Washington DOR publishes draft answering machine excise recommendation

Daily Tax Report: State

January 13, 2021, 5:00 a.m.

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The Washington Department of Treasury (DOR) issued a draft excise tax advice for answering machines on January 1st. The DOR provides: 1) An answering service, where people are used to answer phones on behalf of customers, is an activity subject to the Services and Other Activities (B&O) rate. 2) Activities can include taking messages for customers and providing information to the caller; 3) A service that records messages in an automated manner and gives the customer the ability to save, send or receive recorded messages is a voicemail service that is subject to sales tax and the …