The bill creates a new business and occupation (B&O) tax specifically on persons operating a "social media platform," defined as a website, app, or internet service that lets users register profiles and create, share, and view content (excluding services that predominately or exclusively provide email/direct messaging, online gaming, business or product reviews, technical support, academic research, or other non-social-interaction services). The additional tax rate is 0.4 percent of the gross income taxable under RCW 82.04.290(2). The measure adds a new section to chapter 82.04 RCW and takes effect January 1, 2026, with the tax imposed beginning that date. All receipts from the additional tax must be deposited into a newly created youth behavioral health account in the state treasury. Moneys in that account may be spent only after appropriation and only for behavioral health needs for people prenatal through age 25 as identified by the Washington thriving prenatal through 25 behavioral health strategic plan and the children and youth behavioral health work group; for the Health Care Authority’s pilot telebehavioral health program for school-aged youth; and to support specified prenatal-through-25 work in the governor’s office, including a children and youth multisystem care coordinator and a chief officer of youth behavioral health. Organizations that are tax-exempt under 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3) are exempt from the additional tax. Legally, this is a new tax law and a procedural change directing how the dedicated revenues are to be held and spent; it does not, in the provided text, create new criminal offenses or change penalties. The bill also states that RCW 82.32.805 and 82.32.808 do not apply to this act. Missing context in the extracted text includes the precise taxable base language in RCW 82.04.290(2), the specific content and funding priorities of the referenced strategic plan and work group, and the implications of excluding RCW 82.32.805 and 82.32.808.

Starting January 1, 2026, operators of social media platforms will face a new 0.4 percent business-and-occupation tax on the gross income defined by RCW 82.04.290(2), which will increase their operating costs unless they pass it on to users or advertisers; organizations that are tax-exempt under federal 501(c)(3) rules are not affected. All revenue from that tax will go into a new state “youth behavioral health account,” so social media companies are the primary payers and should expect a recurring tax liability tied to their taxable gross receipts. State agencies and programs that provide behavioral health services for people prenatal through age 25 are the likely beneficiaries, with money available—after appropriation—to fund needs identified by the state’s prenatal-through-25 strategic plan and children and youth behavioral health work group, the Health Care Authority’s school-aged telebehavioral health pilot, and certain governor’s office positions. The bill leaves unclear how large the revenue stream will be because the exact taxable base (RCW 82.04.290(2)) and the content/priorities of the strategic plan and work group are not provided here, and the practical effect of excluding RCW 82.32.805 and 82.32.808 is not explained, so the timing and size of actual appropriations and program impacts are uncertain.