Question

City Utility Tax & State Refuse Tax

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
October 18, 2023
2 replies
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I live in WA state and usually itemize my sales tax throughout the year and write it off rather than taking the standard deduction. I was just looking at my Garbage Service statement and saw City Utility Tax and State Refuse Tax both listed on there. Am I able to write those taxes off as well?

Thanks,

Not A Product Question

A

Anonymous_

Employee

Probably not: See https://www.irs.gov/publications/p530#en_US_2021_publink100011847

O

Opus 17

Employee

As pointed out, they are not deductible property taxes. However, are they deductible sales taxes? From your question, I suspect the answer is no.

You can deduct "general sales taxes"

Generally, you can deduct the actual state and local general sales taxes (including compensating use taxes) you paid in 2022 if the tax rate was the same as the general sales tax rate.

If you are paying this tax to the city or county to separately fund garbage collection, it is not a general sales tax. If you are paying the tax to a private waste hauler that you have contracted with to pick up at your house, then it is only a general sales tax if it is charged at the same rate as the general sales/use tax in your city or county. If this is a special tax charged at a different rate, then it is not a "general sales tax".

Likewise, Washington state's motor vehicle taxes, lodging tax, or gasoline tax are not "general sales taxes" and aren't deductible.