ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 2487
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2026 Regular Session
By Representative Macri; by request of Department of Revenue
Read first time 01/14/26. Referred to Committee on Finance.
AN ACT Relating to taxes imposed on insurers operating within the state; amending RCW 82.04.320 ; reenacting and amending RCW 82.04.299 ; adding a new section to chapter 82.04 RCW; creating new sections; repealing RCW 82.04.322 ; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that unintended tax loopholes adversely impact the state budget and reduce amounts available to fund schools and other essential services.
(2) The legislature further finds that in 1935 the legislature enacted as RCW 82.04.320 a business and occupation tax exemption that applied to "any person in respect to insurance business upon which a tax based on gross premiums is paid to the state." The Washington supreme court, in Armstrong v. State , 61 Wn.2d 116 (1962), unanimously held that the purpose of the exemption was to prevent insurance businesses from paying two state taxes on the same income, not to create a means for noninsurers to avoid paying any state tax. The legislature affirms the sole purpose of this exemption is to prevent double taxation.