Businesses Can "FileLocal" Next Fall

Some time next fall businesses that operate in Tacoma as well as a number of other municipalities in our region will have a new way to apply for licenses and pay their taxes.

The cities of Tacoma, Seattle, Bellevue, and Everet are collaborating to create FileLocal.org - a new online tool that is billed as a one-stop shop for businesses, or if you want to ues fancy words "online multi-city business license and tax portal." The project, which has been in the works since 2010, is expected to go live next fall.

According to the press release, FileLocal should serve some 200,000 businesses, that account for about 90% of the businesses statewide that pay local B&O taxes. 30,000 of those businesses do business in more than one of the four cities involved. Those businesses should be able to enter local sales data each period, let FileLocal calculate what they owe, and pay via the website.

Sounds simple enough.