Tax Credits & Deductions

The Colfax Downtown Association is a designated Washington Main Street Program. As a part of that program, we are eligible to offer Wa State businesses the opportunity to participate in this Wa State Tax Incentive Program. Your B & O or PU taxes can be donated to our organization and stay in our community instead of the government allocating your taxes for you. By pledging your B & O or PU taxes to us, you help us provide Colfax with resources and live out our mission and goals.  Additionally, it helps our organization to be able to fund many revitalization projects within our downtown corridor & on Main Street. Through B & O or PU tax pledges, we have offered many storefront facade grants to our local business & building owners, amongst other fabulous downtown projects and events. 

You’re already paying Business & Occupation (B&O) or Public Utility (PU) taxes. So why not make these tax dollars work for you and play a key role in assisting us in our mission to revitalize our Main st and make downtown Colfax thrive to its full potential? We think you’ll get some peace of mind knowing your tax dollars are being used to transform our historic downtown community and ensure additional support and success for our organization to thrive to the best of our ability! 

First, businesses must be registered to file their excise tax electronically. Then, your business must submit your donation request from your DOR account @ Dor.wa.gov. Don’t worry; the process is relatively quick and straightforward, and we have included excellent step-by-step instructions. We’re happy to help if you need additional assistance.   

The short answer is two. Colfax and Colville are the only designated Washington Main St communities currently participating in Eastern Washington that can offer your business this tax credit opportunity. 

It feels like I’m paying my B&O or PU taxes twice. We hear this statement a lot, and it just depends on how you want to look at it. In the first year of participating in this program, you are pre-paying your B&O or PU taxes. However, if you pay them by the Nov. deadline, that 75% credit comes back to you within two months. And if you choose to participate in the following years, you won’t have to be putting that money upfront twice because you’ll have credits from the previous years to use towards your B&O or PU taxes owed. 

 The answer is no! Your contribution pledge must be made by March 31st, 2022, on your DOR account, but you do not have to have the balance paid in full until November 10th, 2022. However, a business that does not pay the total approved pledge amount by Nov. 10th forfeits all approved credits for the contributions. Those credits will be made available to new applicants. If a business can’t make the total contribution pledge, they must contact the Department of Revenue’s Taxpayer Account Administration Division @ (360) 705-6214 or Linda Tran at (360) 705- 6047.

Example – You pay your pledge donation in full by November 10th of 2022, and your credits will be available for your use in Mid- January of 2023. If you did not use all of your credits in Q1, what’s left of your credits are available to use throughout that calendar year but will not be rolled over to the following year. Please note that 2022 Q4 taxes will not be eligible for the use of the remaining credits if you pay those in January of the following calendar year. 

Yes, each applicant has to reapply annually. Each applicant will need to apply no later than 5 pm on March 31st to participate and receive available credits each year. 

We are thrilled to report that any Washington  State business that pays B & O or PU taxes can choose to participate & pledge their B & O or PU taxes to the Colfax Downtown Association! Something to note is that your community may not be a designated Washington Main St community. Unfortunately, you can not direct this money to your community if that’s the case. However, you can still pledge your B&O or PU tax dollars to our organization and take advantage of this fantastic opportunity!

You can donate however much you desire, and there is no minimum dollar amount required to participate in this program. However, we think it’s best practice to go back and see how much B&O or PU taxes you’ve paid on average for the last few calendar years so that you’re not over donating and aren’t able to use all of the credits you’ll receive.

Address donation check(s) to Colfax Downtown Association and mail to PO Box 724 Colfax, WA 99111.  if possible, please memo your check with B&O or PU tax payment. You can also arrange a time with our Executive Director, Whitney Bond, to personally pick up payment(s) from your office if you’re local.