Washington now taxes websites, ads and training. Here is how it shows up on a quote.

This is not tax advice. It is a plain description of a change that affects every quote we send to a Washington business, with a link to the state's own page so you can read the source. For your own situation, ask your accountant.

What changed

Under ESSB 5814, from 1 October 2025 a set of services that used to be untaxed became retail sales in Washington, which means sales tax applies to them the way it applies to goods. The Department of Revenue lists the categories.

• ✦Advertising services: design, placement, campaign planning and lead generation.
• ✦Information technology services: help desk, training, IT consulting and data processing.
• ✦Custom website development: design, development and support.
• ✦Live presentations: workshops, webinars and courses with real-time interaction.
• ✦Custom software and the customization of existing software.

Web hosting and domain registration are excluded. There is no dollar threshold below which the tax does not apply.

Where the tax follows

Sales tax on services follows the location of the buyer, so the rate on a quote depends on where your business is, not where ours is. A Redmond buyer and a Spokane buyer pay different rates on the same work.

What we do about it

Every price we publish is before tax and says so. Every quote shows the tax as its own line. We did this because most price pages we found in the region simply omit it, and a surprise on the invoice is the cheapest way to lose a client's trust. If you are outside Washington, your own state's rules apply and the quote reflects that.