CPA services for Kirkland and Redmond, WA — built for Microsoft-adjacent tech.

Unlike Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, and several other Washington cities, neither Kirkland nor Redmond levies a general city Business & Occupation tax on ordinary retail, service, or wholesale activity. Instead, both cities charge a general business license fee: Kirkland's is a flat annual fee ($50/year under $20,000 in average gross receipts, $100/year above that) plus a separate per-employee Revenue Generating Regulatory License fee, while Redmond charges a per-employee-hour fee with a $160/year minimum. Neither is a percentage-of-revenue tax, and neither requires the kind of gross-receipts tracking Seattle or Bellevue businesses now have to do for their city B&O filings.

Both cities do tax utility businesses separately — Redmond's utility occupation tax runs 6% on telephone, electric, gas, and cable providers, for instance — but that applies to utility companies, not to a typical consulting business, retailer, or tech contractor. If your Kirkland or Redmond business isn't a utility, this is one of the more genuinely simple Washington cities to operate in from a city-tax perspective.

State B&O still applies regardless of city: 0.471% for retailing, 0.484% for wholesaling and manufacturing, and the tiered Service & Other rate effective October 1, 2025 — 1.5% under $1 million in gross income, 1.75% up to $5 million, 2.1% above that — which is what most Kirkland and Redmond consultancies and contractors actually pay. For individuals with RSU or startup-equity gains, Washington's capital gains tax applies at 7% on the first $1,000,000 of gain above the standard deduction ($278,000 for 2025) and 9.9% above $1,000,000 — the number that tends to matter more than any city tax for this client base.