Washington State repeaters threatened by new tax

Amateur radio repeaters in Washington State could become an endangered species. This, if a new interpretation of state Tax Law by the Washington State Department of Revenue is not amended to exempt them.

Amateur Radio Newsline's Don Carlson, KQ6FM, is here with the details:

Many of the amateur radio repeater systems in Washington state are located at leased sites located on public land.
The Washington State Department of Revenue has now determined that these systems are subject to the state's Leasehold Excise taxes. That’s a fee of 12.5% of the fair market value for the space used on the tower and site to be paid monthly.

This leasehold excise tax is based on the fair market value of the site, not on the value of the rent being collected.
In most cases the tax would exceed the actual rent charged for the space, and even would be collected if the ham radio system was there rent free.

By way of example, Federal Way Amateur Radio Club's repeater in the city of Federal Way occupies space at a King County communications site. They are not paying anything for the site but could be forced to pay the leasehold excise tax at the commercial rate. The resulting bill is estimated to be about $125 per month. Few ham radio clubs, if any, can afford that.

While many Washington State Amateur Service repeaters provide a critical resource to governmental emergency management organizations, their public service role provides no protection against this Leasehold Excise Tax being assessed. The current law simply does not provide an exemption for these amateur radio repeater systems. Hopefully that could soon change.

Late word is that Washington State Representatives Skip Priest and Mark Miloscia have introduced House bill 2335 to the state legislature. If passed, will provide an exemption from leasehold excise tax for amateur radio repeaters located on public property, but only for those used to support emergency management. Hams organizing support for the measure say that it is very important that Washington State radio amateurs let their representatives on the Finance committee and the rest of the House know how important it is for this bill to be approved.

Don Carlson, KQ6FM
Amateur Radio Newsline

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