Client in Spokane getting charged sales tax by Avista on their electric bill. Washington doesn't have general sales tax on utilities, only specific excise taxes. This looks like an error. Anyone seen Avista incorrectly applying sales tax before?
Washington state sales tax error on Avista bill
You're right, Washington has utility tax but not traditional sales tax on electricity. However, check if it's actually the state utility tax (3.852%) being labeled as "sales tax" on the bill. Avista sometimes uses confusing terminology.
I've seen this labeling issue with Avista. What looks like sales tax is often the combination of state utility tax plus local taxes. Get a detailed bill breakdown to confirm actual charges.
You guys were right. Called Avista billing and confirmed it's state utility tax plus Spokane city tax (6%) being labeled as "sales tax" on summary. No error, just poor labeling. Thanks for the clarification.
This happens a lot in Washington. Utilities lump various taxes together under "sales tax" label. Always get the detailed breakdown when auditing Washington bills.
Same issue with Idaho Power across the border. They call everything "sales tax" but it's actually multiple separate tax categories.
Good example of why we can't just look at bill labels. Always verify what specific taxes are actually being charged vs what they're called on the bill.