WAC 217

Community property defined -- Management and control

Tax Liens-Priority of liens.

Excess payment of tax, penalty, or interest--Credit or refund--Payment of judgments for refund.

Notice and orders--Service.

Termination, dissolution, or abandonment of corporate or limited liability business--Personal liability of person in control of collected sales tax funds.

Tax warrant-Filing-Lien-Effect

Execution of warrant-Levy upon property-satisfaction

Agent of the department of revenue may execute.

Notice and order to withhold and deliver -- Continuing lien -- Effective date.

Tax constitutes debt to the state-Priority of lien.

Lien for taxes.

Lien for taxes.Effective 8/23/02.

SALES TAX NOT TO BE WITHHELD ON PUBLIC WORKS PROGRESS ESTIMATES Revised 2/2/09 See ETA 3024.2009

Public works contracts

Public Works Contracts

Public Works Contracts. This ETA 3024 explains retainage, when retail sales tax is due on the amount of the retainage and exclusions from contract retainage. This was initially issued October 3, 2011. In 2013, this ETA was updated to reflect a recent statutory change regarding an exclusion from contract retainage pursuant to Substitute House Bill 1420, chapter 113, Laws of 2013.

Changes to Personal Liability for Unpaid Sales Tax

SALES TAX -- CORPORATE OFFICER'S LIABILITY --CONTROL OR SUPERVISION. A corporate president that assumes the duties of the treasurer as the person primarily responsible for the collection and disposition of all funds including retail sales taxes, is a person with significant control or supervision of the retail sales tax funds, notwithstanding the fact that the president may have hired a manager to perform the actual ministerial duties.

SALES TAX -- CORPORATE OFFICER'S LIABILITY --RESPONSIBILITY FOR FILING RETURNS. A corporate president who files the corporation's initial application for registration, and also signs one tax return is a person "charged with the responsibility for the filing of returns or the payment of retail sales tax collected and held in trust" within the meaning of RCW 82.32.145.

SALES TAX--CORPORATE OFFICER'S LIABILITY --WILLFUL FAILURE TO PAY. The act by a corporate president of knowingly signing and authorizing three or four checks per month for payment of obligations other than delinquent or current retail sales tax liabilities constitutes the willful failure to pay retail sales taxes held in trust.

UNPAID TAXES -- LIABILITY OF THIRD PARTY WITH BENEFICIAL INTEREST IN BUSINESS. An oil company which leases a service station to an operator and sells its products to the operator for resale has a beneficial interest in the operation of the station.The oil company's property leased to the operator is subject to lienfor the unpaid liability, including interest and penalties, even though the liability was not the fault of the oil company.

SALES TAX -- CORPORATE OFFICER'S LIABILITY --WILLFUL FAILURE TO PAY. The act by a corporate president of failing to pay taxes until after the due dates of returns constituted willful failure to pay even though the bank exercised its set-off rights against the checking account. This is because the set-off occurred after the due date of the taxes. The account had sufficient funds on the due date. However, where failure to pay when set-off occurred prior to the due date for the remaining taxes, failure to pay was not willful.

UNPAID TAXES -- SECURITY AGREEMENTS -- BENEFICIAL INTEREST OF THIRD PARTIES. The exception from attachment of the tax lien for bona fide interests of third parties which vested prior to filing a tax warrant does not apply to third parties that have a beneficial interest in the business.

UNPAID TAXES -- BENEFICIAL INTEREST OF THIRD PARTIES. The attachment of a tax lien to the property of third party who has a beneficial interest in the delinquent taxpayer's business does not require that the personal property be leased to the delinquent taxpayer.

UNPAID TAXES -- LIABILITY OF THIRD PARTIES WHO HAVE A BENEFICIAL INTEREST IN THE BUSINESS. Where an oil company leases convenience stores on a percentage basis and requires as part of the lease that the lessees enter into a separate commission agreement to collect the receipts from the oil company's sale of gasoline from an adjoining filling station and the lessees fail to pay their excise taxes, the personal property of the oil company used in the conduct of the convenience store and filling station is subject to the tax lien. Partial Accord: Det.No.91-166, 11 WTD 345.

BENEFICIAL INTEREST -- LIEN PURPOSES. There is no requirement that the definition of the term "beneficial interest" for lien attachment purposes and for tax-free transfers be identical in all aspects.The Department's long held definition of "beneficial interest" for lien purposes will not be overturned without legislative or judicial authority to do so.

INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY FOR CORPORATION'S FAILURE TO REMIT COLLECTED SALES TAX -- CONTROL OR SUPERVISION OF SALES TAX FUNDS. When a corporation collects but fails to remit collected sales tax to the Department of Revenue, the corporate officers who had responsibility for active executive management of the corporation or for legal custody of all corporate monies have "control or supervision of retail sales tax funds" collected and held in trust under RCW 82.08.050.

INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY FOR CORPORATION'S FAILURE TO REMIT COLLECTED SALES TAX -- RESPONSIBILITY FOR FILING EXCISE TAX RETURNS. A bookkeeper who has the responsibility to file the corporation's excise tax returns with the Department of Revenue is a corporate officer or other person who may be liable under RCW 82.32.145.

INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY FOR CORPORATION'S FAILURE TO REMIT COLLECTED SALES TAX -- INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY FOR LOCAL SALES TAX. A corporate officer or other person may also be liable for collected, but unremitted, local sales tax.

INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY FOR CORPORATION'S FAILURE TO REMIT COLLECTED SALES TAX -- CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND THE CONTROL OF THE TAXPAYER. A corporate officer or other person who is liable under the provisions of RCW 82.32.145 may not avoid that liability by claiming '"reasons beyond their control" where the taxpayer deposits the tax more than once with a bank that refuses to allow the taxpayer to pay the sales tax to the Department of Revenue.

INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY FOR CORPORATION'S FAILURE TO REMIT COLLECTED SALES TAX-WILLFUL FAILURE TO PAY THE TAX. A corporate officer who has responsibility for active executive management of the corporation or for legal custody of all corporate monies, and who either pays or instructs a corporate employee to pay other creditors without remitting the sales tax to the Department of Revenue, has willfully failed to pay the tax.

INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY FOR CORPORATION'S FAILURE TO REMIT COLLECTED SALES TAX -- WILLFUL FAILURE TO PAY THE TAX.A bookkeeper who drafts and signs corporate checks only at the instruction of others does not willfully fail to pay the sales tax to the Department of Revenue.

INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY FOR CORPORATION'S FAILURE TO REMIT COLLECTED SALES TAX -- APPLICATION OF TAXPAYER'S PAYMENTS TO INTEREST AND PENALTIES. The Department of Revenue applies a taxpayer's payment to interest and penalties, and then to tax; a corporate 'officer or other person cannot reduce his or her liability under RCW 82.32.145 by directing the Department of Revenue to apply payments by the corporation to tax before interest and penalties.

SALES TAX -- CORPORATION -- LIABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL -- CONTRACT TO PAY. A contract, to which the Department is not a party, that one party shall pay sales tax to the Department in place of another, shall not affect the Department's ability to pursue whichever party it is otherwise authorized by law to pursue.

SALES TAX -- CORPORATION -- LIABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL. A former corporate officer or other person who fails to pay collected sales tax to the Department may be held individually liable notwithstanding the fact that (s)he is no longer associated with the company at the time of its termination.

SALES TAX -- CORPORATION--LIABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL-- TERMINATION OF BUSINESS --WHAT CONSTITUTES --BANKRUPTCY. A filing under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code does not constitute the termination, dissolution, or abandonment of a corporate business for the purpose of invoking individual sales tax liability.

SALES TAX -- CORPORATION--LIABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL--CIRCUMSTANCE BEYOND CONTROL. The fact that one party failed to perform an agreement to pay sales taxes on behalf of a second party is not a circumstance beyond the control of the second party so as to relieve the second party of individual liability for failure to pay sales taxes for a corporate taxpayer.

SALES TAX -- CORPORATION -- LIABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL -- INTENT.The fact that a former corporate officer or other person responsible for remitting sales tax to the state intended that such delinquent taxes would be paid eventually does not relieve that person of individual liability.

TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT --COLLECTED RETAIL SALES TAX -- WILLFUL FAILURE TO PAY OVER. Where a corporate president uses collected retail sales tax to pay non-tax obligations of the corporation, the corporate president willfully failed to pay over the collected retail sales tax.

TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT --COLLECTED RETAIL SALES TAX--REASONABLE MEANS TO COLLECT DIRECTLY FROM THE CORPORATION.Where a corporation is dissolved, its cash depleted, and its assets abandoned, the Department does not have an obligation to pursue the assets through litigation in an attempt to retrieve the "trust funds" collected and held by the corporation.The Department is required to attempt to from a corporation only if it is reasonable to do so.It there is no reasonable means to collect from a corporation, the Department may endeavor to collect the "trust funds" from the respo

TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT--COLLECTED RETAIL SALES TAX-CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND THE CONTROL. A landlord's failure to maintain the premises used by a corporation to operate its business does not constitute a "circumstance beyond the control" of the corporation for the purpose of relieving the corporate president from trust fund liability for collected retail sales tax.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- INDIVIDUAL CORPORATE LIABILITY. In order for an individual to be liable for a corporation's failure to remit collected retail sales tax: 1) the retail sales tax must be a corporate liability; 2) the corporation must have been terminated, dissolved, or abandoned; 3) the taxpayer must have willfully failed to pay or to cause to be paid such retail sales tax; 4) the taxpayer must have supervision or control over the trust funds or be responsible for reporting and remitting the tax; and 5) there must be no reasonable means to collect the tax from the corporation.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- INDIVIDUAL CORPORATE LIABILITY -- DISCRETION AND AUTHORITY OF NON-OFFICER EMPLOYEE.A non-officer employee, who is instructed by the sole owner and officer of a corporation not to pay trust funds to the state, does not have the "authority and discretion" to be a responsible party, even though the employee continues to sign checks for the benefit of trade creditors.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- INDIVIDUAL CORPORATE LIABILITY -- DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY -- CONTROL AND SUPERVISION. A taxpayer who has checked signing authority and who has the discretion and responsibility to collect and remit trust funds to the Department is a responsible party under the statute.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- INDIVIDUAL CORPORATE LIABILITY -- PROPRIETARY INTEREST. There is no requirement that an individual have a proprietary interest in the business before that individual can be found to be liable for the failure to remit collected retail sales tax.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- CORPORATE OFFICER’S PERSONAL LIABILITY FOR TRUST FUNDS -- COLLECTED BUT UNREMITTED RETAIL SALES TAX -- WILLFUL FAILURE.Neither the purported levying of accounts by the Internal Revenue Service nor increasing costs of doing business are sufficient grounds for finding that a corporate officer's failure to remit collected sales tax was not willful.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- CORPORATE OFFICER’S PERSONAL LIABILITY FOR TRUST FUNDS -- COLLECTED BUT UNREMITTED RETAIL SALES TAX -- HUSBAND AND WIFE -- COMMUNITY PROPERTY AGREEMENTS -- SEPARATE PROPERTY.A community property agreement between husband and wife does not prevent the Department from collecting collected but unremitted retail sales tax from the community where the liability arose from the operation of a corporation that was the husband’s separate property.

SALES TAX -- TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT -- PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACT -- RETAINAGE -- APPLICATION OF.Retainage paid the Department from a public works contract must first be applied to tax, interest, and penalty liability arising directly out of the project for which it was withheld before it may be used for other state tax arrearages.

SALES TAX -- TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT -- PENALTIES AND INTEREST.A trust fund accountability assessment may include penalties and interest that accrue on the tax debt of a defunct corporation.

PERSONAL LIABILITY FOR CORPORATION’S UNREMITTED SALES TAX – CORPORATE OFFICER – DUTIES.A corporation secretary, who does not have the responsibility to manage the corporation, does not have the authority or responsibility to decide which bills should be paid or to pay bills, and does not have either the authority to receive money, prepare or file tax returns, and who does not assume such duties as a matter of practice, cannot be held personally liable for the corporation’s failure to remit sales tax.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- INDIVIDUAL CORPORATE LIABILITY.In order for an individual to be liable for a corporation's failure to remit collected retail sales tax:1) the retail sales tax must be a corporate liability; 2) the corporation must have been terminated, dissolved, or abandoned; 3) the taxpayer must have willfully failed to pay or to cause to be paid such retail sales tax; 4) the taxpayer must have supervision or control over the trust funds or be responsible for reporting and remitting the tax; and 5) there must be no reasonable means to collect the tax from the corporation.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- INDIVIDUAL CORPORATE LIABILITY -- CONTROL OR SUPERVISION.A taxpayer who has check signing authority and who has the discretion and responsibility to collect and remit trust funds to the Department is a responsible party under the statute.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- INDIVIDUAL CORPORATE LIABILITY - WILLFUL FAILURE TO PAY – GROSS NEGLIGENCE. Willfulness exists when a responsible person pays other creditors with a reckless disregard of whether trust funds have been paid to the state.Gross negligence is sufficient to show reckless disregard.Thus, the payment of other bills with knowledge that the business is in financial trouble, but failing to inquire whether funds are available to pay trust funds when due, creates liability as a matter of law.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- AUTOMOBILE SALES -- OUT-OF-STATE.Car dealers must document both that vehicles were sold to nonresidents and how the vehicles left the state to qualify for the sales tax exemption.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY -- WILLFUL.A corporate president, who determined what creditors would be paid from a bank account in which sales taxes had been deposited, willfully failed to pay sales taxes held in trust.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY -- CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND CONTROL -- EMBEZZLEMENT -- PROOF.A corporate president, who alleged he failed to pay sales taxes held in trust because of embezzlement, must document the criminal act with a police report, cancelled checks, or other evidence.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY -- CONTROL OR SUPERVISION -- BANK AUTHORIZATION.A corporate president, who signed a bank authorization allowing others to write checks on the corporate bank account during a period when the corporation collected, but failed to remit sales taxes, had control over whether sales taxes collected and deposited in the account would be paid.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- INDIVIDUAL CORPORATE LIABILITY -- WILLFULNESS.The willful failure to pay or to cause retail sales taxes to be paid does not require an intent to defraud or bad motive.A responsible person with knowledge that a business is in financial trouble, but who fails to inquire whether funds are available to pay trust funds when due, may be held personally liable as a matter of law.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- INDIVIDUAL CORPORATE LIABILITY.In order for an individual to be liable for a corporation's failure to remit collected retail sales tax:1) the retail sales tax must be a corporate liability; 2) the corporation must have been terminated, dissolved, or abandoned; 3) the taxpayer must have willfully failed to pay or to cause to be paid such retail sales tax; 4) the taxpayer must have supervision or control over the trust funds or be responsible for reporting and remitting the tax; and 5) there must be no reasonable means to collect the tax from the corporation.

REFUND – APPLICATION OF AMOUNTS COLLECTED ON TAX WARRANT TO BALANCE OF OUTSTANDING ASSESSMENT.The Department may issue a warrant for amounts that are not paid within fifteen days of their due date.The Department may issue a refund when payment received under a warrant exceeds the taxpayer’s outstanding tax liability.However, where the Department receives payment from the taxpayer’s bank in excess of the amount due on a warrant, but the taxpayer also has an outstanding assessment, the Department may properly apply the excess amount to the assessment.

TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENTS -- RELIANCE ON DECISIONS RELATED TO "100% PENALTY" CASES.Because the legislature modeled trust fund accountability assessments after the federal "100% penalty" used to ensure collection of social security and federal income taxes withheld from employees' compensation, the Department may use federal cases as an aid in interpreting Washington's trust fund accountability provisions.

TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENTS -- JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.When multiple persons are liable under a trust fund accountability assessment, that liability is joint and several and not pro rata.

SALES TAX – COLLECTED BUT NOT REMITTED – PERSONAL LIABILITY.In order for personal liability to be imposed against a former corporate officer for retail sales tax that was collected but not remitted to the state, that officer must have had control or supervision of the collected funds or the responsibility of filing returns or paying the taxes to the Department.Where there is substantial evidence that an officer had neither that control nor that responsibility, personal liability will not be imposed.

TAX LIABILITY - DISSOLUTION DECREE - RELEASE FROM LIABILITY TO PAY. The court in a divorce action cannot adjudicate the rights of creditors who are not parties to the action. A Decree of Dissolution that required the husband to pay the liability owed to the Department of Revenue does not preclude the Department from seeking payment from the wife.

COMMUNITY PROPERTY -JOINT DEBT - LIABILITY.A debt incurred by either spouse during marriage is presumed to be a community debt. The acid test to determine whether an obligation incurred by a spouse is a community debt is whether or not the transaction was intended for the benefit of the community or expectation of benefit for the community.

RETAIL SALES TAX – COLLECTED BUT UNREMITTED TAX – PERSONAL LIABILITY OF CORPORATE OFFICERS.Corporate officers are liable for collected but unremitted retail sales tax when they are aware that retail sales tax has been collected and willfully fail to pay it to the Department.Liability attaches at the time the tax is collected.

RCW 23B.14.220:CORPORATION -- ADMINISTRATIVE DISSOLUTION -- REINSTATEMENT.A corporation that was administratively dissolved and subsequently reinstated by the secretary of state was a valid corporate entity for all periods after incorporation.The reinstatement related back to the time of dissolution.

CORPORATION -- ADMINISTRATIVE DISSOLUTION -- OFFICERS LIABLE AS PARTNERS.Corporate officers were not liable as partners for corporate debt where a valid corporate entity existed at the time the tax liabilities were incurred.

TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT – WILLFUL FAILURE TO PAY.The fact that a person legally responsible for remitting collected retail sales tax to the Department chose not to accept that responsibility and assumed that someone else was properly carrying it out does not preclude a finding that the person willfully failed to pay the tax or cause the tax to be paid.

TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT – EFFECT ON DEPARTMENT OF RESPONSIBLE PERSONS AGREEING AMONG THEMSELVES WHO WILL BE LIABLE FOR UNREMITTED TAX.A person upon whom the TFAA statute imposes personal liability cannot relieve himself or herself of liability by entering into agreements to which the Department is not a party.

TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT – OFFSET FOR BAD DEBTS NOT ALLOWED.The Department will not allow a bad debt offset against delinquent retail sales tax in a TFAA when the TFAA is for taxes that were included in a notice of balance due issued to the original taxpayer and not timely appealed.

UNPAID TAXES -- BENEFICIAL INTEREST OF THIRD PARTIES – ATTACHMENT OF SPECIFIC LIEN.A specific lien attaches to all “goods, wares, merchandise, fixtures, equipment or other personal property” used in the conduct of the business, including property owned by persons who have a beneficial interest, direct or indirect, in the operation of the business.“[O]ther personal property” includes business assets such as accounts receivable, chattel paper, royalties, licenses, and franchises.A third party who has a beneficial interest in a business is not personally liable for amounts owing.

UNPAID TAXES -- LIABILITY OF THIRD PARTIES WHO HAVE A BENEFICIAL INTEREST IN THE BUSINESS.Where a franchisor enters into a royalty contract with a franchisee where the franchisor receives a percentage of gross receipts of the franchisee’s business, this results in a “third party who receives part of the profit, a benefit or an advantage resulting from a contract . . .with the business” and, therefore has a “beneficial interest in the operation of the business.”

UNPAID TAXES -- BENEFICIAL INTEREST OF THIRD PARTIES – SUPPORTING FACTORS.The presence of all of the delineated factors supporting a finding of beneficial interest in a business is not required.Rule 217 does not purport to illustrate all of the factors that may support such a finding.

UNPAID TAXES -- BENEFICIAL INTEREST OF THIRD PARTIES -- determinative aspect.The determinative aspect of who has a “beneficial interest” is whether the success of the franchisee’s business will result directly or indirectly in further gains to the third party franchisor.A beneficial interest will not be found where the third party is a mere lessor of tangible personal property or a creditor of the franchisee.

UNPAID TAXES -- BENEFICIAL INTEREST OF THIRD PARTIES – LACK OF AGENCY RELATIONSHIP.There is no requirement under Washington law that parties have a formal agency/principal relationship for the beneficial interest provisions to apply.

RETAIL SALES TAX -- SELLER'S LIABILITY.A seller who fails to collect retail sales tax is personally liable to the state for the tax.The Department may proceed against the buyer or seller for payment of unpaid sales tax.

TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT -- COLLECTED RETAIL SALES TAX -- NO REASONABLE MEANS TO COLLECT DIRECTLY FROM THE CORPORATION OR LLC -- WHEN THIS DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE.When a corporation or LLC collects retail sales tax but does not remit the tax to DOR, DOR must first determine that there is no reasonable means of collecting the tax from the dissolved corporation or LLC prior to issuing a trust fund accountability assessment against the principals of the dissolved corporation or LLC.

TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT -- COLLECTED RETAIL SALES TAX--REASONABLE MEANS TO COLLECT DIRECTLY FROM THE CORPORATION OR LLC.Where a corporation or a limited liability company (LLC) is dissolved, its cash depleted, and its assets abandoned, DOR does not have an obligation to pursue the assets through litigation in an attempt to retrieve the “trust funds” collected and held by the corporation or LLC.DOR is required to attempt to collect the tax from a corporation or LLC only if it is reasonable to do so.If there is no reasonable means to collect from the corporation or LLC, DOR may e

RETAIL SALES TAX -- LEASE -- PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTS -- CERTIFICATION BY DEPARTMENT. The state is not estopped from collecting retail sales taxes from a lessor who failed to collect the tax from a lessee who used the leased property in performing a public works contract. The fact that the state had previously certified that all taxes relating to the contract had been paid was not controlling.

RCW 82.04.050; RCW 82.08.050: RETAIL SALES TAX—LIABILITY FOR UNCOLLECTED TAX. While RCW 82.08.050 allows the Department to proceed directly against the buyer or the seller for the sales tax, the statute anticipates that the Department will only collect the same tax once.

RULE 217; RCW 82.14.050: COUNTY FOOD AND BEVERAGE TAX – OVER-COLLECTED. Over-collected County Food and Beverage Tax may not be retained by the seller for its own use, but is held in trust and must be remitted to the state if not returned to the purchasers.

RCW 82.08.050 – RETAIL SALES TAX – COLLECTED TAX – DUTY TO REMIT. If a seller collects retail sales tax, the seller is obligated to remit that tax to the Department.

RULE 217; RCW 82.08.050: RETAIL SALES TAX – HELD IN TRUST – OVERCOLLECTION OF SALES TAX. A taxpayer that over-collected sales tax based on programming errors in its point-of-sale system, where sales tax was charged on the full retail price of goods sold, rather than the discounted price, is still liable to pay the full amount of sales tax it collected to the state.

RCW 82.32.145: RETAIL SALES TAX – TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT - CORRECTION OF ASSESSMENT. A taxpayer who received a TFAA cannot challenge the amount of the tax underlying the TFAA.

RULE: 217; RCW 82.04.230: RETAIL SALES TAX – TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT –MANAGING MEMBER. A Managing member of an LLC that serves as a chief executive officer is strictly liable for unpaid trust fund taxes.

RCW 82.32.145: TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT – RESPONSIBLE PERSON – Taxpayer’s assertions that he was no involved in the day-to-day operations of the business, is insufficient to rebut written evidence that indicates Taxpayer served in the role of chief executive officer – namely, an Amended Report filed with the Secretary of State that identified Taxpayer as the President and sole officer, and filings with the Department and business’ bank, that identified Taxpayer as the sole owner.

FILING OF WARRANT -- EXECUTION UPON WARRANT JOINT LIABILITY OF PARTNERS. Payment of tax, interest and penalty by one partners as a result of a tax warrant to partnership and to each partner individually and executed thereupon by a notice to withhold and deliver is proper as partners are jointly liable for debts of partnership. ACCORD: Dygert v. Hansen, 31 Wn. 2nd 858 (1948); Wilkinson v. Smith, 31 WnApp 1 (1982).

WARRANT PENALTY -- WARRANT ISSUED BUT NOT FILED. The warrant penalty imposed by RCW 82.32.090 is effective upon the issuance of a warrant. The fact that a warrant is not filed in superior court does not void the penalty. Issuance and filing are separate acts under RCW 82.32.210 F.I.D.

RULE 217; RCW 82.32.145: RETAIL SALES TAX – TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT (TFAA) – RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUAL – CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER – CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER – PRESIDENT – TREASURER. A person who acted as president and treasurer of a corporation during the period when unpaid trust fund taxes accrued is a responsible person, personally liable for the unpaid trust fund taxes, regardless of fault or whether the person was or should have been aware of the unpaid trust fund taxes.

RULE 217; RCW 82.32.145: RETAIL SALES TAX – TRUST FUND ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT (TFAA) – RESPONSIBLE MEANS OF COLLECTION. The Department can collect against a responsible person even when the Department could potentially collect against a successor. A responsible person cannot shield himself from TFAA liability simply by identifying another potentially liable party.