Washington

Subscribe to Washington

In addition to Washington’s real estate excise tax (REET), transferors of ownership interests in entities that own real property in Washington must also factor in Washington’s capital gains tax when making such transfers.  The Washington Supreme Court upheld the capital gains tax as a constitutional excise tax earlier this year. See Quinn v. State, 1 Wn.3d 453, 526 P.3d 1 (2023). The tax is a flat tax of 7% of all adjusted long-term capital gains over $250,000 allocated to the state. RCW 82.87.010.

Gains from the sale of real estate are generally exempt from Washington’s capital gains tax. RCW 82.87.050(1). The tax also does not apply to the sale or exchange of an interest in a privately held entity, if the gain or loss from such sale or exchange is attributable to real estate directly owned by such entity.  RCW 82.87.050(2). But what does this mean in the context of multi-tiered ownership structures, where a party desires to sell membership interests in a subsidiary that owns real estate?

On October 6, 2023, I will be on the panel “Trying Large Construction Disputes,” to be presented during The Seminar Group’s 30th Annual Washington Construction Law conference on October 5 and 6, 2023, in Seattle or online. Intended for anyone who practices construction law, desires to practice construction law, or is confronted with matters involving…

In the construction industry, “retainage”—the practice of withholding by an owner or contractor a portion of the funds that are due to a contractor or subcontractor for a construction project until its completion—is a term frequently negotiated in contracts for private construction projects as a means to mitigate the risk of default since the monies…

Originally published by the Daily Journal of Commerce on March 16, 2023.

Chapter 18.27 of the Revised Code of Washington (“chapter”) contains the requirements for contractors performing services in Washington state. This chapter governs who is considered a contractor, the registration requirements of those contractors, and what could happen if those contractors do not register.

Originally published by the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce on November 3, 2022.

In a 5-4 decision, the Washington Supreme Court recently ruled in Tadych v. Noble Ridge Construction, Inc. that a contract provision providing a one-year limitation period for filing a construction defect lawsuit was “unconscionable” and therefore unenforceable.

The court’s ruling revives a…

Close - up construction contract with pen and architectural roll

For anyone building a dream vacation home, renovating an existing commercial structure, or developing a multimillion-dollar, mixed-use project, construction contract terms are of utmost importance. One often overlooked clause covers the contractual “third-party beneficiary” (TBP)—a person or entity who, though not a party to the contract, stands to benefit from the contract’s performance. Interpretations of…

On June 10, I will be co-chairing and my colleague Colm Nelson will be a panelist during the annual mid-year WSBA Construction Law Section CLE.  This program is a full-day webinar presented by the WSBA in partnership with Stoel Rives and will cover construction law updates, public works issues, and judicial perspectives on litigation in…

On May 6, 2022, I will be presenting as part of The Seminar Group CLE seminar Construction Project Scheduling & Delay Claims, which you can attend in Seattle or online. Intended for architects, attorneys, contractors, engineers, and municipal and government employees, the seminar will cover critical-path schedule and delay concepts and legal concepts and…

The importance of carefully drafting, and following, a construction contract’s termination provisions was made clear for project owners and contractors by a recent Washington Supreme Court decision, Conway Construction Co. v. City of Puyallup. The city contracted with Conway to build a major roadway, but when the city lost confidence in Conway’s work, it issued…