Preparers from WA state

[Snaggletooth]

Particularly in the Seattle area. I know we've got one guy who occasionally posts from Pull Y'all Up.
At issue here is a huge "King County Excise Tax."

A new client just moved to my fair state from a Seattle suburb. They sold their home, apprx $400,000. Withheld out of the proceeds was a huge "King County Excise Tax." The tax is nearly 2% of the value of the sales contract, in this case about $8100. It is assessed as a goodbye tax on people who sell their house there.

My question: Is this a deductible tax on Federal Sch A? I am leaning toward deducting it since it is not a static tax but instead is assessed on the value of property, similar to an ad valorem tax.

Washington does not have a state income tax. However, my clients tell me the state lies awake at night to create imaginative ways to tax their people in other ways.

[Snaggletooth]

Get more Attention

Posting to bump this up, as no response. Probably no one looked who is from Washington State. Maybe today. If no answer, my gut tells me this awful King County tax is deductible since it is based on value.

[JohnH]

Zacks says no, because it is an excise tax.
They say it can be added to basis, but not deducted as a sales tax.

I'm not vouching for the veracity of their advice - just happened to run across this when doing a google search.
A couple of other links said essentially the same thing.

So for what it's worth (maybe not much), here's the link...

http://finance.zacks.com/can-deduct-excise-tax-paid-selling-house-10581.html

[Maribeth]

Nope, it is not deductible. It is a transfer tax on the sale of the property. For the seller, it is considered a selling cost. It is not assessed on the buyer so it does not increase basis.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have.

[bobea]

King County Excise Tax

Particularly in the Seattle area. I know we've got one guy who occasionally posts from Pull Y'all Up.
At issue here is a huge "King County Excise Tax."

A new client just moved to my fair state from a Seattle suburb. They sold their home, apprx $400,000. Withheld out of the proceeds was a huge "King County Excise Tax." The tax is nearly 2% of the value of the sales contract, in this case about $8100. It is assessed as a goodbye tax on people who sell their house there.

My question: Is this a deductible tax on Federal Sch A? I am leaning toward deducting it since it is not a static tax but instead is assessed on the value of property, similar to an ad valorem tax.

Washington does not have a state income tax. However, my clients tell me the state lies awake at night to create imaginative ways to tax their people in other ways.

Use state sales tax exemption instead of sch A ??

[Snaggletooth]

Thanks to All

Not the answer I wanted, but I believe the answers told the truth.

Regards, Snag