Defining the rental or lease of individual storage space at self-service storage facilities as a retail transaction for the imposition of business and occupation and sales and use taxes.

SB 5711 reclassifies the rental of individual storage units at self-service facilities as a "retail transaction" for tax purposes under Washington State law. This means self-storage businesses must now collect and remit sales tax on storage rentals, treating them like other retail sales instead of exempt services. The bill amends existing tax code (RCW 82.04.050) to explicitly include storage rentals under the definition of taxable "retail sales," aligning them with other similar services. It directly affects self-storage operators across Washington who will now be required to collect sales tax on monthly or short-term storage unit leases.