This bill creates a new excise tax in Title 82 RCW on owners of online dating applications by adding a new chapter (sections 1–4 and 6). It imposes a $1 per resident individual member per month tax on each owner, based on the number of resident users (free and paid) reported monthly, with accounts not accessed for 24 consecutive months treated as abandoned and not taxable. Owners must maintain department-required records and file a monthly return; an owner who pays tax in a month must continue filing until it reports no tax liability for 12 consecutive months. The department (not identified in the text provided) may adopt rules and chapter 82.32 RCW applies to tax administration where consistent. Taxes are deposited into a newly created domestic violence services account in the state treasury; moneys in that account may be spent only after appropriation and only for domestic violence intervention treatment and for transfers to the crime victim and witness assistance account referenced in RCW 7.68.047. The act takes effect January 1, 2026. This is a new tax law and administrative/procedural change that creates a dedicated fund for domestic violence services. The extracted text does not specify which state department administers the tax, the new chapter number, detailed enforcement mechanisms, penalties, audit procedures, specific reporting forms, methods for verifying or disputing residency or ownership percentage, or any exemptions or credits beyond the 24-month abandonment rule. The bill was introduced as House Bill 2071, read the first time on 04/08/25, and referred to the Committee on Finance.

If enacted, companies that own online dating apps with Washington users will face a new recurring cost of $1 per Washington resident user per month and a new monthly reporting and recordkeeping duty. Account profiles unused for 24 straight months are excluded, owners who file once must keep filing until they report no tax for 12 months, and the money collected goes into a new state account to fund domestic violence intervention and related transfers, but those funds only move or are spent after the legislature appropriates them. The law would start January 1, 2026. The people most affected are for‑profit businesses that control such apps and have Washington residents among their free or paid users; they will likely need to add compliance work and absorb or pass along the per‑user $1 monthly cost, and face uncertainty and potential extra expense while establishing how to identify resident users and keep required records. The bill leaves unclear which state department will issue rules, what forms, penalties, audit procedures, residency verification standards, or any exemptions beyond the 24‑month inactivity rule, so companies may face additional implementation costs and compliance risk until those details are defined.