Engrossed Senate Bill 6228 is a tax law change that repeals RCW 82.04.272 and reenacts and amends RCW 82.04.280 and RCW 82.04.250 to change tax rates, create special rates for certain businesses, and add or revise definitions. The bill imposes a 0.5% tax on the gross income of a list of business activities (including certain printing, public infrastructure contractors, cold storage and storage warehouses, some insurance agent services, extractors/processors for hire, activities that bring a person within the statutory consumer definition, and warehousing and reselling prescription drugs) for calendar year 2027; beginning January 1, 2028, businesses that warehouse and resell prescription drugs are taxed at 0.35%. RCW 82.04.250 is amended to impose a 0.5% tax on retail sales generally and on certain retail sales that are otherwise exempt, to set a 0.2904% special rate (until July 1, 2040) for FAA FAR part 145 certificated repair stations when making specified exempt retail sales (with an annual report requirement under RCW 82.32.534), and to impose a 0.138% tax on gross income for "critical access pharmacies." The bill defines terms used in these tax provisions, including "cold storage warehouse," "storage warehouse," "periodical or magazine," "warehousing and reselling drugs for human use pursuant to a prescription" (which requires DEA registration and Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission licensure), "critical access pharmacy" (with specific geographic, tribal, poverty, and listing criteria), and references the separate statutory definitions for "drug," "prescription," and "independent pharmacy." The act exempts RCW 82.32.805 and 82.32.808 from applying to this act, requires entities using the 0.2904% rate to file the specified annual report, and makes the act effective January 1, 2027. Sponsor and procedural information: the bill (sponsored by Senators Frame, Dhingra, and Hasegawa by request of the Office of Financial Management) was read the first time January 20, 2026, passed the House on March 11, 2026 (Yeas 52, Nays 42) and the Senate on March 12, 2026 (Yeas 26, Nays 23). Important context is missing for full comparison to prior law: the prior text of the reenacted RCW 82.04.280 (as amended in 2025) is not included here, several referenced statutory definitions in other RCWs are not provided, the storage warehouse definition shows editing artifacts, and the practical implications of excluding RCW 82.32.805 and 82.32.808 are not explained in the provided facts.

If enacted, wholesalers and retailers that buy, warehouse, and resell prescription drugs will face a new, explicit gross-income tax schedule: they will be taxed at 0.5% on gross income for calendar year 2027 and then at 0.35% starting January 1, 2028. Most retail sellers will be taxed at 0.5% on gross retail sales generally, but certain narrow groups get lower special rates: independent “critical access” pharmacies that meet the bill’s distance, isolation, tribal, poverty, or Health Care Authority listing criteria will pay 0.138% on gross income, and FAA FAR part 145 certificated repair stations making certain exempt sales will pay 0.2904% (through July 1, 2040) and must file an annual report. Practically, that shifts tax burdens onto wholesalers of prescription drugs in 2027 (and at a lower rate thereafter) while reducing or targeting tax costs for qualifying small or isolated pharmacies and for certain repair stations; pharmacies will need to check eligibility against the Health Care Authority list and licensing/DEA registration rules to get the lower treatment. The Department of Revenue and agencies that license or list pharmacies (Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission, DEA, Health Care Authority) will have new roles in applying these rates and verifying eligibility, and some entities (repair stations) will have an added annual reporting obligation. Because the bill reenacts and amends existing tax sections and refers to definitions in other statutes that aren’t provided here, it’s unclear how these rates compare to current law for every affected business and how exactly some exclusions will operate; that uncertainty will affect how businesses estimate their future tax bills and compliance steps.