The state Department of Revenue and several of Washington’s independent living homes for seniors are in an ongoing battle over the taxing of meals.

Meals now served to residents receiving medical care are not subject to sales tax. Meals served to seniors in independent living facilities, on the other hand, are.

Cascade Living Group, which owns seven senior living facilities in the state including one in Mount Vernon, is refusing to pay taxes on residents’ meals.

During an audit in 2018, it was determined Cascade Living Group owed the state three years of back taxes on meals.

It has appealed the decision and has yet to pay those taxes or any for subsequent years.

“We think it’s wrong,” said Quinn Stanley, in-house counsel for Cascade Living Group. “It’s not founded in good law in the state of Washington. It seems to me that they just changed it out of the blue, and it’s not a well-founded policy stance by the Department of Revenue.”

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House Bill 1431, introduced last month, would do away with the sales tax on meals for seniors in independent living facilities.

The bill, which has 37 sponsors in the state House of Representatives, would put it into law that meals provided to tenants of senior living communities as part of their rental agreement are not subject to the state’s sales and use tax.

A public hearing on the bill was held Thursday. Several residents of Mountain Glen Retirement and Assisted Living in Mount Vernon attended.

“We go into these facilities, and the dining room is part of our home. It’s our dining room. Would you like to have meals in your dining room taxed?” Mountain Glen resident Lee C. Bravener asked the House Finance Committee.

Barbara Lane, an 89-year-old former teacher who lives at Mountain Glen, said she thinks the tax is “age discrimination.”

There are some discrepancies regarding when this tax went into effect.

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Steve Ewing, the legislative and external affairs liaison at the Department or Revenue, said the tax was put into effect in 2005.

Stanley, however, said Cascade Living Group was not made aware of the tax until 2015.

“The department is neutral on 1431 but has some concerns,” Ewing said at the House committee hearing. “DOR has no objection to the core concept of the bill. If the Legislature wishes to exempt meals furnished by specified facilities as part of a rental agreement from sales and use tax, the department would be able to administer it.”

Ewing said the Department of Revenue’s concerns regard a section of House Bill 1431 that makes the exemption retroactive — meaning that taxes already paid would need to be refunded.

“The state Supreme Court has held that any retroactive forgiveness of validly collected taxes violates the constitution,” Ewing said.

Stanley said that reasoning doesn’t make sense and that the government refunds taxes every year.

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“He’s really bringing up this issue so that people will take out the retroactive part of the bill,” Stanley said. “And so that they don’t have to give the money back.”

The impacts on residents

Stanley said taxing meals would cost residents an extra $550 to $700 a year depending on how many meals they eat per day. Residents of Mountain Glen said that would be tough on them.

“I’ve had many residents come up to me and say, ‘With this cost increase, I’m going to have to choose between eating my breakfast or taking my morning meds,'” Stanley said. “Every time, they’re going to choose their morning meds and just go hungry.”

Lane has lived at Mountain Glen for six years. She said she hopes to stay there, but she might not be able to if this tax is allowed to stand.

“Many people will have to move out, me included,” Lane said. “I have retirement from teaching and my husband’s social security. That’s all I have.”

Lane said that meal times are important for socializing with fellow residents, and that eating with friends is an essential part of her well-being.

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“This isn’t a restaurant, this is a part of our care,” Bravener said. “We come here because we need help. We need the camaraderie and to get out of our rooms.”

At Mountain Glen, three meals per day are included in the monthly rental costs. The rent is the same, no matter how many times residents eat per day or what they choose to eat.

As it now stands, the tax requires meals to be tracked for each resident and charged separately. Stanley said Cascade Living Group would need to hire more staff just to keep track of that.

“Not only is this a significant cost increase for our residents for eating their meals, but it also is an accounting nightmare for us trying to track all that,” he said.

Stanley said that he will continue to fight the tax, and that Cascade Living Group will take the matter to court if House Bill 1431 doesn’t pass.

“Quite literally, this tax would be taking food out of our seniors’ mouths,” he said.

The House Finance Committee will hold an executive session at 1:30 p.m. Thursday to further discuss House Bill 1431.

Reporter Isabella Loy: iloy@skagitpublishing.com, 360-416-2141, Twitter: @goskagit