In Washington State we have to pay 8.9% on everything but the Wax cycle. Vacuums, Bay?s and vending are all taxed. We also pay 8.9% "Use tax" on all out of state purchases, parts, supplies, etc.
Here in Santa Rosa County, Fl. we pay 6% state and .5% county tax on vending items, Fragramatics cycles and wax time in the SS. We also have to pay on the entire auto wash that contains a wax cycle. Washing and rinsing are tax free.
In Illinois Sales Tax is only on products, not services. Any "Product" element to the wash itself is considered incidenatl. So, there is no Saes tax on the wash. Vended Products are subject to Sales Tx.
WV--6 % on all sales and on all purchases except soap (even internet purchases where sales tax is not charged) We had audit last year and she checked all purchases (5 yrs) --store or internet--she even checked purchases in adjacent state and billed us for the difference in their 4 % And wv 6 %. She drove a rental car, Stayedc at motel, was on an expense account, and went back 5 years. This is use tax that is well hidden and generally overlooked.--I ask if she filled out tax form on all her internet purchases like a book from Amizon--she said she does now--I doubt that. After her salary and expenses I bet the state lost money.
In Oregon we have NO SALES TAX and probably never will.
We also do not have SELF SERVICE GAS. Oregon & New Jersey are the only states that do not allow the motorist to pump gas. Our lowest price for regular is $2.50
Here in the Empire State (NY) we must charge 8% tax on vended items. If a customer purchases a wash (IBA, Tunnel or SS) with cash, coin, or token they are tax exempt. If they use a credit card, we must charge 8% sales tax as well.
North Dakota ---- 6% on all vended items ---- 6% use tax on everything bought from out of state. We were audited about 9 years ago ---- they went back 7 years on larger items ---- some educational purchases might not have happened if we had known they were going to be quite like that. When I tried to reason with the auditor ---- he used his "degree in accounting" as a WEAPON of AUTHORITY from a local university for which we had & still are extra supportive of from its beginning. We are still thankful ---- at the time I thought they were trying to set the stage all of the gross income before expenses including that part classified as the services part of the receipts. In all of the following legislative sessions the tax department for the most part were neutral. I definitely do not agree with fellow operators who prefer to include services in the state sales tax thinking they will gain some more significant amount on their state income tax or local property tax. They don't need to use a fancy spreadsheet or accounting program to figure it out ---- a simple pencil to paper will suffice for this analysis.
Yes, some years the weather or other challenges can tip the scale on being able to provide the service or not depending to a large extent how much is taken out before the expenses are actually completely paid for. After expenses is definitely better than before the expenses ---- especially when you are doing & making a good faith effort to not be wasteful etc.