The sales- and use-tax exemptions for data centers are terminated on July 1, 2026, and no new exemption certificates may be issued on or after that date.

To qualify under RCW 82.08.986, a data center must be located in a rural county and its construction, expansion, renovation, or refurbishment must fall within specified construction-date windows ending before July 1, 2026.

To qualify under RCW 82.08.9861, the business must be located in a county with more than 800,000 people, must demonstrate at least 1.5 megawatts of available power, and must submit supporting records, requests for proposals, pricing, and marketing materials.

An exemption certificate is available only after an application is submitted; the exemption applies only to purchases made on or after the application date, with no refunds for earlier purchases.

Exemption certificates generally expire two years after issuance unless construction has commenced, creating a deadline to begin construction.

The department may issue no more than six certificates for qualifying businesses in the first calendar year and six in each of calendar years three through six under RCW 82.08.9861; applications are processed first in time.

For refurbished data centers under RCW 82.08.986, no more than six certificates may be issued each calendar year, and each qualifying business may apply for only one refurbished-data-center certificate per year.

A qualifying tenant under RCW 82.08.9861 must contract for at least 150 kilowatts of electrical capacity for server and computer equipment, and a tenant previously qualifying under RCW 82.08.986 or RCW 82.12.986 must reapply if it expands into a qualifying business.

Within six years after certificate issuance, the business or tenant must create and maintain the required family-wage employment positions: generally three positions for each additional 20,000 square feet dedicated to working servers under RCW 82.08.9861, or under RCW 82.08.986 the lesser of 35 positions or three positions for each 20,000 square feet or less.

Family-wage positions must generally be full-time positions paid at least 125 percent of county per-capita personal income and covered by employer-provided health insurance; failure to satisfy the employment requirements can cancel the certificate and require repayment of exempted taxes, subject to limited exceptions or extensions for circumstances beyond the business's control.

A newly constructed data center covered by the sustainability requirement must obtain certification under an approved sustainable-design or green-building standard within three years after being placed in service; failure can cancel the certificate, make exempted taxes due, and impose an additional 10 percent penalty, subject to limited exceptions or extensions.

Qualifying businesses and tenants must file annual tax-performance reports identifying construction firms and employment levels; information in the report under RCW 82.08.9861 is generally available for public disclosure.

A certificate cannot be assigned or transferred without the Department of Revenue's prior written consent, and transfers are allowed only to specified related, successor, or acquiring entities that accept and perform the certificate's terms.

A data center must have at least 100,000 square feet in total and at least 20,000 square feet dedicated to housing working servers to qualify as an eligible computer data center.

Stand-alone, prefabricated, modular, or intermodal-shipping-container units do not qualify as eligible computer data centers, and under RCW 82.08.9861 data centers refurbished on or after July 1, 2026, are excluded.

The tax exemption is limited to qualifying for-profit businesses that own eligible data centers and qualifying for-profit tenants; governments, political subdivisions, and specified public or government-created entities are excluded.

Provides a sales-tax exemption for qualifying businesses and tenants purchasing eligible server equipment and related installation labor for eligible computer data centers, provided they have a valid exemption certificate. The exemption is limited to qualifying equipment installed without intervening use and applies only to purchases made on or after the certificate’s issuance date.

Extends the sales- and use-tax exemption to eligible power infrastructure, including labor, materials, equipment, and services used to construct, install, repair, alter, or improve infrastructure such as generators, wiring, cogeneration equipment, switches, batteries, and distribution or monitoring equipment. Substations are excluded.

Allows qualifying businesses and tenants to claim the corresponding use-tax exemption for eligible server equipment, power infrastructure, and related installation labor and services, but only when the sales-tax exemption requirements are satisfied.

Permits existing data centers that were previously ineligible to qualify after refurbishment, and permits certain existing employment positions to count toward the required employment increase for those facilities. The provision also allows previously qualifying data centers undergoing refurbishment to count existing eligible positions.

Creates a first-in-time application process for refurbished data centers and authorizes the Department of Revenue to issue up to six refurbishment certificates per calendar year, with each qualifying business limited to one refurbished-data-center certificate per year.

Allows owners and qualifying tenants to satisfy employment requirements by counting certain eligible positions held by the owner, tenants, and qualifying contractors, allocated in proportion to tenant-occupied space where applicable.

Allows the Department of Revenue to grant exceptions or extensions when employment requirements are not met because of circumstances beyond the business’s or tenant’s control, including an economic recession, pandemic, or natural disaster. Any resulting tax repayment must be proportional to the period of noncompliance.

Allows exemption certificates to be transferred with the Department of Revenue’s prior written consent to related entities, entities acquiring substantially all of the certificate holder’s stock or assets, or entities resulting from a merger or consolidation, provided the transferee is qualified to do business in Washington and agrees to follow the certificate’s terms.

For data centers qualifying under the rural-county program, permits facilities with at least 20,000 square feet dedicated to working servers and construction commencing during specified historical or pre-July 1, 2026 periods to qualify, including certain expansions, renovations, refurbishments, and leased or rented space.

For data centers qualifying under the program for counties with populations over 800,000, requires the qualifying business to demonstrate at least 1.5 megawatts of available power, while allowing qualifying businesses and tenants to apply for certificates through a first-in-time process. The provision authorizes six qualifying-business applications in the first calendar year and six applications in each of calendar years three through six.

Makes exemption certificates effective on the date the Department of Revenue receives the application, allowing qualifying purchases made on or after that date. Certificates generally expire two years after issuance unless construction has commenced.

Permits qualifying tenants in the high-population-county program to claim the exemption when they contract for at least 150 kilowatts of electrical capacity for server and computer equipment, subject to the program’s other requirements.

Requires newly constructed data centers using certificates issued on or after June 9, 2022, to obtain certification under an approved sustainable-design or green-building standard within three years after being placed in service, including standards such as BREEAM, Energy Star, Envision, ISO 50001, LEED, Green Globes, or UL 3223.

Allows the Department of Revenue to provide exceptions or extensions from the sustainable-design certification requirement when noncompliance results from circumstances beyond the business’s or tenant’s control, including a recession, pandemic, or natural disaster.

Continues the exemptions for qualifying data centers only through July 1, 2026, and bars issuance of new exemption certificates on or after that date; use-tax treatment also excludes equipment and infrastructure first used on or after July 1, 2026.