Washington Governor Signs Law Providing B&O Tax Relief to Newspaper Providers

The Washington Governor May 4 signed a law providing business and occupation (B&O) tax relief to newspaper providers as they are facing severe financial losses due to the advent of the internet, for excise tax purposes. The law includes measures: 1) clarifying that the current B&O tax preference for newspaper publishers will expire on July 1, 2024; 2) clarifying that preferential B&O tax rate of 0.35 percent for printing and publishing newspapers is replaced with a complete B&O tax exemption; and 3) specifying that the exemption applies only to persons primarily engaged in printing a newspaper, publishing a newspaper, publishing ...