Bellevue B&O Tax 2026: Gross Receipts, Square Footage and Filing

Bellevue imposes a city business and occupation tax that is separate from Washington State B&O tax. Most businesses encounter a gross-receipts classification, while companies with a physical Bellevue office may also need to calculate a square-footage B&O tax for administrative or support space.

For 2026, the city's gross-receipts rate is 0.1596%, and businesses with $215,000 or less of taxable Bellevue receipts are exempt from the gross-receipts B&O tax. The exemption does not eliminate the return requirement for an active Bellevue taxpayer.

Bellevue also imposes a square-footage B&O tax at $0.3297475 per taxable square foot per quarter for 2026, subject to a 250-square-foot exemption and deductions that can depend on how the office supports revenue already taxed under a gross-receipts classification.

How does Bellevue B&O tax work?

Bellevue's B&O system has two principal measurements relevant to many operating businesses:

• gross receipts B&O tax, measured on taxable receipts assigned to one or more business classifications; and
• square-footage B&O tax, measured on taxable Bellevue office floor area that supports activities not fully captured by the city's gross-receipts tax.

A business can therefore have one calculation, both calculations, or a zero-tax return depending on its receipts, physical location, office use, exemptions and deductions.

This structure is one reason Bellevue should not be treated as a simple copy of Washington State B&O tax or Seattle B&O tax. The city has its own classifications, threshold, square-footage regime, schedules and filing administration.

What is the Bellevue gross-receipts B&O tax rate in 2026?

Bellevue's 2026 Multi-Purpose Tax Return lists a gross-receipts rate of 0.001596, or 0.1596%, for the standard B&O classifications shown on the return.

The tax is measured on taxable receipts after allowed deductions. A company performing different activities may need more than one classification, and the correct classification follows the nature of the revenue rather than the company's general industry description.

The 2026 gross-receipts exemption threshold

Bellevue states that businesses reporting $215,000 or less in taxable receipts for 2026 are exempt from the gross-receipts B&O tax. The business is responsible for reconciling its receipts to determine whether it remains below that annual threshold.

The exemption is not the same as an exemption from filing. Bellevue requires active businesses to file on their assigned frequency, including a zero return when no Bellevue business was conducted or when the tax calculation is zero.

How does Bellevue's square-footage B&O tax work?

Bellevue's square-footage tax is designed to reach office space that supports business activity not directly captured by the city's gross-receipts B&O tax. The city specifically identifies administrative activities such as accounting, payroll, human resources and legal functions as examples of support activity.

For 2026, the tax rate is $0.3297475 per taxable square foot per quarter. Bellevue's current guidance gives the example that 1,000 taxable square feet would produce approximately $329.74 of square-footage tax for a quarter.

Businesses with 250 taxable square feet or less are exempt from the square-footage tax, but a Bellevue location may still need to complete the square-footage detail schedule when filing.

Square footage can also be deductible when the office supports activity already taxed under a gross-receipts classification. For example, Bellevue explains that an office supporting both in-city taxed sales and out-of-city sales may allocate the office so that only the portion supporting activity not taxed under the Bellevue gross-receipts classification remains subject to square-footage tax.

How is Bellevue service income apportioned?

Professional-service and other service businesses may need to apportion company-wide service receipts to Bellevue rather than simply using invoice address or office location.

For service income, Bellevue's Schedule A uses a payroll factor and a service-income factor. The current 2020-forward instructions generally combine those factors and divide by two when both factors exist. If there is no payroll factor, the schedule instructs the taxpayer to divide by one.

The service-income factor uses customer location. For a business customer, Bellevue's current instructions generally use a cascading method beginning with where the services were ordered from, followed by the customer's billing or mailing address when the ordering location is unknown, and then the customer's commercial domicile if neither is known.

After the apportionment percentage is determined, the business applies it to total apportionable service receipts to calculate the amount reportable to Bellevue under the apportioned Service & Other classification.

This process matters for firms with Bellevue employees serving customers throughout Washington, companies headquartered in Bellevue with customers in other cities, and businesses outside Bellevue that nevertheless have enough activity to create a city filing position.

What are Bellevue's licensing and filing requirements?

Bellevue's current business-license page states that a business must register with the city when it has an office or place of business in Bellevue or when its annual value of products, gross proceeds of sales or gross income in the city is at least $4,000 from engaging in business activity, subject to the city code and any other applicable licensing requirements.

Before applying for a Bellevue license, the city requires the business to have a Washington State Business License for its locations. Bellevue currently uses FileLocal for city registration, tax filing and payment.

All businesses with active Bellevue licenses are required to file returns on their assigned filing frequency. Bellevue lists quarterly due dates of April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31, and an April 30 due date for annual filers.

The current Bellevue business license remains a one-time license rather than an annual renewal. The city is discussing a change to that system, but that proposal should not be treated as the current 2026 rule unless and until the city adopts and implements it.

Bellevue has proposed tax and licensing changes in 2026—are they current law?

Not yet, based on the city's current public guidance reviewed August 27, 2026.

Bellevue is seeking business feedback on proposals that would simplify the square-footage tax and change business licensing. The city's proposal materials describe possible changes including:

• increasing the annual gross-receipts exemption threshold from $215,000 to $500,000;
• increasing the square-footage threshold from 250 to 2,500 square feet;
• simplifying square-footage classifications and changing the rate structure; and
• moving from a one-time business license to an annual renewal with tiered fees.

Those items are useful for planning, but the city's current B&O page still lists the 2026 rules described earlier in this article. Businesses should file under current law and monitor Bellevue's final action separately.

A proposal is not a filing rule. For 2026 compliance, use Bellevue's currently effective thresholds, rates and forms unless the city announces an enacted effective change.

How is Bellevue B&O different from Washington State and Seattle B&O?

The same company may therefore have separate Washington State, Seattle and Bellevue tax calculations. The fact that revenue is reported one way on the state return does not automatically determine the city treatment.

A practical Bellevue B&O review process for 2026

What records should support a Bellevue B&O return?

A defensible city return usually needs more than a general ledger total. Useful support includes customer-location data, revenue by classification, Bellevue payroll information, deductions, office floor plans or square-footage calculations, and the schedules used to bridge company-wide records to Bellevue taxable amounts.

For a Bellevue-headquartered business that sells or serves customers across Washington, the accounting system should distinguish local activity from out-of-city activity before the tax return is prepared. That makes both service apportionment and square-footage deductions more reproducible.

For the broader commercial framework, see Bellevue accounting and tax support and Washington Business Tax.

This article provides general information and is not legal or tax advice. The correct treatment depends on the facts, the applicable tax period and current city rules.