Washington Business & Opportunity (B&O) Tax

Washington State charges a 1.75% Business & Occupation (WA B&O) tax. It is a gross receipts tax that is measured on the value of products, gross proceeds of sale, or gross income of the business. There are no deductions from the B&O tax for labor, materials, taxes, or other cost of doing business. 

Real collects the WA B&O tax from agent's gross commission and remits on behalf of the agent. The tax will therefore be deducted from gross commission to calculate the net payout. 

Real will not collect tax on behalf of an Outside Agent. The outside agent will be responsible for paying their own taxes. They will only receive their commission from Real.

How it is calculated:

• Real estate transactions are classified as B&O Services & other activities and therefore are subject to 0.0175 (1.75%) tax as of August 23, 2023.

• All transactions closing in Washington will be assessed this rate - there are no exceptions based on agent or transaction. 

  • Calculated from gross income from activities - this means there are no deductions from the B&O tax for labor, materials, taxes, or other cost of doing business. 
  • Real Agent pays out of gross commission
    • Deducted from gross commission to calculate net payout.
  • Real remits on behalf of agent.
  • For Outside Agents, tax will not be collected. The outside agent will be responsible for paying their own taxes. They will only receive their commission from Real.

Example:

• $15,000 Gross Commission
• $262.50 Tax ($15,000 * .0175)

How to see the tax:

You can see the amount of tax applied on your transaction in reZEN - or download a CSV file of all your closed transactions to see a list of tax applied to all transactions. 

1. Login to reZEN
2. Click on the transaction, then click the details tab. 
3. Scroll down to payment participants.