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WAC 172 Clearing land, moving earth, cleaning, fumigating, razing or moving existing buildings, and janitorial services.
SOURCE DOCUMENT DETER. NO DATE OF ISSUE DESCRIPTION
         
WAC: 458-20-172   03/15/1983 Clearing land, moving earth, cleaning, fumigating, razing or moving existing buildings and janitorial services, etc.
         
         
RCW: 82.04.050   1993 "Sale at retail", "retail sale"
  82.04.190   1986 "Consumer"
  82.04.250   1993 Tax on Retailers
  82.04.290   1993 Tax on Selected Business Services, Financial Businesses, or Other Business or Service Activities.
  82.08.020   1992 Retail Sales Tax Imposed
  82.14.030   1989 Sales and Use Taxes Authorized - Additional Taxes Authorized - Maximum Rates
  82.08.0203   2008 Exemption - trail grooming services
         
         
ETA: 3036.r109 12/28/09 Extermination and pest control services. Effective January 1, 2010, reseller permits will replace resale certificates as the means to substantiate wholesale purchases. Chapter 563, Laws of 2009.
  3023.2009 2/2/09 “Clearing of Land and Moving of Earth” Include Removal of Log Dams and Cleaning Settling Ponds
  3034.2009 2/2/09 Snow removal and power sweeping of parking lots and roads
  3036.2009 2/2/09 Extermination and pest control services
  3050.2009 2/2/09 Dump truck operators
  3088.2009 2/2/09 Taxability of oil and chemical spill cleanup
  170.04.172 8/19/66 REMOVAL OF LOG DAMS AS CLEARING LAND Revised 2/2/09 See ETA 3023.2009
  262.04.172 9/30/94 SNOW REMOVAL AND POWER SWEEPING OF PARKING LOTS Revised 2/2/09 See ETA 3034.2009
  265.04.172 9/23/66 EXTERMINATION AND PEST CONTROL SERVICES Revised 2/2/09 See ETA 3036.2009
  365.04.172 1/30/74 DUMP TRUCK OPERATORS Revised 2/2/09 See ETA 3050.2009
  367.04.172 6/12/70 CLEARING LAND AND MOVING EARTH FOR COMMERCIAL FARMERS - This document can be misleading with respect to removing stumps from an existing orchard in preparation for continued cultivation of agricultural crops, which the Department considers a horticultural service subject to the service and other activities B&O tax. Cancelled by ETA 2003-4s 8/8/01
  369.04.172 6/12/70 RETAIL SALES TAX: TREE-PLANTING AND TREE-THINNING -   This document explains the taxability of tree planting and tree thinning.  This document is no longer needed as these issues are addressed in WAC 458-20-13501. Cancelled by ETA 2003-3s 07/16/2001
  486.04.172 7/31/74 MOVING A STRUCTURE (BRIDGE) AS A RETAIL SALE Cancelled effective 02/28/07 This document states that a bridge is a structure, and charges for moving an existing structure (in this case a bridge) is a retail sale under RCW 82.04.050(2)(d). This document is not needed.
  487.04.172 7/31/74 CLEANING SETTLING PONDS AS RETAIL SALES Revised 2/2/09 See ETA 3023.2009
  488.04.172/105 2/28/07 CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A CONTRACTOR-OWNER RELATIONSHIP EXISTS. Cancelled effective Feb 28, 2007. This document addresses the situation where a contractor and an owner enter into an agreement to transfer employees from the contractor to the owner during the period of construction, and when the construction was completed transfer the employees back to the contractor. The ETA explains that it is the Department’s position to examine the conduct of the parties and the agreement between them to determine whether an employer-employee relationship exists. In this case, the Department held that the amounts paid to the employees were part of the measure of tax for the construction project. While the conclusion is correct, the ETA doesn’t consider the employer-employee relationship criteria of City of Tacoma v. William Rogers Co., 148 Wn.2d 169, 178, 60 P.3d 79 (2002), nor those stated in WAC 458-20-105.
  526.04.172 4/1/83 TAXABILITY OF CORE DRILLING   WAC 458-20-17001 currently addresses the taxation of core drilling. Cancelled by ETA 2003 -0  6/30/99.
  553.04.172.224 7/31/91 TAXABILITY OF OIL AND CHEMICAL SPILL CLEANUP Revised 2/2/09 See ETA 3088.2009
         
         
INDUSTRY GUIDES:   04/01/2007 Washington State Tax Guide - Trucking
      10/01/2005 Construction Tax Guide
      2006 Interior Decorators, Designers & Consultants
         
         
SPECIAL NOTICES:      
Subject Title Reference:      
Landscape Maintenance 08/18/2011 Taxability Information for Providing Landscape Maintenance, Ecological Restoration, and Wetland Banking Activities
Agricultural     05/02/2000 Farm Worker Drinking Water Special Notice
Agricultural     08/06/2001 The Tax Application for Tree and/or Stump Removal from Existing Orchards
      06/23/2003 Environmental Remedial Action Sunsets
Trail Grooming     06/26/2008 Trail Grooming - Sales Tax Exemption
         
         
         
DIRECTIVE: None      
         
         
RPM: None      
         
         
WTD: 3 WTD 59 87-130   CLEANING SERVICE -- JANITORIAL -- UNCOLLECTED RETAIL SALES TAX. Charges for cleaning beer taps, lines, and heads are retail sales. This type of activity is not a service ordinarily performed by a commercial janitorial business. A "seller" of such services is liable for uncollected retail sales tax, even if he did not know of the obligation to collect the tax.
  4 WTD 175 87-325   RETAIL SALES TAX -- MOVING OF EARTH -- DISKING -- HARROWING. Activity of spreading sludge and mixing it into soil with a disk harrow does not constitute "moving of earth," for purpose of statute defining "retail sale."
  8 WTD 293 89-482   B&O TAX -- SALES TAX -- LANDFILL -- MAINTENANCE OF -- CLASSIFICATION OF. The maintenance of a landfill wherein a person uses his own equipment to clear land and move earth is a retail sale.
  9 WTD 259 90-124   USE TAX -- EXEMPTION -- JANITORIAL SERVICES -- SIDEWALK SWEEPING -- OBJECTIVE STANDARDS. Janitorial services for buildings which include picking up litter, sweeping or hosing dirt or debris from entryways and adjacent sidewalks or the removal of snow or ice from them by shoveling, sweeping or applying salt, sand or similar substances is exempt from the sales and use taxes. THIS DETERMINATION HAS BEEN OVERRULED OR MODIFIED IN WHOLE OR PART BY DET.NO. 93-269ER, 14 WTD 153 (1995).
  10 WTD 75 90-279   SALES TAX -- CLEARING LAND -- TREE REMOVAL & STUMP GRINDING. The activity of removing individual trees located on a landowner's property, or grinding stumps to below ground level is a tree thinning or pruning activity taxable under the Service and Other Activities tax classification.
  10 WTD 356 90-404   SALES TAX -- USE TAX -- JANITORIAL SERVICES -- CLEANING AGENTS. Cleaning agents consumed in the course of cleaning buildings or structures are not resold to the customer. The provider of the cleaning service owes sales or use tax on the cleaning agents.
  13 WTD 341 93-187   RETAIL SALES TAX -- EXTRACTOR FOR HIRE -- MOVING OF EARTH -- OPEN-PIT MINE -- REMOVAL OF ORE, WASTE AND OVERBURDEN. The "moving of earth" is a sales taxable activity. However, where a person contracts with the owner to remove ore, waste, and overburden in connection with an open-pit mining operation, the person is performing as an extractor for hire and does not charge sales tax on its charges for performing the extractive services.
  19 WTD 172 99-174   B&O TAX RETAIL SALES TAX TENNIS COURTS CLEANING OF. Specialized cleaning of tennis courts done infrequently at significant expense does not qualify for sales tax exemption as a janitorial service. It is a special clean-up job, not regularly or normally performed by a commercial janitorial service.
  19 WTD 270 99-159   COST PLUS CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS INCLUDABLE EXPENSES Where the entity providing the cost plus services is liable for an expense, that amount is included in the total project cost even if the expense is paid by another individual.
  19 WTD 732 00-038   JANITORIAL MAINTENANCE. A property management companys employees who changed light bulbs, furnace filters and belts; adjusted temperature; and cleaned buildings and fixtures; were performing janitorial services.
  20 WTD 356 00-067R   B&O TAX -- RETAIL SALES TAX JANITORIAL SERVICE. Pressure washing and roof clean-up are not janitorial services and are thus subject to the payment of retailing B&O tax and the collection of retail sales tax.
  21 WTD 189 01-047   RETAIL SALES TAX; RETAILING B&O TAX JANITORIAL SERVICES CLEANING AWNINGS. Janitorial services, for purposes of Rule 172 and RCW 82.04.050(2)(d), are services regularly and normally performed by commercial janitor service businesses. For the most part, janitorial services are activities performed inside buildings. The cleaning of awnings is distinguishable from the activities of cleaning rugs, draperies, and upholstery in-place, which Rule 172 specifically lists as janitorial services, in that the latter are performed inside buildings, whereas awning cleaning is an activity performed on the exterior of buildings.
  22 WTD 56 01-196   RCW 82.04.050: RETAIL SALES TAX -- DEFINITION OF RETAIL SALE -- JANITORIAL SERVICES -- CONSTRUCTION CLEAN-UP. Cleaning services billed to a speculative builder for re-cleans of finished homes held for sale were janitorial services and not subject to retail sales tax.
  23 WTD 249 03-0278   RETAIL SALES TAX -- USE OF OZONE FOR CLEANING INDOOR AIR AND SURFACES -- FUMIGATING. Pumping high levels of pure ozone into homes, buildings, motor vehicles, boats, etc. to cleanse indoor air and surfaces is fumigating, which is a retail activity.
  24 WTD 297 04-0093R   RETAIL SALES TAX USE TAX PUBLIC ROAD CONSTRUCTION TAILGATE SPREADING OF MATERIALS CONSUMER. A public road contractor that incorporates road materials into the roadway by having its materials supplier deliver the materials by tailgate spreading, is the consumer of the materials, and retail sales tax applies to the sale of the materials to the contractor. The manner of delivery, by tailgate spreading, does not, by itself, make the materials supplier the consumer of the materials. Mere hauling and tailgate spreading of materials on public road jobs is not public road construction. The public road contractor who consumes the materials in the performance of its contract to build the road is the person liable for retail sales tax or use tax on the materials.
         
         
OTHER: