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<p>The requirement of a real estate excise tax affidavit isn't all
that bad. By analogy you have to file an income tax return even
if you don't owe any tax. The alternative for deed recording and
REET is training staff on every possible exception to REET, which
seems problematic for many reasons. <br>
</p>
<p>It's the $10 fee that is objectionable. You're basically paying
$10 to make the government's job easier (or where REET is due to
pay the REET). <br>
</p>
<p>Next they'll start charging $10 for the abbreviated legal
description. /sarc</p>
Kary L. Krismer
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">206 723-2148</pre>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 4/2/2021 3:40 PM, Dwight Bickel
wrote:<br>
</div>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">The
lawyers mostly did not perceive the extent of change when
the Dept. of Revenue expanded the affidavit requirement of
WAC 458-61A-303. The objection of Washington Land Title
Ass’n was the only public comment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">The DOR
position and interpretation is simple. There should be an
excise tax affidavit for every change of ownership of real
property. Changes by operation of law (like inheritance),
changes due to court orders (like partition, divorce, quiet
title, probate) and changes due to transfers of ownership
(like mergers and distributions), which previously did not
require recording, usually were exempt from the real estate
sales tax, now require an excise tax affidavit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Another
Dept. of Revenue change was accomplished without objection
by the Bar when DOR changed RCW 82.45.197 to require excise
tax to be paid if there was not a specific WAC stating it
was exempt. That change allowed the Grant County Treasurer
to charge that sales tax for property inherited without a
probate. Though a statute exempted inheritance, the WAC only
allowed an exemption with documentation from a probate. He
testified at the Legislature that every transfer of
ownership due to death legally requires a probate. I was
there to disagree, but lost every public debate. He
collected from many heirs; often massive taxes due to the
value of agricultural land. A 2016 change sponsored by the
Washington Land Title Ass’n fixed that incorrect
interpretation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">That is
why we now have to have affidavits and $10 fees though such
transfers are not taxable sales, and we now have to record
documents about such changes of ownership.
</span><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<br>
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