legal State of Washington Says Domain Registrations Are Subject To Sales Tax

[News]

According to a ruling from the State of Washington this week “Internet domain name registration services are generally subject to retail sales or use tax.

Every computer on the Internet has a unique address, called an Internet Protocol (IP) address. Website owners then buy an easy-to-remember domain name. For example, instead of typing in an IP address (such as 192.0.34.163), a user would type in a domain name (icann.org) to access a website.

Under the law, “sale at retail” and “retail sale” include sales of digital automated services to consumers (RCW 82.04.050(8)(a)).

“Digital automated services” means any service transferred electronically, such as over the Internet, using one or more software applications (RCW 82.04.192(3)(a), (8)).

Since domain name registration services meet these definitions, they are generally subject to retail sales or use tax.”

The state of Washington has a statewide sales tax of 6.5% but allows additional add on’s to the sales tax which can thereby vary by county or city. According to the taxfoundation.org, the average total sale tax in the State of Washington is 8.89% the 5th highest in the United States.

Of course with new gTLD registrations priced as high as $60,000 per domain, we are now talking about a substantial amount of money.

Source

 

[cocaseco]

Ugg

 

[iowadawg]

Only time before governments, federal, state and local...plus all the countries on this planet, figure out a way to tax everything on the internet.

 

[Chris Wright]

My first thought is, do they want a piece of my aftermarket sales? That would be a big headache to process.

Can't put it off much longer... need to get Michael Cyger's DN Tax Guide.

 

[cocaseco]

Chris you bet they do. If you are in WA then you know that all businesses pay tax on TOP LINE sales, not net. Its a horrible tax structure for a business, but that's also how we can get by without an income tax here.

 

[namezest]

When I was a kid I wondered why I saw old buildings in the UK with bricked up windows. Being a kid I thought it might be because of the wars and not showing light in the darkness. Turns out they are so greedy there that there was actually a window tax! Yep people bricked them up to avoid paying it.

 

[Chris Wright]

When I was a kid, I thought it was funny how most middle-aged men had a beef with the government.

Now I get it. They don't don't wanna leave me with anything for my efforts.

 

[namezest]

You think they will also add "franchise tax" for affiliate sales? O.o

 

[N-A]

I'm a Washington resident living in Okinawa, Japan.

I wonder how this'll effect me as Amazon orders are taxed...

 

[RogueWriter]

What gets me about the government is how they can keep bringing in more and more tax revenue yet still never be able to balance a dang budget. It's never just 'enough' there has to be more.

 

[Nazz]

Australia is currently in the process of introducing an online tax for EVERYTHING!

They also recently introduced a netflix tax that we pay on top of our monthly subscription fee.

All governments want a slice, no matter the size.

 

[kawalsukhi]

Tax on domains?? Ridiculous...... A plus to domaiers expenses!

 

[ResoluteDomains]

When I was a kid, I thought it was funny how most middle-aged men had a beef with the government.

Now I get it. They don't don't wanna leave me with anything for my efforts.

Oh man, isnt that the truth!

 

[ResoluteDomains]

My first thought is, do they want a piece of my aftermarket sales? That would be a big headache to process.

Can't put it off much longer... need to get Michael Cyger's DN Tax Guide.

Have you read Michael Cyger's DN Tax Guide? Do you recommend it? I've seen it advertised and not sure if I should purchase it.

 

[Chris Wright]

No, I haven't read it, yet.

I believe it is the only domain tax guide that gets updated.
So, I need to get it.

 

[The New Guy]

When I was a kid I wondered why I saw old buildings in the UK with bricked up windows. Being a kid I thought it might be because of the wars and not showing light in the darkness. Turns out they are so greedy there that there was actually a window tax! Yep people bricked them up to avoid paying it.

The window tax was supposed to be an easy way to do a property tax without having to get into houses. Wealthy people = bigger houses = more windows = more tax paid, or so they thought.

Turns out people are more resourceful than government gives them credit for.