Business & Occupation (B&O) Taxes

Who needs to file?

Anyone doing business in Olympia must have an active business license and file an Olympia B&O tax return at least annually. B&O returns must be completed and returned even if there has been no activity, or if no tax is due.

The City will mail a B&O tax return blank to the business mailing address on file in your DoR BLS account at www.dor.wa.gov. You must keep your business mailing address up-to-date on your DoR BLS account and file a return even if you do not receive our mailing.

Certain businesses may be exempt from the requirement to file a B&O tax return. Additionally, revenue from certain business activities may be exempt from the municipal B&O tax. You should be aware of exemptions that might apply to your business.

• Read about B&O tax filing exemptions

B&O tax form

Olympia’s B&O tax form contains several parts. Download instructions to help you file. Before filing, make sure you have the correct version of the form.

• Download the Annual Form
• Download the Quarterly Form
• Download form instructions

Example

B&O tax classifications & rates

When you file an Olympia B&O tax return, enter business revenue in Olympia under each appropriate classification. Identify the correct classification(s) using the table below and the related definitions in the OMC.

Business classification	Description	B&O tax rate	OMC definition
Road construction or extraction	Road Construction: Selling or charging for labor and services relating to building, repairing or improving streets, roads, highways, parking facilities, or other infrastructure (except on those owned by a municpality or government).  Extraction: Taking or producing various resources or products such as fish, sand, natural gas.	0.001	Road Construction described in "Sale at retail" item 6; "Extractor"
Retailing	Selling tangible personal property; sales or charges for labor and property while rendering your business services; furnishing lodging; working on digital goods, selling or licensing prewritten software or software delivered through an online platform; providing public road construction services; selling extended warranties.	0.001	"Sale at retail"
Retail service	Selling or charging for personal, business, or perofessional services in these eight business activities : 1) amusement and recreation activities such as golf or sightseeing; 2) abstract, title insurance and escrow; 3) credit bureau; 4) auto parking and storage garage; 5) landscape maintence and horticultural; 6) service charges for sporting event ticket sales; 7) personal services such as tanning salons or tatoo parlors; 8) rental or lease of tangible personal property	0.001	"Retail Service"
Wholesaling	Selling at wholesale tangible personal property, digital goods, digital automated services; charges made for labor and services for persons who are not your direct customers in respect to reail products they purchased.	0.001	"Sale at wholesale"
Manufacturing	Producing articles for sale from raw or prepared materials by giving these materils new forms or qualities such as fabricating, processing, refining, packing, crushing, mixing.	0.001	"Manufacturer", "Processing for hire"
Printing & publishing	Publishing newspapers, magazines and periodicals; printing or publishing books or any other printed materials.	0.001	"Newspaper", Printing and Publishing described in 5.04.060.E.
Service & other not listed above	Everything else not falling into a classificaton above. Providing professional services to others.	0.002	"Service"

B&O tax basis

The B&O tax basis, which is the amount in Column 2 of the B&O tax return, varies depending on your business activities. Use the table below and information in the OMC to tabulate your business income. If you need more assistance, speak with your tax accountant.

Business classification	Gross amounts for column 2	Where amounts generated	OMC reference
Road construction or extraction	Value of products, including by-products, extracted within the city for sale or for commercial or industrial use	For roads constructed in City. For products or by-products extracted within the city, regardless of location of buyer. For those engaged in processing or extracting for hire in the City, regardless of the location of buyer.	5.04.060.A 5.04.060.E
Retailing	Gross proceeds of sales of the business	For delivery or sale of articles, commodities, or merchandise sold by your business in Olympia or delivered by your business in Olympia. For other retail activities, when they take place in Olympia. See OMC 5.04.105a when sale of tangible personal property takes place in multiple cities.	5.04.060.D
Retail service	Gross proceeds of sales of the business	Without regard to the place of delivery of articles, commodities or merchandise sold. When delivery of articles, commodities or merchandise takes place in more than one jurisdiction - see 5.04.105a.	5.04.060.D
Wholesaling	Gross proceeds of sales of the business	For delivery in Olympia of articles, commodities, or merchandise sold by your business. For other wholesaling activities, when they take place in Olympia. When sale of tangible personal property takes place in multiple cities, see OMC 5.04.105a	5.04.060.C
Manufacturing	Value of products, including by-products, manufactured within the city	Regardless of the place of sale or the fact that deliveries may be made to points outside the City.  When manufacturing takes place in more than one jurisdiction - see 5.04.105a	5.04.060.B
Printing & publishing	Gross income of the business located in the city	Without regard to where printed goods are delivered	5.04.060.E
Service & other not listed above	Gross income of the business	Whether your business is located in or outside of Olympia, your business income from services delivered to customers in the city. Use the rules in OMC 5.04.105a(3) and (4) to apportion service income to Olympia. Download worksheet	5.04.060.G

B&O tax deductions

You can only claim B&O tax deductions which are specifically defined in the Olympia Municipal Code. B&O tax is a gross receipts tax, so the cost of doing business cannot be deducted. 

To better understand the deductions allowed by the OMC, read through OMC 5.04.120 or speak with your tax accountant. 

Enter deductions in Column 3 and subtract them from Column 2 to derive Column 4 values. Support your deductions using the Worksheet on the back of the B&O tax return.

When are B&O taxes due?

Filing frequency depends on a business’ annual revenue or annual income.

Prior year annual gross taxable amount	Required filing frequency	Tax due for	Tax period is called	Filing due date	Due date example
Less than $750,000	Annual	Prior calendar year	YYYY A	April 30	Calendar year 2023 B&O tax return due on or before April 30th, 2024
More than $750,000	Quarterly	Q1	YYYY Q1	April 30	Q1 2023 B&O tax return due on or before April 30th, 2023
		Q2	YYYY Q2	July 31
		Q3	YYYY Q3	October 31
		Q4	YYYY Q4	January 31

New businesses start with annual frequency. 

Each year annual filers exceeding the threshold will be moved to quarterly filing status and notified of the change by the end of Q1. Those businesses must file two B&O filings before April 30th that year - one for the prior calendar year’s B&O tax and one for Q1 of the current calendar year – and continue filing quarterly. 

No business will be automatically moved from quarterly to annual filing status, but if you qualify you can request this change by emailing licensing@ci.olympia.wa.us.

Penalties for late B&O tax payment

Businesses paying B&O tax after the due date must include the late penalty with their payment. The City will send back late B&O returns not including the correct penalty, and you may be subject to a higher penalty.

If no tax is due there is no penalty on late filings. 

Use the tables below to determine the penalty for a late B&O tax payment. 

Example: A quarterly filer paying Q3 B&O tax on December 5th (due date was October 31st) owes a 19% late penalty. Applying a 19% penalty on a $100 tax due:  $100 x .19 = $19

Annual filer

Month of payment	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL>>
Penalty percent	Due date April 30				9%	19%	29%

Quarterly filer

Month of payment	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL>>
Penalty percent	Q1			Due date April 30	9%	19%	29%

Month of payment	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT>>
Penalty percent	Q2			Due date July 31	9%	19%	29%

Month of payment	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC	JAN>>
Penalty percent	Q3			Due date October 31	9%	19%	29%

Month of payment	OCT	NOV	DEC	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR>>
Penalty percent	Q4			Due date January 31	9%	19%	29%

Where to send?

Important note:

A B&O tax return is considered to have been received only when both the tax return and tax payment are received by the City.

• The City will mail back payments unaccompanied by a B&O tax return. 
• The City will return checks from your bank’s bill-pay system unless we receive the accompanying B&O tax return before we receive the bill-pay check. 
• The City will return filings where a tax is due if no payment is received.

Make checks payable and return forms to:

City Treasurer
P.O. Box 2009
Olympia, WA 98507-2009

Changing your address

If your business is moving or you would like to change your business mailing address, you must make the change in your www.dor.wa.gov BLS account. 

Address updates you make in your BLS account update automatically in the Olympia system. If we update your address locally without the change first being made on www.dor.wa.gov, our system will be overwritten with the old address at next download.