Base 6.5% + 0.5%–3.5% local · ~9.00%–10.50% combined
Sales tax in Washington
Washington runs a 6.5% statewide base administered by the Washington State Department of Revenue (WA DOR), layered with a local sales-and-use-tax overlay of roughly 0.5%–3.5% depending on ship-to — pushing King County / Seattle shipments to ~10.35% combined, Pierce County / Tacoma shipments to ~10.30% combined, Spokane County / Spokane shipments to ~9.29% combined, and Clark County / Vancouver shipments to ~9.50%-ish combined. This pillar walks through the WA DOR's monthly-on-the-last-day remittance cadence (the WA DOR's distinctive month-end rule — distinct from the 20th-of-the-month or 23rd-of-the-month cadence the other Pillars ship), the Wayfair-aligned dual-prong $100K / 200-transaction economic-nexus threshold with no multi-year lookback (the WA DOR focuses on forward-going returns once registration has been completed), the marketplace-facilitator posture the WA DOR enforces on in-state facilitator-collected channel sales, the always-file-a-no-activity-month rule the WA DOR enforces on every registered retail-sales-permit holder, and the headlining restaurant-persona POS rate-stamp exposure — there is no on-premises-vs-off-premises carve-out, so the operator must apply the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate on every line.
Quick facts — at a glance
The seven WA DOR-administered facts a Washington operator reads first — state base / local-overlay band / monthly-on-the-last-day cadence / dual-prong nexus with no multi-year lookback / marketplace-facilitator posture / POS rate-stamp audit exposure for restaurants / Resale Certificate — each anchored to the corresponding WA DOR primary-source citation so the visible rates and cadences stay in lockstep with the WA DOR's published posture.
Resale Certificate / direct-pay posture for exempt sales — administered through the WA DOR
What you’ll find in this guide
Washington's monthly-on-the-last-day cadence the WA DOR enforces on active retail-sales-permit accounts (distinctive among the eight shipped pillars — September return due October 31, not October 20) — with the WA DOR reclassifying low-liability accounts to quarterly / annually, the always-file-a-no-activity-month rule the WA DOR enforces once the retail-sales permit has been issued, and the monthly-on-the-last-day return filed through the MyDOR portal.
Washington's 6.5% statewide base administered by the WA DOR, plus a local sales-and-use-tax overlay of roughly 0.5%–3.5% depending on ship-to — pushing King County / Seattle shipments to ~10.35% combined, Pierce County / Tacoma shipments to ~10.30% combined, Spokane County / Spokane shipments to ~9.29% combined, and Clark County / Vancouver shipments to ~9.50%-ish combined, with the WA DOR publishing the exact cents-per-dollar rate per ZIP code.
The WA DOR's Wayfair-aligned dual-prong economic-nexus threshold: $100,000 in gross receipts OR 200-or-more separate transactions from Washington-bound sales in the prior twelve-month period (either prong satisfies), administered through the WA DOR economic-nexus notice — with no multi-year lookback; the WA DOR focuses on forward-going returns from the registration date forward rather than applying a retrospective assessment (similar to Pennsylvania / New Jersey / Illinois / North Carolina / Georgia, and unlike Ohio's seven-year lookback).
The no-multi-year lookback the WA DOR enforces once nexus has been established — once the dual-prong $100K / 200-transaction threshold is met and the WA DOR has issued the retail-sales permit, the WA DOR looks at forward-going returns from the registration date forward, lighter than Ohio's seven-year retrospective-assessment posture.
Point-of-sale under-collection exposure the WA DOR audits on multi-rate dine-in / take-out / beverage lines — there is no on-premises-vs-off-premises carve-out, so the WA DOR collects at the ship-to combined rate on every line; the POS terminal that stamps a default 6.5% (the statewide base) on a prepared-beverage or to-go line under-collects by the local sales-and-use-tax overlay differential, and a WA DOR audit pulls the POS rate-stamp log against the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate.
The marketplace-facilitator posture administered through the WA DOR subject to MyDOR retail-sales-permit registration — facilitator collection only relieves the marketplace-channel collection obligation, so the direct-channel owner who runs an own-site or a direct invoicing channel alongside the marketplace channel must always register and apply the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate at the ship-to on every direct-channel sale.
Operational deep dive
Four Washington-specific sub-blocks the operator wants next to the live schedule card above — the local sales-and-use-tax overlay (Seattle / Tacoma / Spokane / Vancouver), the WA DOR's monthly-on-the-last-day cadence distinct from the other Pillars' 20th-of-the-month rule, the economic-nexus + no-multi-year-lookback posture, and the marketplace-facilitator + WA DOR retail-sales permit registration path.
The local sales-and-use-tax overlay (Seattle / Tacoma / Spokane / Vancouver)
Washington runs a 6.5% statewide base administered by the WA DOR and stacks a local sales-and-use-tax overlay of roughly 0.5%–3.5% on top depending on ship-to. The combined consumer-facing rate that the seller collects is the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate, NOT a flat 6.5% — overlaying the local sales-and-use-tax is the difference between under-collecting on a King County / Seattle shipment (where the ship-to combined rate runs about 10.35%) and collecting correctly.
King County / Seattle ships-to run about 10.35% combined — the 6.5% statewide base plus the King County local sales-and-use-tax overlay. Operators shipping into King County need to apply the WA DOR-published combined rate on every King County / Seattle-bound sale; the 6.5% statewide base on its own under-collects by the local-overlay differential.
Pierce County / Tacoma ships-to run about 10.30% combined — the 6.5% statewide base plus the Pierce County local sales-and-use-tax overlay. The combined rate is published by the WA DOR per ZIP code through the MyDOR portal.
Spokane County / Spokane ships-to run about 9.29% combined — the 6.5% statewide base plus the Spokane County local sales-and-use-tax overlay. The combined rate is meaningfully lower than the Seattle / Tacoma combined rates because the Spokane County overlay is narrower.
Clark County / Vancouver ships-to run roughly 9.50%-ish combined — the 6.5% statewide base plus the Clark County local sales-and-use-tax overlay. The combined rate is published by the WA DOR per ZIP code; an operator shipping into a Clark County / Vancouver ZIP collects 9.50%-ish on every Vancouver-bound sale rather than 6.5%.
The local sales-and-use-tax overlay is administered through the WA DOR Sales and Use Tax overview; the exact cents-per-dollar figure per ZIP code is the rate the WA DOR expects on every Washington-bound sale, and the overlay rotation is the difference between incorrect collecting and correct collecting — operators should NOT default to the 6.5% statewide base on a Washington-bound sale when the ship-to has a published combined rate.
The WA DOR's monthly-on-the-last-day cadence (distinct from the other Pillars' 20th-of-the-month rule)
Washington's WA DOR enforces a monthly-on-the-last-day remittance cadence on active retail-sales-permit accounts — distinct from the 20th-of-the-month cadence the other Pillars ship (Texas / Florida / New York / Pennsylvania / Illinois / New Jersey / Georgia) and the 23rd-of-the-month cadence Ohio ships. The September return is due October 31 (or October 30 if it is not a 31-day month), not October 20. The monthly-on-the-last-day cadence is administered through the MyDOR portal.
The monthly-on-the-last-day cadence is distinctive: the September return due October 31 (or October 30) is a different date than the 20th-of-the-month cadence the other six Pillars ship (October 20) or the 23rd-of-the-month cadence Ohio ships (October 23). A multi-state operator has to keep three distinct dates in mind — the 20th for Texas / Florida / New York / Pennsylvania / Illinois / New Jersey / Georgia, the 23rd for Ohio, and the last day of the month for Washington.
The WA DOR reclassifies a low-liability account to quarterly (and, below the next WA DOR threshold, annually) once the prior-12-month sales-tax liability drops below the WA DOR carve-out points — administered through the MyDOR portal. Accounts that cross back up the line are automatically re-promoted to monthly on the next reassignment.
Registered sellers must file the WA DOR sales-and-use-tax return through the MyDOR portal even on no-activity months — a zero-liability return is still required once the WA DOR retail-sales permit has been issued, and skipped no-activity returns are one of the most common triggers for an account moving up the WA DOR audit-review list.
The cadence tiers and the conditions under which the WA DOR moves an account between monthly / quarterly / annual filing are administered through the MyDOR portal; the always-file-a-no-activity-month rule applies to every registered account once the retail-sales permit is in hand.
Operators should plan their monthly filing on the WA DOR's last-day-of-the-month cadence rather than on the 20th-of-the-month cadence the other Pillars ship — a multi-state operator that runs a Washington + Texas + Ohio footprint has to keep three distinct dates (last day of the month / 20th / 23rd) in their filing calendar.
Economic-nexus registration — dual-prong $100K / 200-transaction with no multi-year lookback
Washington runs a Wayfair-aligned dual-prong economic-nexus test: the seller has nexus once EITHER $100,000 in gross receipts from Washington-bound sales OR 200-or-more separate transactions from Washington-bound sales is satisfied in the prior twelve-month period. Either prong satisfied triggers WA DOR registration through the MyDOR portal prior to the close of the month after crossing nexus; the WA DOR enforces a no-multi-year-lookback posture, focusing on forward-going returns from the registration date forward rather than applying a retrospective assessment (similar to Pennsylvania / New Jersey / Illinois / North Carolina / Georgia, and unlike Ohio's seven-year lookback).
Either prong — the dollar prong OR the transaction-count prong — independently triggers nexus under the WA DOR Wayfair-era economic-nexus test; a high-ticket-low-volume seller can trip the dollar prong without the transaction-count prong, and a low-ticket-high-volume seller can trip the transaction-count prong without the dollar prong.
Registration is run through the MyDOR portal once nexus has been established; the WA DOR issues a retail-sales permit once registration is complete, with the same return the seller files on the monthly / quarterly / annual cadence the WA DOR assigns after registration.
No multi-year lookback — once nexus has been established and the WA DOR has issued the retail-sales permit, the WA DOR looks at forward-going returns from the registration date forward. Operators should still file a catch-up return covering the full registration period (the period from the date nexus was first established to the registration date), but they should NOT plan on a multi-year retrospective assessment as they would under Ohio's seven-year lookback posture.
The economic-nexus threshold and the post-Wayfair posture the WA DOR enforces are administered through the WA DOR — Wayfair economic-nexus notice; operators can audit the dual-prong threshold and the no-multi-year-lookback posture back to the WA DOR's primary-source notice.
Operators should reconcile the post-registration posture against the marketplace-facilitator carve-out: a remote seller whose entire Washington business runs through an in-state marketplace facilitator is generally NOT required to register separately for those marketplace-channel transactions, but the direct-channel owner who runs an own-site or a direct invoicing channel alongside the marketplace channel is always required to register and apply the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate at the ship-to address on every direct-channel sale — facilitator collection does not relieve them of the direct-channel filing obligation.
Marketplace-facilitator posture and the WA DOR retail-sales permit registration path
Washington runs a marketplace-facilitator posture requiring an in-state marketplace facilitator that facilitates a sale into Washington for a remote seller (an out-of-state seller with no physical presence in Washington) to collect and remit the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate on the marketplace-channel sale. The carve-out only relieves the marketplace-channel collection obligation — the direct-channel owner who runs an own-site or a direct invoicing channel alongside the marketplace channel is still required to register with the WA DOR and apply the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate at the ship-to on every direct-channel sale.
The marketplace-facilitator posture — an in-state marketplace facilitator that facilitates a sale into Washington for a remote seller collecting and remitting the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate on the marketplace-channel sale — is administered through the WA DOR — Marketplace Facilitator notice; an operator running a marketplace-channel-only Washington business is generally NOT required to register separately with the WA DOR for those marketplace-channel transactions because the in-state marketplace facilitator already collects and remits the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate on the buyer's behalf.
The direct-channel owner who runs an own-site (an own Shopify storefront, an own WooCommerce checkout, a direct POS channel) or a direct invoicing channel (manual invoice, ACH-direct, an EDI-style direct billing flow) alongside the marketplace channel is always required to register with the WA DOR and apply the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate at the ship-to on every direct-channel sale — facilitator collection does not relieve the direct-channel owner of the direct-channel filing obligation, and the operator carries both filing obligations once nexus has been established.
Cross-channel reconciliation — the operator tracks the carve-out at the revenue-stream level, not the gross-receipts level. Marketplace-facilitator-collected revenue is removed from the operator's direct-channel return liability calculation (the in-state facilitator carries it), but the operator still applies the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate to all direct-channel revenue.
The marketplace-facilitator posture co-exists with the dual-prong $100K / 200-transaction Wayfair-era economic-nexus threshold: an operator whose combined Washington revenue (marketplace-channel + direct-channel) crosses either prong must register with the WA DOR even if the marketplace-channel revenue is the only revenue crossing it — the dual-prong threshold counts the combined channel revenue, not the direct-channel-only revenue, for the seller's nexus trigger.
Pegged to the WA DOR's monthly-on-the-last-day remittance calendar
Pegged to the WA DOR's monthly-on-the-last-day remittance calendar
Stillpost estimates your Washington sales-tax liability off your daily sales and lines it up with the WA DOR's monthly-on-the-last-day remittance calendar — so the estimate lands on the last day of the month following the reporting period, not on the 20th (the cadence the other Pillars ship) or the 23rd (the ODT cadence Ohio ships). The WA DOR's distinctive monthly-on-the-last-day rule is the difference between filing on October 31 for the September return (the WA DOR posture) and filing on October 20 or October 23 (the other Pillars' cadences) — a multi-state operator that runs a Washington + Texas + Ohio footprint has to keep three distinct dates in their filing calendar. The WA DOR may reclassify an account down to quarterly (and, below the next WA DOR threshold, to annually) once the prior-12-month sales-tax liability drops below the WA DOR carve-out points; Stillpost keeps the same per-period view either way, so the dashboard reads the same for a monthly-on-the-last-day account and a quarterly-downshifting account. The always-file-a-no-activity-month return rule the WA DOR enforces on every registered retail-sales-permit holder is reflected in the same per-period view, so a zero-liability month still files the standard WA DOR return on the last day of the month.
On top of the cadence-pegged estimate, you also get the WA DOR's dual-prong $100K / 200-transaction Wayfair-aligned economic-nexus tracker (either prong satisfied — a high-ticket-low-volume seller can trip the dollar prong without the transaction-count prong), with WA DOR retail-sales-permit registration through the MyDOR portal before the close of the month after crossing nexus. The no-multi-year-lookbackposture the WA DOR enforces once nexus is established is materially lighter than Ohio's seven-year lookback — the WA DOR looks at forward-going returns from the registration date forward. The marketplace-facilitator posture the WA DOR enforces requires the in-state marketplace facilitator to collect and remit the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate on marketplace-channel sales into Washington, but the direct-channel owner who runs an own-site or a direct invoicing channel alongside the marketplace channel must always register and apply the ship-to combined rate on every direct-channel sale — facilitator collection does not relieve the direct-channel filing obligation. And the headline POS rate-stamp audit exposure the WA DOR pulls on multi-rate dine-in / take-out / beverage lines for restaurants — there is no on-premises-vs-off-premises carve-out, so the POS must apply the WA DOR-published ship-to combined rate on every line, not the 6.5% statewide base as the default stamp.
Drop your email — we'll send the next Washington launch note.
No sales call, no onboarding deck — just a short note when the next feature ships.
Jump from Washington into a sibling state pillar or into the vertical surface that fits the inside of your business — every link below renders against the same control plane the Washington pillar ships, so the rate-overlaid / cadence / nexus / marketplace / POS-rate-stamp framing reads the same across the cluster.