Use tax is assessed on items used in Washington when the item is taxable, but sales tax has not been paid. For additional information, see the Department of Revenue website.

When the receipt does not show that sales tax has been charged, use tax will need to be assessed internally and the University will remit the use tax to the Department of Revenue monthly. Some common situations:

  • Item was purchased from out-of-state
  • Item was purchased from the internet
  • Item was a subscription
  • Professional services are generally NOT subject to use tax

Learn more about the Use tax process for Procard

Use Tax Rates

The tax rates as of 4/1/2024 are:

  • Bothell 10.2%
  • Seattle 10.35%
  • Tacoma 10.3%

New rates generally come into effect every April 1st. The Use Tax rate should be based on the rate for the location where the items will be used. Tax rates for other locations can be found at the Sales Tax Rates website.

Regardless of where the vendor is located, if the vendor is shipping a taxable item to a location in Washington, shipping will be included in the total price used to calculate the use tax. For additional information please see WAC 458-20-110.

 
Use Tax Corrections:
Do you have a question about correcting use tax? Visit Procurement Services at: https://finance.uw.edu/ps/reporting-tools/tools-reconciling/sales-and-use-tax
 

To request a use tax correction on a purchase which was made earlier than the prior month, contact us at: usetax@uw.edu. Please note that although reconciliation is not required to submit a use tax correction, departments are also expected to accurately reconcile purchases within 45 days, and timely use tax corrections can facilitate that process. Repeated use tax reversal requests for purchases outside the correction window may result in contact from the Tax Office, training, additional scrutiny for future requests, and rejection.

Use Tax Reversal

The UW Tax Office and Accounts Payable work together to approve requests by UW users to add or subtract use tax to purchase transactions where users believe that use tax has been added (or not added) in error. This assists UW in remaining compliant with its obligation to properly accrue use tax on certain transactions under state law. 

This landing page provides access to the various entry points to the Use Tax Reversal Process:

  • Departmental Use Tax Reversal Request: this page allows UW users to request a use tax reversal
  • JV Log Report: This report allows the use tax administrator to review JVs that have been created by the use tax correction application to determine if the application has properly processed a request