WA Professionals: New Sales Tax Rules & Digital Services

Starting October 1, 2025, Washington’s tax law draws an important line for professional services - lawyers, accountants, and consultants - who use digital automated services (DAS) in their work. Some of their services become subject to sales tax, while others still fall under the regular “services” category.

Still NOT subject to sales tax:

• If a consultant uses different software or apps to generate reports, summaries, diagrams, or other requested information - and then delivers that information to the client - the work is still considered a professional service and reported as such.

• If a specialist prepares any type of reports or information and delivers it electronically (by email or other digital means), it still does not mean they are selling a DAS. This type of work continues to be taxed under “services.”

Even though digital tools are used, the client is paying for professional expertise, not buying a DAS.

Subject to sales tax:

• A law firm charges clients for access to a self-service portal where they can generate contracts on their own.

• A consultant sells log-ins to an online platform that automatically creates reports without ongoing human review

.Here, the client is paying for the automated tool itself, not for the professional’s direct service.

Takeaway: Using digital tools to assist your work does not trigger sales tax. But once you sell clients access to a portal, automated system, or even a portion of that system, it becomes a taxable digital automated service.