What Items Are Exempt From Sales Tax in Washington?

Items exempt from sales tax in Washington include most groceries, prescription drugs, prosthetic devices, prescribed oxygen, newspapers, most professional and personal services, goods bought for resale, and manufacturing machinery used directly in production. The trade-in value on a vehicle purchase also comes out of the taxable price. Washington takes a tax-broadly, exempt-narrowly approach, so several categories that are exempt elsewhere, including clothing and over-the-counter medications, stay fully taxable here.

The state rate is 6.5%, and local add-ons push the combined rate as high as roughly 10.4% in some areas. That makes the exemptions worth knowing in detail, because the boundaries are often narrower than shoppers expect.

Groceries and Food Ingredients

Food and food ingredients sold for human consumption are exempt. Produce, raw meat, dairy, bread, canned goods, frozen meals you heat at home, dried pasta, and the usual grocery staples all qualify.¹

Four categories of consumable products are carved out and remain taxable:

Prepared food. Anything sold already heated, sold with eating utensils provided by the seller, or where the seller combined two or more ingredients into a single item. A deli sandwich or hot rotisserie chicken is prepared food. A bagged salad whose only processing was cutting is not.
Soft drinks. Any nonalcoholic beverage containing natural or artificial sweeteners. Plain or carbonated water without sweetener is not a soft drink; sweetened iced tea or cola is.
Bottled water. Water in a sealed container sold for drinking is taxable, even plain unflavored water.
Dietary supplements. If the label shows a “Supplement Facts” panel rather than “Nutrition Facts,” Washington treats it as a supplement, not food. Vitamins, protein powders, and herbal capsules are taxable.

Alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and cannabis products are also excluded from the food exemption and taxed at their own rates.¹

Prescription Drugs

Drugs dispensed under a valid prescription are exempt. The prescription can be written, oral, or electronic, as long as it comes from a practitioner licensed to prescribe in Washington. The exemption also covers drugs and devices used for family planning when dispensed under a prescription, and family planning supplies provided by clinics under contract with the state Department of Health.²

Over-the-counter drugs, which carry a “Drug Facts” panel, do not qualify unless a prescription is involved. Ibuprofen, allergy pills, and cough syrup off the shelf all carry sales tax.

Prosthetic Devices and Prescribed Oxygen

A prosthetic device is exempt when prescribed, fitted, or furnished by a licensed provider. The statute defines a prosthetic as something worn on or in the body to replace a missing body part, correct a deformity or malfunction, or support a weakened area. Replacement parts and components for prosthetics are covered too.³

Medically prescribed oxygen is also exempt, including oxygen concentrators and liquid or gaseous oxygen systems, provided a licensed physician prescribed it for a specific patient.³

Durable medical equipment and mobility enhancing equipment are explicitly not exempt. Wheelchairs, hospital beds, walkers, and motorized scooters remain taxable despite their medical purpose. The line the statute draws is between items worn on or in the body, which are exempt, and equipment that is not worn on or in the body, which is taxable.⁴

Newspapers

Both printed newspapers and their electronic equivalents are exempt. A printed newspaper must be issued at least twice a month, printed on newsprint in tabloid or broadsheet format, and folded loosely without stapling or binding. Magazines, journals, and bound periodicals do not qualify.⁵

An electronic version qualifies only if it shares content with the printed edition and is clearly identified as a companion to the print paper. A standalone digital news publication with no print counterpart does not.⁵

Most Services

Washington’s retail sales tax applies to tangible personal property and a specific list of taxable services. Most professional and personal services sit outside that list. Legal, accounting, engineering, consulting, web design, haircuts, massage therapy, housecleaning, and tutoring are not subject to sales tax. Those businesses pay the state’s Business and Occupation (B&O) tax on gross receipts instead.⁶

Services that repair, alter, or improve tangible property are a different story. Carpentry, electrical work, painting, roofing, landscaping, computer hardware repair, and residential construction are retail activities. Sales tax applies even when the contractor provides only labor.⁶

When a service provider also sells products, tax applies only to the product. A salon that cuts your hair and sells you shampoo charges sales tax on the shampoo, not the haircut.

Vehicle Trade-In Credit

Trading in a vehicle as part of buying another one removes the trade-in value from the taxable selling price. Buy a $35,000 car and trade in your old one at $12,000, and you pay sales tax on $23,000. The traded vehicle does not need to have had sales tax paid on it originally for the credit to apply.⁷

Business and Agricultural Exemptions

Purchases for Resale

Goods bought specifically for resale to customers are exempt at the time of purchase. Retailers and wholesalers use a reseller’s permit to buy tax-free from suppliers, which prevents the same item from being taxed at every link in the supply chain.⁸

If a business both consumes and resells the same product, the permit covers the whole purchase as long as resale is the principal use, with deferred sales tax owed on anything actually consumed. Detailed records are essential for audit.⁸

Manufacturing Machinery and Equipment

Washington’s M&E exemption removes sales tax from machinery and equipment purchased by manufacturers or processors for hire when used directly in a manufacturing operation, research and development, or testing. Labor charges for installing, repairing, or improving that equipment are also exempt. The equipment must physically change the form or character of a product, and the buyer must meet a “used directly” test and a majority-use threshold.⁹

Equipment used for cannabis-related manufacturing does not qualify.¹⁰

Farm Refund

Farmers performing custom farming or farm management services can claim a sales and use tax refund of up to $10,000 on qualifying retail purchases made between July 1, 2024 and December 31, 2029. The refund covers any retail purchase where Washington sales or use tax was paid, including vehicles, farm supplies, and even home goods bought by an eligible farmer. Proof of eligibility, such as a Schedule F, is required, and the $10,000 cap is per farmer, not per year.¹¹

The Department of Revenue’s agriculture tax guide covers additional exemptions available to farming operations, including farm machinery sold to nonresidents for use outside the state.¹²

What Stays Taxable (Even When You’d Expect Otherwise)

Several categories catch newcomers off guard because they’re exempt in other states but not here:

Clothing and footwear. All apparel is taxed at the full combined rate. No reduced rate, no back-to-school holiday.
Over-the-counter drugs. Taxable unless purchased with a prescription.
Durable medical equipment. Wheelchairs, hospital beds, walkers, and similar equipment are specifically excluded from the medical exemption.
Bottled water. Sealed drinking water is taxable, plain or flavored.
Dietary supplements. Anything with a “Supplement Facts” panel.
Prepared food. Hot food, food sold with utensils, and seller-combined items.

Out-of-State Purchases and Use Tax

Buying from an out-of-state seller who doesn’t collect Washington sales tax doesn’t make the purchase tax-free. Use tax applies at the same combined state and local rate once you store, use, or consume the item in Washington. This covers online purchases from retailers without a Washington collection obligation, items bought on vacation and brought home, and private-party sales.¹³

For licensed property like vehicles and boats, use tax is collected at registration. For everything else, individuals report and pay on a Consumer Use Tax Return, and registered businesses report use tax on their regular excise tax return. The same exemptions that apply to sales tax apply to use tax, so exempt items like groceries and prescription drugs don’t trigger a use tax obligation regardless of where you bought them.¹³

How to Claim an Exemption

For consumer exemptions like groceries and prescription drugs, the exemption applies automatically at the register. The seller is responsible for knowing what’s exempt and not collecting tax on it.

Business exemptions require documentation at the time of purchase. Resale purchases need a valid reseller’s permit. The M&E exemption needs an exemption certificate identifying the equipment and its manufacturing use. The farmer refund is claimed by submitting documentation directly to the Department of Revenue along with proof of eligibility.¹¹

If you paid sales tax on something that should have been exempt, refund claims are allowed. A buyer who paid tax and later resold the item without using it can take a deduction on their tax return equal to the item’s cost, provided they kept records of the original purchase and the tax paid.⁸

1
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 82.08.0293 – Exemptions – Sales of Food and Food Ingredients
2
Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.08.0281 – Exemptions – Sales of Prescription Drugs
3
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 82.08.0283 – Exemptions – Certain Medical Items
4
Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.08.0283 – Exemptions – Certain Medical Items
5
Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.08.0253 – Exemptions – Sale and Distribution of Newspapers
6
Washington Department of Revenue. Staffing Industry Overview
7
Cornell Law Institute. Wash. Admin. Code 458-20-247 – Trade-Ins, Selling Price, Sellers
8
Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.08.130 – Reseller’s Permit – Purchase and Resale – Rules
9
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 82.08.02565 – Exemptions – Sales of Machinery and Equipment for Manufacturing, Research and Development, or a Testing Operation
10
Cornell Law Institute. Wash. Admin. Code 458-20-13601 – Manufacturers and Processors for Hire – Sales and Use Tax Exemptions for Machinery and Equipment
11
Washington Department of Revenue. Sales/Use Tax Exemption Refund Request for Eligible Farmers
12
Washington Department of Revenue. Agriculture Tax Guide
13
Washington Department of Revenue. Use Tax