The statute provides that sellers are not required to make tax-exempt sales to nonresidents. However, sellers who choose to make tax-exempt sales must meet the requirements provided below under "Instructions to Sellers."

Eligible nonresidents

Only residents of the following states, possessions, and provinces of Canada qualify:

Update, March 14, 2011 – Legislation signed into law today permanently bars residents from the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, and Quebec. These provinces already are barred from using the exemption by a court injunction issued in July 2010. This legislation permanently disqualifies them from the tax exemption (SB 5763)

Eligible and ineligible sales

The law provides an exemption for:

1. Sales of tangible personal property.
2. use outside Washington.
3. persons who can establish nonresident status.

The exemption does not apply to charges for services that are included within the definition of the term "sale at retail." This includes, but is not limited to, services such as:

• Lodging at hotels or motels.
• Repair services (except vehicle repairs where the parts portion is not taxable to qualifying nonresidents).
• Laundry or dry cleaning services.
• Automobile towing or parking.
• Amusement and recreational activities such as golf, bowling, and charter fishing.
• Personal services such as tanning, tattooing, and dating services.
• Abstract, title insurance, or escrow services

The exemption also does not apply to sales of articles substantially used or consumed within Washington. This includes, but is not limited to sales of:

• Meals or refreshments prepared for immediate consumption.
  
• Articles to persons in the military stationed within Washington.
• Articles to nonresident students attending schools in this state.
• Articles to any other nonresident temporarily residing in Washington.
  

Instructions to sellers

Sellers making exempt sales to eligible nonresidents must:

1. Examine one piece of identification that establishes proof of nonresidency at the time of purchase. The identification must be a valid driver's license issued by the jurisdiction in which the out-of-state residency is claimed or a valid identification card issued by the out-of-state jurisdiction. The identification must A) bear the photograph of the holder, B) show the holder’s residential address, C) identify the holder’s name, and D) be issued for the purpose of establishing residency.
   
2. Maintain a record of the type of documentation accepted as establishing nonresidency in (1) immediately above, including identification numbers, expiration dates, the purchaser’s name, and the purchaser's state of residency.
   

   
   A seller may accept from the purchaser a properly completed Streamlined Sales Tax Exemption Certificate.  The certificate must include the purchaser’s driver’s license number or other state-issued identification number and the state of issuance; or the seller may capture the relevant data elements as allowed under the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement.

3. Record the documentation accepted as establishing nonresidency on the invoice or other written evidence of sale and retain the information or maintain a legible photocopy of the documentation establishing nonresidency as part of the seller's accounting records for the statutory period of five years (refer to RCW 82.32.070). In the case of a seller making cash sales without issuing invoices (for example, retail hardware stores) and maintaining a log, such a log must identify the date and amount of sale, and the information described in (2) immediately above or, in the case of corporate nonresidents, the corporate nonresident permit number.
   
4. Presume that the item being sold will be used in Washington and is subject to retail sales tax if the purchaser requests the seller to deliver the merchandise to a Washington address. This presumption may be overcome if the purchaser gives the seller a signed written statement explaining the reason for delivery to a Washington residence and a specific statement indicating the item will not be used in Washington

Specific retail sales tax exemptions and documentation requirements exist for:

• Sales of motor vehicles and trailers - RCW 82.08.0264 and WAC 458-20-177
• Watercraft - RCW 82.08.0266 and WAC 458-20-238
• Farm machinery or implements - RCW 82.08.0268 and WAC 458-20-239