Congratulations are extended to Kathy Sizer and Jill Scott who were elected recently as WSGS President and Secretary, respectively. Their terms run through Dec. 31, 2027. Kathy will be serving her third two-year term, while Jill is serving her second term as Secretary. Jill’s election was unanimous and Kathy’s was almost unanimous — someone with a sense of humor wrote in “anyone, but me.”

Kathy and Jill, and the rest of the WSGS Board, are anticipating a year filled with growth and service to its members. WSGS members are invited to attend (virtually) the monthly board meetings which are the third Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m. The minutes of each meeting are available in the Members’ Area of the website.

For more information about participating in WSGS, email Info@wasgs.org.

I wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

blank on the back.

Merry Christmas to all and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Ella Frances (Dillingham) DeRemer was the first cousin to Anna M. (Dillingham) Hansen, my grandmother.

Kathleen “Kathy” Weddle Sizer of Granger has been nominated to serve a third two-year term as WSGS President. Additionally, Jill Scott of Yakima has been nominated as Secretary for a second term. The terms of office are 01 Jan 2026 through 31 Dec 2027.

Online voting for the slate will begin 15 Dec 2025 and run through 22 Dec 2025. All WSGS members will receive an email with a Google link to their anonymous ballot. Members are asked to vote for each position. Write-in nominations are allowed.

Kathy’s candidate statement

Serving you as President has been a pleasure for the last two terms (4 years). I had hoped someone would step up to take my place as it is not a difficult job. However, it looks like you may be stuck with me again for another term.

The Washington State Genealogical Society has been a driving force for many years and can be for many more. Our focus has gone from helping form societies and hosting seminars with noteworthy speakers to being a clearinghouse promoting our many great societies here in our state and helping them to advertise their seminars, workshops and meetings. WSGS has made it easy for me, as well as you, to find events and attend in person or virtually programs that will benefit genealogical research.

WSGS not only promotes local societies but has financially helped local societies through various grants and one-time gifts through the dues our loyal members have paid. Thank you, members! We, on the Board, have been pleased to offer these grants to societies for various needs. This is something that is a plus serving as President or in any other position.

WSGS is embarking on updating the Pioneer Files for Washington State, an ambitious project but a boon for those with early families to our state. Let’s keep Washington State Genealogical Society relevant!

Jill’s candidate statement

I am thrilled to be nominated again to the Washington Society Genealogy Society Board as Secretary. I eagerly anticipate contributing to the betterment of our membership. Here’s a little about me:

I was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho. After graduating from high school, I moved to Spokane and attended Kinman Business University. I found not only a job, but a husband in Portland while I worked for Pacific Power & Light as an executive secretary. We moved to Klamath Falls where my only child, Alison, was born. Then we moved to Sunnyside for Charlie’s job and retired to Tucson in 1994. In 2000, I moved to Escondido, California to take care of my aging dad.  After his death in 2003, I decided to stay in Southern California and then moved to Yakima in 2017.

I am a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution – Narcissa Whitman Chapter in Yakima, where I am the immediate Past Honorary Chapter Regent; P.E.O. Chapter FR; Daughters of Utah Pioneers; Huguenot Society; Daughters of the Republic of Texas; U.S. Daughters of 1812; Flagon & Trenchers and a Utah Genealogy Society supporter of their Utah Founding Pioneer program.

This is a postcard form my dad’s postcard collection, blank on back.

Are you interested in being part of the WSGS Board of Directors? The positions of president and secretary are up for election and we are seeking nominations. The nomination period will close on 10 Dec 2025.

The president acts as the figurehead of the Washington State Genealogical Society. He/she presides over the monthly board meetings, as well as any special meetings. The president is responsible for creating a monthly agenda, in cooperation with the rest of the Board. He/she also ensures the society runs smoothly and for the benefits of its members.

The secretary composes the minutes of each business and board meeting, and ensures they are correct and accurate.

The two-year terms are from 01 Jan 2026 through 31 Dec 2027. The meetings are held monthly via Zoom. More information on the positions’ duties and responsibilities is available here.

Being a member of the WSGS Board is an excellent opportunity to involve yourself in a statewide organization designed to support local societies and individuals interested in the educational and historical value of genealogical research. And besides that — it’s fun and interesting!

If you’re interested in this opportunity or have questions, please contact LeAnne Koliha or Charles Hansen, members of the Nominations Committee.

This is page 2 of the Washington State Sales and Use Tax Form, page 2 is the same for monthly, quarterly and annual reporting. Since our genealogical societies will be paying Use Tax on Live Presentations, this is how it is calculated. (Note while the Department of Revenue still provides the paper form on their website, they require everyone to file online now. ) The cost of the live presentation goes on line 31 for the state use tax of 6.5%. Line 35 is where you calculate the local use tax if everyone was at that location. I used the rate of 2.6% for the City of Spokane. Notice there are lines for more locations and so if you have people on Zoom at different locations you need to calculate how much of the $900.00 went to each location and then calculate the local tax for each location. Now since the Spokane local rate is second highest in Spokane county doing all of the required calculations will probably save some local use tax. So I did a test calculation to see how much money you might save if all the people on Zoom are in different local tax rates. To make the calculations easier I assumed we had 90 people at the October seminar and that 80 of them were in the room with the speakers (actually the speakers were on Zoom also). So a quick calculation:

80 people at Spokane is $800.00x 2.6% is 20.80

3 people at $10.00 each x 1.6% =0.48

3 people at $10.00 each x 2.4% = 0.72

1 person at $10.00 x 2.7% = 0.27

1 person at $10.00 x 2.5% = 0.25

1 person at $10.00 x .015 = 0.15

1 person at $10.00 x .026 = 0.26

All this work totals up to $22.93 local tax which means doing this much bookkeeping saves 47 Cents! For 20 people on Zoom double the savings to 94 Cents!

And you need the addresses of all the people on Zoom so you can calculate their local rate and keep all these records for at least 6 years. Now do we need to keep addresses of our Zoomers for the government? One option they give in their guidelines is to assume everyone is in the same room with the speakers and pay the use tax on that location, or for us the 2.6% local rate. And for saving of 94 cents this amount of bookkeeping is not worth the extra work.

I went to the Department of Revenues website: https://secure.dor.wa.gov/gteunauth/_/ and it has Business lookup to see if you signed up when you became a non profit, and also a Quick Sign up Wizard for non profits that either did not sign up when they became a non profit or signed up over 5 years ago.

The Department of Revenue just released 20 pages of Interim Guidance for Sales tax on Live Presentations

https://dor.wa.gov/laws-rules/interim_guidance_statements/interim-guidance-statement-regarding-changes-made-essb-5814-live-presentations

I received this notice from the Department of Revenue for a neighborhood non profit that I am the treasurer. We do not give any live presentations, but do get some from city employees which can not accept payment from us. We use the non profit to get donations for our annual Night Out Against crime.

Webpage for further guidance dor.wa.gov/NewRetailServices

Questions 360-705-6705

OK so what does that mean to a Washington Genealogical Society when they have a “Live Presentation”? It means we have to pay sales tax to the provider of the presentation. So for example if we have Cyndi Ingle give a presentation we must pay sales tax to Cyndi and she sends it in to Washington State. What happens if we pay say Judy Russell? Will she have to sign up with our Department of Revenue and pay the sales tax? I will guess she will be exempt from collecting Washington State Sales Tax, since according to the Wayfair Supreme Court Case she must do at least $100,000.00 worth of sales in Washington before she has to collect and pay the Sales Tax. So does that mean the Washington genealogical societies do not have to pay the tax? No it means they have to sign up with the Department of Revenue and pay use tax directly to Washington State.

In Washington, use tax is imposed on businesses when they acquire tangible personal property or certain services for use in the state, and Washington retail sales tax was not paid. This often happens with purchases from out-of-state vendors. The use tax rate is the same as the combined state and local sales tax rate for the location where the business first uses the item. 

How use tax works for businesses

Businesses must self-report and remit use tax directly to the Washington Department of Revenue (DOR). The tax is typically filed using the business’s regular Excise Tax Return. The use tax is due at the time of the first taxable use in Washington

Wayfair’s impact on the Marketplace Fairness Act

RCW 82.08.020 broadly imposes retail sales tax on each retail sale in Washington. See also Chapter 82.12 RCW (compensating use tax statute). Under RCW 82.08.0254 and 82.12.055, Washington sales or use tax applies unless prohibited under the Constitution or laws of the United States.

RCW 82.08.053 requires remote sellers and marketplace facilitators with $10,000 in retail sales in Washington to elect to either collect and remit sales and use tax, or comply with the use tax notice and reporting requirements in chapter 82.13 RCW.

On June 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court decided South Dakota v. Wayfair, Dkt. No. 17-494, 06/21/2018. In Wayfair, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a South Dakota law that imposed a sales tax collection obligation on sellers with more than $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions annually in South Dakota. Prior to that decision, states could only impose a sales tax collection obligation on sellers with a physical presence in the state under federal law.

The Wayfair decision represents a change in federal law that permits states to impose greater sales and use tax collection obligations on sellers than was previously allowed. Pursuant to RCW 82.32.733, the Department has determined this change in federal law creates a conflict with the “collect or report” election provisions of RCW 82.08.053. Specifically, under federal law as applied in Wayfair, Washington can require remote sellers and marketplace facilitators that have $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in the state to collect sales and use tax on those sales. To the extent the “collect or report” election provided in RCW 82.08.053 would limit this authority to require sales and use tax collection, the election provision conflicts with the change in federal law and will have no further force and effect.

Effective October 1, 2018, remote sellers and marketplace facilitators that have $100,000 of gross retail sales or 200 retail transactions in the state during the current or prior calendar year are required to collect and remit sales tax on all taxable retail sales in Washington according to RCW 82.08.020 and 82.08.050. Additionally, for those remote sellers and marketplace facilitators meeting these requirements, the provisions of RCW 82.08.053 that provide the option to collect or comply with the use tax notice and reporting requirements in chapter 82.13 RCW will have no further force and effect. This notification satisfies the requirements of RCW 82.32.733.

Sellers with a physical presence in Washington must continue to collect sales and use tax on retail sales in Washington as is currently required.