(1)(a) The department may provide an electronic database as described in this section to a mobile telecommunications service provider, or if the department does not provide an electronic database to mobile telecommunications service providers, then the designated database provider may provide an electronic database to a mobile telecommunications service provider.

(b)(i) An electronic database, whether provided by the department or the designated database provider, shall be provided in a format approved by the American national standards institute's accredited standards committee X12, that after allowing for de minimis deviations, designates for each street address in the state, including to the extent practicable, any multiple postal street addresses applicable to one street location, the appropriate taxing jurisdictions, and the appropriate code for each taxing jurisdiction, for each level of taxing jurisdiction, identified by one nationwide standard numeric code.

(ii) An electronic database shall also provide the appropriate code for each street address with respect to political subdivisions that are not taxing jurisdictions when reasonably needed to determine the proper taxing jurisdiction.

(iii) The nationwide standard numeric codes shall contain the same number of numeric digits with each digit or combination of digits referring to the same level of taxing jurisdiction throughout the United States using a format similar to FIPS 55-3 or other appropriate standard approved by the federation of tax administrators and the multistate tax commission, or their successors. Each address shall be provided in standard postal format.

(2) The department or designated database provider, as applicable, that provides or maintains an electronic database described in subsection (1) of this section shall provide notice of the availability of the then-current electronic database, and any subsequent revisions, by publication in the manner normally employed for the publication of informational tax, charge, or fee notices to taxpayers in the state.

(3) A mobile telecommunications service provider using the data contained in an electronic database described in subsection (1) of this section shall be held harmless from any tax, charge, or fee liability that otherwise would be due solely as a result of any error or omission in the database provided by the department or designated database provider. The mobile telecommunications service provider shall reflect changes made to the database during a calendar quarter not later than thirty days after the end of the calendar quarter if the department or designated database provider, as applicable, has issued notice of the availability of an electronic database reflecting the changes under subsection (2) of this section.

Finding—Effective date—2002 c 67: See notes following RCW 82.04.530.