Northwest Chess Press Release
May 23, 2008
Northwest Chess to begin collecting WA sales tax in July
For many years, the Washington Chess Federation and Northwest
Chess paid the Washington State sales tax charged by the printer or publisher on
the cost of printing. Beginning about one year ago (in the summer of 2007),
Northwest Chess became an officially registered business, with the
responsibility of collecting and remitting the Washington State sales tax on the
full cost of magazine subscriptions (not just the printing cost), but only for
copies mailed to Washington residents. (Note: newspaper subscriptions are exempt
from the sales tax, however magazines are not exempt.) So far Northwest Chess
has absorbed the additional sales tax, however due to rising expenses and the
need to be fair to subscribers outside the state of Washington, Northwest Chess
will begin collecting the sales tax on magazine subscriptions mailed to
Washington residents beginning July 1, 2008.
July 1 is also the date that Washington State implements
“destination based sales tax.” That is, taxes are due at the rate in effect for
the jurisdiction where you receive a product or service (in this case the
magazine), rather than the rate in the jurisdiction where the product or service
is produced or shipped. Northwest Chess will publish new membership/subscription
forms in June that include space for entering your local tax rate and tax due. A
tax table will also be provided for looking up the correct tax rate for your
city or county. If you do not wish to look up the correct tax rate, then you
will have the option of paying the highest rate in effect, which is currently
9.0% for most parts of King County. Membership/subscription payments received
without the sales tax will be good for only 11 months instead of 12, an
effective tax rate of 9.1%. Payments received before July 1 will still be
accepted for 12 months without the tax. Multiple-year payments for up to 10
years will also be accepted, which allows you to “lock in” the current
membership rate.
WCF treasurer Robert Allen (who is also a tax accountant) will
determine if the WCF membership portion of the annual subscription is
tax-exempt. Currently $4.00 out of each $25.00 subscription goes to the WCF, and
the remainder covers the cost of the magazine. For junior members, the WCF
receives $3.00 from each $17.00 annual subscription. If the WCF portion is
tax-exempt, the forms will be adjusted accordingly.
There is still a possibility that there may need to be a
general dues increase later this year, which would affect Oregon as well as
Washington residents. Advance notice will be given if the Northwest Chess board
decides to implement a general dues increase.
