Shoreline, WA Gambling & Gaming: Card Room Licensing (2026)

The city adopted its gambling tax under RCW 9.46.110 authority, taxing bingo and raffles at 5 percent, amusement games at 2 percent, punchboards and pull-tabs at 5 percent (10 percent for bona fide charities), and social card game rooms at 10 percent of annual gross receipts exceeding $10,000 (SMC § 3.30.020). Card rooms operate under state licenses issued under RCW 9.46.030(1) and (4) by the Washington State Gambling Commission, so Shoreline's role is limited to taxing and administering those state-licensed operations; the administrative services director applies WSGC rules and regulations to collect the tax (§ 3.30.040).

Shoreline once defined "Card Room" as a separate zoning use, but that definition was repealed by Ordinance 258 in 2000, so the gambling tax chapter is now the only Shoreline-specific text addressing card rooms. Operators file quarterly returns due the 30th of the month after each quarter ends (§ 3.30.060). Bona fide charitable or nonprofit organizations with no paid gambling staff and gross income under $5,000 a year from bingo or amusement games owe no tax on those activities, though that exemption does not extend to for-profit card rooms (§ 3.30.030).

Operators must keep financial records available to the administrative services director at all reasonable times (§ 3.30.070), and failing to pay the tax or filing a false statement is a misdemeanor (§ 3.30.080, § 3.30.090). The director can assess back tax plus interest computed under RCW 82.32.050 when an audit turns up an underpayment (§ 3.30.100).