Washington

Large-county data center sales-tax exemption

Incentive or explicitly supportive policy

In effect This instrument is recorded as currently in effect as of the dataset date.

Summary

Washington RCW 82.08.9861 is a separate sales-tax exemption for eligible server equipment and power infrastructure in an eligible computer data center when the qualifying business is in a county with a population over 800,000 under the 1 April 2021 population estimates cited in the section. The opened text says the exemptions provided in the section expire on 1 July 2038 and that the section expires that day. The history line cites 2026 chapter 266 and 2022 chapter 267. This is not the rural-county exemption, and the use-tax section was not opened. The expiration is the date the sales-tax section states. It is not a finding that a certificate already issued ends on a different day than the section provides.

Scope

RCW 82.08.9861 provides a sales-tax exemption for eligible server equipment and eligible power infrastructure, and for listed installation labor, for a qualifying business or qualifying tenant in an eligible computer data center. To obtain the exemption, a qualifying business must be located in a county with a population over 800,000 as determined by the 1 April 2021 Office of Financial Management population estimates and must apply for an exemption certificate. The opened section says the exemptions it provides expire on 1 July 2038, and it says the section expires on that day. It does not extend the rural-county exemption in RCW 82.08.986 to these counties, and it does not say that every data center in a large county qualifies.

Geographic scope
Washington
Jurisdiction
State
Authority type
Legislature
Issuing authority
Washington State Legislature

Dates

Adopted
No adoption day is recorded
Effective
Several dates apply; see the source
Scheduled expiration
1 July 2038
Ended
Not recorded as ended
Completion condition
The opened sales-tax section says both the exemptions it provides and the section itself expire on 1 July 2038.
Source document
The source page states no document date
Last checked
23 September 2026
About this date

This record was last checked before the tracker date, 11 November 2026. An earlier check date does not by itself mean the record's status has changed.

What this does not establish

  • The population test uses the 1 April 2021 Office of Financial Management estimates named in the section. This record does not substitute a later census.
  • Washington chapter 266 of 2026 removed the replacement-server-equipment path effective 1 July 2026. It did not repeal the whole large-county exemption.
  • The use-tax section RCW 82.12.9861 was not opened. An earlier secondary description of a 2043 date was not used.
  • The section's other qualification conditions, including any first-use date, are not restated as a second expiration.
  • The same section says no new exemption certificates may be issued on or after July 1, 2028. That is a certificate cutoff, not the July 1, 2038 section expiration.

Unresolved questions

  • Which Washington counties meet the 800,000-person test under the cited 2021 estimates was not listed from a separate population table.
  • Whether 2026 chapter 266 changed the expiration day from an earlier version was not compared line by line with the 2022 text. The opened current section states 1 July 2038.

Relationships

Supersession means a later instrument replaces the earlier legal effect. Repeal links identify the repeal instrument and the measure it ends. A later implementation or related letter is not treated as a replacement unless the record says so.

Sources

Primary source: Washington State Legislature page on app.leg.wa.gov

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