufacturers of solar energy systems and their components
• Sales and use tax exemption for purchases of server equipment and power infrastructure for use in eligible data centers

Penalties

Effective July 1, 2016, the penalty for failure to file the report or survey on time is 35 percent of the incentive claimed—a reduction from the 100 percent penalty previously in place.

Extensions and Other Details

If you’re unable to file the survey or report by May 31, you can request an extension by contacting the DOR—prior to the due date—at (360) 570-3265. (On its voice mail menu, press six, then two.)

Note that nearly all forms—including those for high tech, biotechnology, aerospace, fruit and vegetable processors, seafood, timber, dairy, customized employment, and cold storage—must be filed electronically using the DOR’s e-filing services. Note also that many first-year filings for incentives must include surveys for both the 2015 and 2016 periods.

We're Here to Help

Filing your survey or report in a timely manner is critical to maintaining the credit or incentive your business may depend on. If you have any questions about filling out the forms or would like to discuss how you can leverage additional Washington State tax credits and incentives, please contact:

Marke Greene, Partner | (206) 302-6496

Sarah Correia, Senior Manager | (509) 834-2420