Joining a dating app may soon have tax implications in Washington. On April 8, 2025, House Bill 2071 was introduced with the intent of placing a monthly excise tax of $1 per resident user, to be paid by the owner of an âonline dating application.â The revenue generated would be deposited into a state-operated domestic violence services account to fund support and advocacy programs across the state. The proposed tax would be levied on…
State legislators have already proposed a number of digital and data tax bills in 2021, some of which are new proposals while others reintroduce proposals from previous legislative sessions. The proposed bills fall into one of three categories: taxes on digital advertising services, taxes (or fees) targeting social media providers, and taxes on the sale or monetization of personal data.  Most of the proposals are in the early stages, but a Maryland bill originally introduced last year is moving closer to a legislative vote on whether to override the governorâs veto.
Washington legislators may introduce a digital advertising tax bill in the stateâs upcoming legislative session. See H-0028.1 (advance copy; not yet introduced). Washingtonâs potential legislation is the latest in a recent trend of digital advertising tax proposals (including in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Nebraska, New York, and West Virginia, none of which have become law as of the date of this blog post).
On July 21, the Washington Department of Revenue (âDORâ) issued its analysis of the Court of Appealsâ decision from March 30, 2020, in LendingTree, LLC v. Depât of Revenue, no. 80637-8-I (Wash. App. Ct. Mar. 30, 2020). Â As set forth in the analysis, from the DORâs perspective, the LendingTree court followed the existing Washington Business and Occupation tax (âB&Oâ) attribution rules and guidance and did not create a new interpretive legal framework.[1]Â Although the DOR lost the case, and the court held that LendingTreeâs receipts could not be sourced based where its customersâ customers were located, the DORâs response suggests that they are factually distinguishing the case and will continue to attribute receipts to the customerâs customer location if that is where it determines the benefit of the services occurs.