Oregon shoppers required to pay sales tax at register

Washington

shoppers no longer will find themselves waiting in line at the register behind

Oregon residents wanting to avoid state taxes.

Oregonians

are no longer exempt from paying state taxes when they reach for their wallets

under a law signed by Washington’s Gov. Jay Inslee that took effect July 1.

To recoup

any sales tax expenses, Oregon residents now must file for a yearly refund from

the state Department of Revenue for any state sales taxes paid in excess of $25

annually.

For

decades, shoppers living over the state line to the south had avoided paying

sales tax at checkout time at stores in the Mid-Columbia by providing proof of

Oregon residency.

Sellers

of big ticket items like appliances are concerned about the new law.

“We have been here a long, long time, and we have sold to

Baker, La Grande, Hermiston, Pendleton all this time, and those people are

going to have to drive all the way to Portland now to buy appliances,” said Tim

Martin, sales manager for Bunch Finnigan Appliances in Kennewick. “It’s really

bad. We wrote up our last two Oregon customers on (June 29). They’re not going

to come here to pay the sales tax any more. They’re going to go to Portland.

It’s going to be cheaper to have them pay the freight.”

The

new law affects only the 6.5 percent state sales tax; no reimbursement of local

taxes will be allowed at the point of sale or by reimbursement. Local taxes in

both Benton and Franklin counties are 2.1 percent, which brings the total sales

tax to 8.6 percent.

The

removal of the sales tax exemption at the point of sale was included in the most

recent biennial budget Washington lawmakers passed in the spring.

The

Associated Press reports the change is estimated to bring in about $175 million

to the state through mid-2025, with $53 million expected for the 2020-21 fiscal

year budget cycle.

An

exemption is only available for tangible goods. Out-of-state residents can

never qualify for an exemption on services, meals or lodging.

Annual

refund requests are limited to one per person, per calendar year and must

include proof of total sales taxes paid in excess of $25.

Jody

White, owner of White’s Finished Furniture & Hardwood in Kennewicks, was

unsure how the tax exemption change would affect his business.

“I’m

going to flip a coin and I’m going to say it’s going to hurt for a little

while, just until the numbness wears off,” White said. “I just had a gentleman

in who bought wood and he lives down in Oregon and his exact words were, ‘Yeah,

I’m not coming to Kennewick to shop no more. But I’ll still come to you because

you have what I need.’ ”

Martin

estimates 15 percent to 20 percent of the appliance store’s customer base comes

from Oregon and he hopes that will continue.

“We

have a lot of loyal customers. We might get lucky and they’ll still keep

coming, but I really feel bad for Pendleton. Pendleton, La Grande and Baker

City, they’re a long way from anybody.”

Oregon is not the only state

without a sales tax, which means shoppers from Alaska, Delaware, Montana and

New Hampshire also no longer qualify for an on-the-spot exemption.