There are exemptions from the gross receipts tax and deductions allowed for certain businesses activities or sources of income. Persons who engage in business activities subject to tax under two or more classifications on the same revenues may be eligible for the multiple activities tax credit.
NOTE: When claiming a deduction or Multiple Activities Tax Credit (MATC), the required schedules must be submitted with the multi-purpose tax return to be valid.
Common exemptions and deductions are listed below. Amounts that are exempt from tax per the Bellevue City Code do not need to be included in tax reporting; however, amounts that qualify as tax deductions must be included in gross receipts, then deducted using Schedule D.
Please reference the City Code for further detail. If you have specific questions about these or other exemptions or deductions, please email tax@bellevuewa.gov.
Exemptions
- 2025 Annual taxable receipts less than $210,000.
- For quarterly filers: If you are assigned a quarterly filing frequency, you may elect to divide the annual exemption by four and take a quarterly exemption. The purpose of the quarterly exemption is to relieve quarterly filers from paying tax throughout the year when they know their annual taxable receipts will not exceed the annual threshold. This quarterly exemption is limited to businesses whose annual taxable receipts will fall below the annual exemption. Please be careful when electing to take the quarterly exemption.
- If you take the quarterly exemption for any period during the year, you are required to reconcile your receipts during the year. You may use the Annual Reconciliation Form to track your taxable receipts and the exemption taken for any period during the year.
- Caution: If your taxable receipts exceed the annual threshold at any point during the year, you are required to begin remitting tax immediately. If you took a quarterly exemption for any previous period during the year, tax, penalty and interest will apply to that period.
- If you did not take the quarterly filing exemption and your annual taxable receipts fall below the annual threshold, please complete the Annual Reconciliation Form and send to tax@bellevuewa.gov to receive a refund.
- Please refer to additional instructions on the Annual Reconciliation Form. The Annual Reconciliation Form is due January 31 of the following year.
- Manufacturing, selling or distributing motor vehicle fuel
- Liquor, beer and wine sales
- Sale, lease or rental of real estate. (No exemption is allowed for license to use real estate or for amounts received as commissions.)
- Insurance agents (brokers are subject to tax)
- Farm products or edibles raised, produced or manufactured in Washington and sold by the farmer
- Certain activities for nonprofit organizations holding Federal IRS nonprofit status under 26 U.S.C Section 501(c)(3), (4), or (7).
- Casual and isolated sales, such as an accountant selling his or her office furniture
- Day care homes in residences
Deductions
Deductions are to be included in the gross receipts amounts and then deducted when calculating the taxable amount on which the gross receipts tax rate applies.
- Retail or wholesale sales delivered outside Bellevue
- Cash discounts taken by customers
- Credit losses or bad debts sustained by sellers