IRDC will now be collecting WA State Sales tax on all race and test-n-tune entries

G

Greg Miller

Well-known member
Washington State Dept. of Revenue’s ETA 3167.2011 came to our attention last year. This tax advisory caught many service providers by surprise. It states that if a person paying for entertainment is an active participant the price for admission is taxable. So dance club cover charges are taxable, while cover charges for listening to music are not. The nonprofit status tax exemption is reserved to children’s operations that qualify for property tax exemptions.

IRDC retained an attorney and settled with the state for all unpaid (and uncollected) sales taxes. It was a hit on our treasury that we cannot afford to repeat. IRDC is now in compliance with Washington State DOR and so, going forward, sales tax will be charged on race and test & tune entries. Sales tax in Washington for services is charged at the rate determined by the location of the service. The place of residence of any purchaser of service has no bearing on the taxability of the event.

IRDC hopes all drivers understand the reason for state sales tax being added to our normal prices. Returning drivers can take some solace in the fact that the club in effect subsidized them in years past for that amount.

We look forward to your continued support as we rebuild from the pains of getting into compliance and we are working to provide the best value we can for your racing dollars. We are looking forward to a full schedule of excitement in 2014!

Best regards,
Greg Miller
IRDC President
 
"And if you walk, they'll tax your feet."

What are the current sales tax %'s at the Ridge, PacRWays and Spokane tracks?
 
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Greg - thanks for the heads up as a driver. Seems reasonable to me that the drivers need to shoulder this. We are the ones that get the primary benefit.
 
kbsmith1 said:
Greg - thanks for the heads up as a driver. Seems reasonable to me that the drivers need to shoulder this. We are the ones that get the primary benefit.
Seems to me that these liberal losers in Olympia need to learn how to govern without impacting every nook and cranny of our lives.
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cagedruss said:
Are Oregon driver's exempt with our State ID?
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From Greg's message: "Sales tax in Washington for services is charged at the rate determined by the location of the service. The place of residence of any purchaser of service has no bearing on the taxability of the event."
 
Steve Adams said:
From Greg's message: "Sales tax in Washington for services is charged at the rate determined by the location of the service. The place of residence of any purchaser of service has no bearing on the taxability of the event."
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That's true that's why people in Olympia shop in Oregon.
 
kbsmith1 said:
I bet you weren't born free. I'm guessing your mom & dad both paid, both in effort & $$ to hospital, doc, etc. TANSTAAFL
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Naval hospital in Corona, California.

Paid for by the taxpayers of the time.

And really, the comment I made is more along the lines of being born in a free society.

They start to squeeze us soon thereafter, like when we begin to work and have to get a social security number and pay tax on our income.

But we digress.

As for the cost to race in a club setting, hosted by a non profit organization, purely for the enjoyment of the membership, being considered a taxable activity, well it does concern me that the folks at the Washington State Department of Revenue in Olympia see fit to tax us for it. I guess they need more money to cover the opulent lifestyles of the politicians we have elected to run our state government.

Another poster asked about out of state racers being exempt. Why not? Don't non-Canadians get to file a form to get a refund of the GST charged to them when they are spending money up there?

Should work the same for non-Washington residents getting charged the sales tax at IRDC venues, Oregonians, Canadians, etc.
 
racerx69 said:
Born free......
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Not really. You are born owing $56,000 in taxes today. $24,000 of that is thanks to Obama....

With 136,000,000 people in the USA in 1943 when I was born and 308,000,000 in 2010

Total Government spending per person in America in 1943 was $674 (and we were fighting a BIG war)! TODAY it's $19,174

Total Government spending per person in America in 1943 for Federal Pensions was $3. TODAY it's $3,487

Total Government spending per person in America in 1943 for defense $512. TODAY $2,601
 
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racerx69 said:
I guess they need more money to cover the opulent lifestyles of the politicians we have elected to run our state government.
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actually, it's more then likely to cover those that just don't feel like working or being a contributing member to society..
 
racerx69 said:
Another poster asked about out of state racers being exempt. Why not? Don't non-Canadians get to file a form to get a refund of the GST charged to them when they are spending money up there?

Should work the same for non-Washington residents getting charged the sales tax at IRDC venues, Oregonians, Canadians, etc.
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Canada stopped doing GST refunds for non-residents a few years back. British Columbians were going to be exempt from the Washington state sales tax when we briefly changed to a harmonized sales tax. That changed when the City of Bellingham, and Whatcom County filed for an injunction. If British Columbians were exempted from the state sales tax they would lose out on substantial tax revenues. They estimated it was going to cost the city and county between 1 and 2.5 million in lost tax revenue.

These are the same people who complain about all the Canadian license plates at their local Costco too. I love to visit with my racing family down south, but I do as little shopping as possible in Whatcom County.
 
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