Olympia, WA Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)
Key Facts
- Retail sales rate
- 0.15 percent of gross proceeds
- Retail services rate
- 0.15 percent of gross proceeds of sales
- Extractor, manufacturer, wholesale rate
- 0.2 percent each
- Catch-all and printing or publishing rate
- 0.2 percent of gross income
- Annual gross threshold
- Section does not apply below $500,000
- License requirement
- OMC Chapter 5.02 license, per § 5.04.025
Summary
In the City of Olympia, Washington, Olympia Municipal Code § 5.04.060 taxes business activity by classification: 0.2 percent for extractors, manufacturers, wholesalers and other business activities, and 0.15 percent for retail sales and retail services. The section does not apply to a person with gross proceeds under $500,000 in a calendar year.
Except as provided in OMC 5.04.060(H), there is hereby levied upon and shall be collected from every person a tax for the act or privilege of engaging in business activities within the City, whether the person’s office or place of business be within or without the City. ... D. Upon every person engaging within the City in the business of making sales at retail; as to such persons, the amount of tax with respect to such business shall be equal to the gross proceeds of such sales of the business without regard to the place of delivery of articles, commodities or merchandise sold, multiplied by the rate of one-and-a-half-tenth of one percent (0.15%). ... H. This section shall not apply to any person whose gross proceeds of sales, gross income of the business, and value of products, including by-products, as the case may be, from all activities conducted within the City during any calendar year is less than $500,000.
Full Breakdown
Section 5.04.060 levies a tax on every person for the act or privilege of engaging in business activities within the City of Olympia, whether the person’s office or place of business is within or without the City. The tax is computed by applying rates against gross proceeds of sale, gross income of the business, or value of products, depending on the classification.
The classes and printed rates are these. Extractors pay 0.2 percent of the value of products extracted within the city. Manufacturers pay 0.2 percent of the value of products manufactured within the city. Wholesale sales pay 0.2 percent of gross proceeds. Retail sales pay 0.15 percent of gross proceeds, and sales of retail services pay 0.15 percent of gross proceeds of sales. Printing, printing and publishing, publishing newspapers, magazines and periodicals, extracting for hire and processing for hire pay 0.2 percent of gross income. Every other business activity pays 0.2 percent of gross income, and that catch-all includes persons rendering any type of service which does not constitute a sale at retail, a sale at wholesale, or a retail service.
Subsection H sets the floor. The section does not apply to any person whose gross proceeds of sales, gross income of the business, and value of products from all activities conducted within the City during any calendar year is less than $500,000.
A business with more than one activity is taxed on each. Under § 5.04.080(A), persons who engage in activities within the purview of two or more subsections of § 5.04.060 are taxable under each applicable subsection. Subsections D, E and F of § 5.04.080 give credits for eligible gross receipts taxes paid on manufacturing, extracting, printing or publishing of products sold in the City, and no credit can exceed the tax liability under the chapter.
A license is separate. Section 5.04.025 makes it unlawful to engage in business in the City without first obtaining a license under OMC Chapter 5.02, and § 5.04.020 puts the responsibility on the licensee or taxpayer to reconfirm tax computation procedures and remain in compliance. Section 5.04.030 applies the administrative provisions of OMC Chapter 5.05 to the tax chapter.
Violations & Fines
Section 5.04.025 makes it unlawful to engage in business in the City of Olympia without a license under Chapter 5.02. Enforcement against businesses runs through OMC § 4.44.030(B) and (D): a Code Enforcement officer can issue a notice of violation in the form of a letter describing findings, necessary corrective actions and the timeframe for coming into compliance, served by ordinary mail to the address of the taxpayer or licensee shown by the records of the Director. The Finance Director or designee is a named Code Enforcement Official under § 4.44.020.
Frequently Asked Questions
What business tax rate applies to a retailer in Olympia, WA?
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Olympia
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