Washington has no standalone sales tax permit. You register by filing a Business License Application with the Department of Revenue, online through My DOR for $50, and get a business license with a free Tax Registration endorsement and a UBI number. The same registration covers Washington's B&O tax, a separate tax on your gross receipts.
Washington doesn't issue a separate sales tax permit. You register for sales tax by filing a Business License Application with the Department of Revenue (DOR), which adds a Tax Registration endorsement and assigns you a Unified Business Identifier (UBI) number.
You need that registration if you make sales that require collecting Washington sales tax. That includes SaaS in Washington, which the state taxes as remote access software.
Since Oct. 1, 2025, some services are also taxable, including IT services, advertising services, and custom software.
If you have no physical presence in Washington, you must register once you cross the Washington economic nexus threshold: more than $100,000 in combined gross receipts sourced or attributed to Washington in the current or previous calendar year. Washington has no transaction-count threshold.
The threshold covers all of your Washington income, not only taxable retail sales:
Once you pass $100,000, you're subject to Washington's registration and B&O tax reporting rules. If you didn't meet the threshold the previous year, you must start collecting sales tax on the first day of the month that begins at least 30 days after you crossed it.
For example, if you cross $100,000 on Oct. 15, you owe B&O tax on your Washington income from Oct. 15 and must collect sales tax starting Dec. 1. Because the test looks at the current or previous year, the obligation continues through at least the following calendar year.
If you crossed the threshold in the past and never registered, Washington's voluntary disclosure agreement program can waive some penalties and generally limits the look-back period to four years plus the current year. Sales tax you collected but didn't remit has no look-back limit.
Washington uses a "more than the slightest presence" standard for physical nexus. Any of these conditions creates nexus, regardless of sales volume:
Washington residents and businesses organized or commercially domiciled in Washington also have nexus. Sellers with physical presence must register and collect sales tax from the date that presence begins.
Attending one trade convention a year that isn’t open to the general public doesn’t create nexus on its own. But if you make retail sales at the event, you’ll need to register and collect sales tax on them.
You can skip registration only if all of these apply:
Firearms dealers can't use this exception.
A seller making taxable retail sales must collect sales tax, so it needs to register even below $12,000. Using a trade name or hiring employees also requires a business license.
Washington's marketplace facilitator law requires Amazon, Etsy, and other marketplaces to collect sales tax on the sales they facilitate. That doesn't settle whether you need your own registration, because marketplace sales still count for B&O tax:
You don't have to collect sales tax on facilitated sales if you keep documentation showing the marketplace collects and reports it for you. Without that documentation, you may be held liable for uncollected tax.
Washington has no exception for inventory stored by a marketplace. If you're one of the Amazon FBA sellers with inventory in a Washington fulfillment center, you have physical presence nexus from the day it arrives, regardless of your sales volume, and you need to register.
The same applies to inventory held by any third-party logistics provider. Agents or representatives acting for you in Washington can also create sales tax nexus in Washington.
If you're forming a Washington corporation, LLC, partnership, or limited liability partnership, file with the Washington Secretary of State first. DOR requires that you file before you submit the Business License Application. Out-of-state corporations and LLCs may also need to register with the Secretary of State.
The paper form also asks for each owner's date of birth, home address, email, and percent owned.
Because one application registers you with several agencies, it asks questions most sales tax applications don't:
Most businesses apply online through My DOR. Go to DOR's Apply for a business license page. The optional Business Licensing Wizard lists the endorsements and other agencies that apply to your business activity before you start.
To file on paper, complete the Business License Application (Form BLS 700 028) and check Tax Registration (DOR) in section 2. Mail it with a check payable to the Department of Revenue to Business Licensing Service, P.O. Box 9034, Olympia, WA 98507-9034.
Go to the My DOR login page. If you already use SecureAccess Washington (SAW) for another state agency, log in with that user ID. Otherwise, select Sign up.
To sign up, enter your name and primary email, choose a SAW user ID of 4 to 32 characters, and set a password of at least 10 characters. Accept the access agreement, complete the security check, and select Register.
DOR emails you an activation link and code. You'll get a multi-factor authentication challenge the first time you sign in.
On the My DOR Services page, go to the Business Licensing section and select Apply for a new business license. Choose I want to start a business in WA State, entering your UBI number if you already have one.
On the Ownership Structure page, select your legal structure. Corporations and LLCs then say whether the business is a Washington or out-of-state entity. Review the Before You File page and select Confirm.
Section 1, About Your Business, asks for your FEIN, whether you'll have Washington employees within 90 days, and whether you'll sell lottery tickets. Corporations and LLCs also enter their country, state, and year of formation.
Select +Add an owner or officer for each owner, partner, or officer. Then enter your legal name and any DBA names, which register as Washington trade names at $5 each.
Section 2 asks for your physical location and mailing address. Select Verify Address for each one.
Next, enter your first date of business in Washington and select the range for your estimated gross annual income in Washington. If the open date is in the past, the Open Date page asks whether you've already collected Washington sales or use tax.
Enter your business phone and email on Business Contact. Then answer the Additional business questions about any previous or existing business you're connected to.
Warning: If you buy a Washington business, withhold enough of the purchase price to cover the seller's unpaid taxes until the seller shows a receipt or a certificate from DOR that no tax is due. Otherwise, you can become liable for taxes the seller doesn't pay within 10 days of the sale.
On the City and County page, say whether your location is inside city limits and whether you'll do business in other Washington cities. Check Asotin County or Franklin County if you'll do business in their unincorporated areas.
For cities that partner with DOR, you answer each city's questions and add its license to this application. If a city isn't listed, you have to contact it directly, which the city business license section below covers.
Type keywords that describe your main business activity, press Enter, and choose Select next to each matching description. If nothing fits, check None of the activities listed above describes the business.
Then check the categories for your business activity. DOR uses this answer for your tax registration.
If you said you'll hire employees, section 3 asks for hiring dates, headcount, and job duties. Section 4 shows any state endorsements your activities require.
Review your total fees and the Summary page. On Payment Method, choose Bank Account (ACH Debit) or Credit or Debit Card, which carries a 2.96% service fee with a $1 minimum.
Select Submit on the Review & Submit page. Use Print Confirmation on the Confirmation page to keep your confirmation number.
The Business Licensing Service issues your business license and nine-digit UBI number. DOR also sends a letter with your tax account ID and filing frequency.
The New Tax Registration letter gives you access to your excise tax account, which is where you'll file sales and B&O tax returns. In My DOR, select Access your account using a letter ID, then enter the Letter ID and your Account ID.
You can print your license from My DOR. Display it at the business location it was issued for.
Registering for sales tax costs $50: the non-refundable application fee to open the first location of a new business. The Tax Registration endorsement itself is free.
If your license carries endorsements that renew, each location's renewal costs $5 plus the endorsement fees. The renewal section below covers timing and late fees.
DOR says online applications take about 10 business days to process. City or state endorsements typically add another 2 to 3 weeks while the city or agency approves them. Some cities take longer, and each city's endorsement page lists its average approval time.
Mailed applications can take up to six weeks. You can start using your UBI number as soon as it's issued.
Your Tax Registration endorsement is printed on the face of your business license, next to any other registrations and licenses you hold. There's no separate sales tax permit document.
The same application can register you for:
The UBI number ties these together across state agencies. DOR may use it as your tax account ID or assign a separate one, so check your registration letter.
Each place of business needs its own business license document, and you file a separate application for each one. All of them carry the same tax account ID, so you can report every location on one excise tax return.
If you want a separate return for a location, request a separate tax account ID on that location's application.
A reseller permit, which lets you buy inventory for resale without paying sales tax, is a separate application in My DOR. Licenses from other agencies, such as contractor registration, and licenses from cities that don't partner with DOR are separate.
Registering for sales tax also registers you for Washington's business and occupation (B&O) tax. B&O is a tax on your gross receipts, so you can't deduct labor, materials, or other costs.
B&O isn't collected from customers. The business pays it, and Washington law treats it as part of your operating overhead.
You report B&O and sales tax together on one excise tax return. Retail sales go under the Retailing B&O classification, and Washington B&O tax applies even to sales a marketplace collected sales tax on.
Washington's local sales tax is reported to DOR on your state return, so there's no separate local sales tax registration. City business licenses and city B&O taxes are different.
More than 200 cities, plus Asotin and Franklin counties, issue their business licenses through DOR. You add them as endorsements on your Business License Application, and DOR's city endorsements page lists each city's fee and rules.
A city with a general business license has to exempt businesses located outside the city that earn $4,000 or less a year there, though it can set a higher threshold. Some cities require a free registration below that amount.
Cities that don't partner with DOR, including Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, and Everett, issue their own business licenses. If a city isn't on DOR's list, contact it directly.
Many Washington cities levy their own B&O tax on top of the state's. DOR doesn't administer or collect it, so check with each city where you have a location or do business.
Eleven cities use FileLocal, a shared portal for local taxes like B&O and, for most of them, city business licenses: Auburn, Bellevue, Des Moines, Everett, Kent, Lake Forest Park, Poulsbo, Renton, Seattle, Shoreline, and Tacoma. Auburn and Poulsbo issue their business licenses through DOR's application.
The Tax Registration endorsement doesn't expire. It stays valid as long as you're in business.
You renew your license each year only if it carries endorsements with an expiration date, such as most city and state endorsements. The expiration date is printed in the top right corner, under your UBI number.
To renew, log in to My DOR and select Renew Business License on the Business License panel. You can ask DOR to waive the late fee if you've renewed on time for the previous 24 months.
Charge Washington state sales tax plus the local rate for the location where you deliver the sale. DOR's tax rate lookup tool gives the rate and the location code you report it under.
Sellers with physical presence collect from the day nexus begins. Remote sellers start on the first day of the month that begins at least 30 days after crossing $100,000.
DOR assigns your filing frequency from the estimates on your application and states it in your welcome letter. The general tiers, by annual tax liability, are:
You file Washington sales tax returns electronically in My DOR. Monthly returns are due the 25th of the following month, quarterly returns the last day of the month after the quarter, and annual returns April 15. A due date that falls on a weekend or holiday moves to the next business day.
File a return for every period, even with no sales. DOR can place some businesses on active non-reporting status, but only if, among other conditions, they don't collect sales tax and have less than $125,000 in gross income.
Your Tax Registration endorsement doesn't need renewing, but city and state endorsements do, as covered above. Sales tax permit rules in other states differ, and several issue standalone permits that expire.
No. A reseller permit lets you buy items for resale without paying sales tax. It doesn't register you to collect sales tax.
You need a business license with tax registration before you can get one. Apply in My DOR under Apply for/view a Reseller Permit in the Excise Tax Account panel. Permits are generally valid for four years, but only two years for new businesses, contractors, and some others.
No. An EIN is a federal tax ID from the IRS. A UBI is Washington's nine-digit Unified Business Identifier, which registers your business with several state agencies.
Yes, if it meets any of the registration triggers, such as making sales that require collecting sales tax or earning $12,000 or more a year in Washington. Forming the LLC with the Secretary of State doesn't register it with DOR for taxes.
After the Secretary of State filing, submit a Business License Application to add tax registration and any endorsements. Out-of-state LLCs register with DOR once they have nexus in Washington.
It depends on where your inventory is and how much you sell. If Amazon stores your inventory in a Washington warehouse, you have nexus and need to register.
Without Washington inventory, you need to register once your Washington gross receipts, including Amazon sales, exceed $100,000 in the current or previous calendar year. Amazon collects the sales tax on its sales, but you still report those sales and pay B&O tax on them.
It depends on whether you're required to register. Washington is a Streamlined Sales Tax member, but if you have nexus, registering through the Streamlined system doesn't replace the Business License Application.
Sellers who register through the Streamlined system voluntarily, without a Washington registration requirement, don't pay Washington's business license fees. A state-certified service provider can collect and report sales tax for you, but you may still need to file excise tax returns to report B&O tax.
It depends on how often you sell in Washington. A business with no more than two Washington events a year, each lasting a month or less, can get a free Temporary Registration Certificate for each event instead.
You can apply up to 180 days before the event. Established Washington businesses and businesses that need a permit from another agency can't use it.
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