Washington Judges Mull Whether Meter Service Draws Sales Tax

A Washington appeals court considered in arguments Tuesday whether converting meter data for utility companies is a “digital automated service” subject to sales tax or an exempt “data processing service.”

Puget Sound Energy pays Landis+Gyr Midwest Inc. $2 million a month to take raw gas and electric meter data from two million homes in the state and turn it into a report for billing purposes. The parties disagree whether the focus of their contract is collecting the information or converting it into a usable format. A sales tax bill of $16 million is at stake. ...