This bill amends RCW 82.08.020 to set the base retail sales tax rate at 6.5 percent and to retain existing additional taxes: a 5.9 percent additional tax on retail car rentals and a 0.3 percent additional tax on retail sales of motor vehicles (other than retail car rentals). Revenue from the car rental and motor vehicle surtaxes is deposited in the multimodal transportation account. The section also states that taxes under the chapter apply to successive retail sales of the same property and that the rates apply to taxes imposed under chapter 82.12 RCW as provided in RCW 82.12.020. The bill creates a new allocation within the sales tax structure by dedicating two-tenths of one percent (0.2%) of the taxes collected under the 6.5% subsection to fund comprehensive performance audits required under RCW 43.09.470; that revenue is to be deposited in the performance audits of government account (RCW 43.09.475). The act applies to sales taxes collected under RCW 82.08.020(1) that are due and payable on or after January 1, 2026, and the act takes effect January 1, 2026. The bill references definitions in other statutes: "motor vehicle" is as defined in RCW 46.04.320 but excludes farm tractors or farm vehicles (unless used in cannabis production), off‑road vehicles, nonhighway vehicles, and snowmobiles; "retail sale" is referenced to RCW 82.04.050, which is not included here. Affected accounts and entities include the multimodal transportation account, the performance audits of government account, and the entities required to conduct the referenced comprehensive audits. This is a modification of existing tax law and an allocation change for tax revenue; it does not create a new crime or change criminal penalties. Important details are missing because the full texts of the referenced definitions and the comprehensive audit requirement (RCW 82.04.050, RCW 46.04.320, RCW 43.09.470, etc.) are not included in the extracted facts.

If enacted, starting January 1, 2026 a portion of the state retail sales tax collected under RCW 82.08.020(1) will be specifically earmarked: 0.2 percentage points of the 6.5 percent rate will be deposited into the performance audits of government account to fund the comprehensive performance audits required under RCW 43.09.470. The existing special rates on car rentals (an additional 5.9 percent) and on motor vehicle sales (an additional 0.3 percent, in place since 2003) remain and continue to be deposited into the multimodal transportation account. The most affected parties are taxpayers and the agencies that manage state tax revenue: a defined slice of sales tax revenue will be redirected to audit funding rather than general revenues, and organizations that perform the required audits will see dedicated funding. It is unclear from the provided text which specific transactions qualify as "retail sales" for the 0.2 percent dedication and how the audit funding will be administered, because the detailed definitions and audit program rules are in other RCWs not included here.