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Bottled Water, Oregon Shoppers Remain Tax Free Under Washington Budget

Sales of bottled water will continue to be untaxed under Washington's next two-year budget.
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Sales of bottled water will continue to be untaxed under Washington's next two-year budget.

Oregon shoppers and bottled water will remain untaxed in Washington’s next two-year budget, but a couple of other tax exemptions will be eliminated.

That’s according to a summary released Monday afternoon of the budget deal reached by House Democrats and Senate Republicans over the weekend.

Democrats had proposed to end the sales-tax exemptions for out-of-state shoppers and for bottled water. But in the end, two tax breaks you’ve likely never heard of are getting whacked. One is a machinery and equipment exemption for software manufacturers. Another is a preferential tax rate for royalty income.

The budget deal includes a couple of other wonky revenue generators. The total amount raised from this mini-tax package is projected to be $185 million over the next two years, a far cry from the $1.5 billion tax package Democrats proposed in March.

The budget also extends some expiring tax breaks, something Republicans insisted upon. Overall, the next two year budget would spend $38 billion -- a 13 percent increase over the last two years.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy, as well as the Washington State Legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia."