RCW 82.32.290 — Unlawful acts — Penalties

(1)(a) It is unlawful: (i) For any person to engage in business without having obtained a certificate of registration as provided in this chapter; (ii) For the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, or other officer of any company to cause or permit the company to engage in business without having obtained a certificate of registration as provided in this chapter; (iii) For any person to tear down or remove any order or notice posted by the department in violation of this chapter; (iv) For any person to aid or abet another in any attempt to evade the payment of any tax or any part thereof; (v) For any purchaser to fraudulently sign or furnish to a seller documentation authorized under RCW 82.04.470 without intent to resell the property purchased or with intent to otherwise use the property in a manner inconsistent with the claimed wholesale purchase; or (vi) For any person to fail or refuse to permit the examination of any book, paper, account, record, or other data by the department or its duly authorized agent; or to fail or refuse to permit the inspection or appraisal of any property by the department or its duly authorized agent; or to refuse to offer testimony or produce any record as required. (b) Any person violating any of the provisions of this subsection (1) is guilty of a gross misdemeanor in accordance with chapter 9A.20 RCW. (2)(a) It is unlawful: (i) For any person to engage in business after revocation of a certificate of registration unless the person's certification of registration has been reinstated; (ii) For the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, or other officer of any company to cause or permit the company to engage in business after revocation of a certificate of registration unless the company's certificate of registration has been reinstated; or (iii) For any person to make any false or fraudulent return or false statement in any return, with intent to defraud the state or evade the payment of any tax or part thereof. (b) Any person violating any of the provisions of this subsection (2) is guilty of a class C felony in accordance with chapter 9A.20 RCW. (3) In addition to the foregoing penalties, any person who knowingly swears to or verifies any false or fraudulent return, or any return containing any false or fraudulent statement with the intent aforesaid, is guilty of the offense of perjury in the second degree and must be punished, upon conviction thereof, by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars. (4)(a) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly sell, purchase, install, transfer, manufacture, create, design, update, repair, use, possess, or otherwise make available, in this state, any automated sales suppression device or phantom-ware. However, it is not unlawful for persons to possess or use automated sales suppression devices or phantom-ware as authorized in RCW 82.32.670 (6). (b) It is unlawful for any person who has been convicted of violating this section to engage in business, or participate in any business as an owner, officer, director, partner, trustee, member, or manager of the business, unless: (i) All taxes, penalties, and interest lawfully due are paid; (ii) The person pays in full all penalties and fines imposed on the person for violating this section; and (iii) The person, if the person is engaging in business subject to tax under this title, or the business in which the person participates, enters into a written agreement with the department for the electronic monitoring of the business's sales, by a method acceptable to the department, for five years at the business's expense. (c)(i) Any person violating the provisions of this subsection, including material breach of the monitoring agreement under (b)(iii) of this subsection, is guilty of a class C felony in accordance with chapter 9A.20 RCW and, as applicable, (c)(ii) of this subsection. (ii) Any person violating the provisions of this subsection by furnishing an automated sales suppression device or phantom-ware to another person or by updating or repairing another person's automated sales suppression device or phantom-ware is, in addition to the punishments prescribed in chapter 9A.20 RCW, subject to a mandatory fine fixed by the court in an amount equal to the greater of ten thousand dollars, the defendant's gain from the commission of the crime, or the state's loss from the commission of the crime. For purposes of this subsection (4)(c)(ii), "loss" means the total of all taxes, penalties, and interest certified by the department to be due, as of the date of sentencing, as a result of any violation of the provisions of this subsection by a person using the automated sales suppression device or phantom-ware obtained from, or updated or repaired by, the defendant, which results in the defendant's conviction for violating the provisions of this subsection. (d) For the purposes of this subsection (4), the terms "manager," "member," and "officer" have the same meaning as in RCW 82.32.145 . (e) The definitions in RCW 82.32.670 apply to this subsection (4). (5) All penalties or punishments provided in this section are in addition to all other penalties provided by law. (6) For the purposes of this section, "return" has the same meaning as in RCW 82.32.050 . [ 2022 c 41 s 3 ; 2013 c 309 s 2 ; 2010 c 112 s 11 ; 2009 c 563 s 211 ; 1985 c 414 s 2 ; 1975 1st ex.s. c 278 s 89 ; 1961 c 15 s 82.32.290 . Prior: 1935 c 180 s 207 ; RRS s 8370-207.] Notes: Effective date — 2010 c 112 ss 2, 3, 11, 12, and 15: See note following RCW 82.32.780 . Retroactive application — 2010 c 112: See note following RCW 82.32.780 . Finding — Intent — Construction — Effective date — Reports and recommendations — 2009 c 563: See notes following RCW 82.32.780 . Construction — Severability — 1975 1st ex.s. c 278: See notes following RCW 11.08.160 .