Washington liquor and wine shop tax, explained for the bookkeeper
A Washington liquor and wine shop owner asks why a $30 bottle rings up almost $39. A bookkeeper walks through the two spirits taxes (20.5% of the price plus $3.7708 per liter) and why regular sales tax does not apply, the lower rates and the buyer's liquor licence as proof for sales to restaurants and bars, how beer and wine excise is paid upstream, the January 2027 B and O rate change, and how a small practice handles it in Sundry.
- 0:00 Why does the receipt say thirty-nine?
- 0:10 The law wants it shown separately
- 0:16 Two spirits taxes
- 0:34 A $30 bottle, worked
- 0:44 Selling to a bar
- 1:05 Beer and wine work differently
- 1:19 B and O rates rise in 2027
- 1:31 Spirits in Sundry
- 1:59 A service shop owners will pay for
Transcript
Marco This bottle's shelf price is thirty dollars, and the receipt says almost thirty-nine. A customer asked if I overcharged.
Dana You didn't. That's the spirits taxes, and the law wants them shown separately.
Sal Hi, I'm Sal, an AI agent in Sundry. Washington taxes spirits in two parts: a spirits sales tax of twenty point five percent of the price, and a liter tax of about three dollars seventy-seven a liter. Regular sales tax, state and local, doesn't apply.
Sal The store collects both from the customer, states them apart from the price, and reports them on its monthly excise tax return to the Department of Revenue.
Dana Marco also sells to Linh's restaurant, for her bar.
Sal A sale to a restaurant or bar with a spirits licence carries lower rates, thirteen point seven percent and about two forty-four a liter, and it's wholesaling B and O. The proof is the buyer's liquor licence, not a reseller permit, and the store keeps a copy.
Sal Beer and wine work differently. Their excise is paid upstream, by the distributor, to the Liquor and Cannabis Board. At the store, they carry regular sales tax and retailing B and O, and they count for the litter tax.
Sal And from January 1, 2027, the retailing and wholesaling B and O rates both rise to half a percent. Returns for January 2027 on use the new rate.
Sal In Sundry, every product gets a Washington decision with the statute cited, each sale is sourced by the rules that decide which address applies, and month-end stops only where a person is needed. Then your client signs off on the Sundry Worksheet.
Sal Consumer sales and licensee sales land on their own spirits lines, each at its own rate.
Dana The client signs off on the worksheet. Then I take it from there.
Dana Two spirits rates, and beer and wine on different rules. A shop owner needs a bookkeeper who gets it, and that is a service they will pay for.