The 2025 tax package was rushed through the legislative process, leading to considerable uncertainty. The implementation of ESSB 5814, which extended the sales tax to more services, has been particularly fraught. Unsurprisingly, three bills have been pre-filed that would make changes to ESSB 5814. Additionally, two bills would make changes to ESSB 5794, which repealed some tax preferences. (“Preference” is the state’s terminology for exemptions, exclusions, deductions, deferrals, credits, and preferential tax rates.)

• HB 2130 would repeal ESSB 5814 in its entirety, effective April 1, 2026. (Note that the provisions of ESSB 5814 that extended the sales tax to services took effect Oct. 1, 2025, and the provision that increased nicotine product taxes takes effect Jan. 1, 2026.) The fiscal note for ESSB 5814 had estimated that it would increase revenues by $1.1 billion in 2025–27 and by $1.5 billion in 2027–29.
• HB 2101 would exempt live presentations that are delivered in person to in-person participants from retail sales and use tax. (Otherwise, these presentations are taxable under ESSB 5814.)
• HB 2121 would exempt certain entities from paying the sales tax on the specific services that are taxable under ESSB 5814 (for example, temporary staffing services and live presentations). The entities that would be exempt are public schools; state schools for the blind, deaf, and sensory handicapped; educational institutions accredited by the Northwest Association of Higher and Secondary Institutions (including, e.g., universities and professional schools); and nonprofits that are exempt from federal income tax under Title 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c).
• HB 2115 would restore the business and occupation (B&O) tax exemption for the sale of precious metals and bullion that had been repealed as part of ESSB 5794. The repeal takes effect Jan. 1, 2026; the proposed restoration would apply retroactively to Jan. 1, 2026. (The fiscal note for ESSB 5794 had estimated that applying the B&O tax to sales of precious metals and bullion would increase revenues by $25 million in 2025–27 and by $35 million in 2027–29.)
• HB 2093 would also restore the exemption for the sale of precious metals and bullion, but it would take effect July 1, 2026.