SEATTLE — When Juliana Miura buys bottled coffee drinks, she rarely thinks twice about the receipt.
“Every time I fill my gas, I buy one” she said with a laugh outside a Renton ampm convenience store.
But a KIRO 7 Investigation found that depending on where you buy popular bottled coffee drinks — including Starbucks Frappuccinos — you could be charged sales tax incorrectly.
The problem is cropping up at Washington convenience stores from the North Sound to the South Sound. While some stores correctly charged zero tax on bottled or canned coffee drinks, others added about 50 cents of tax for the same product.
The Washington State Department of Revenue confirmed to KIRO 7 those tax charges are incorrect.
The issue was first uncovered by Action 9, a KIRO 7 sister station in Orlando. That prompted KIRO 7 to check whether the same problem was happening in Washington State.
We randomly checked four convenience stores in Seattle, Bellevue, Renton and Auburn, purchasing the exact same bottled coffee drink.
Two stores charged sales tax. Two did not.
At one Bellevue Chevron, the tax added 45 cents to the purchase. Just miles away, the same drink at another store was not taxed at all.
“That’s pretty wild,” said Jose Perez Peralta of Renton. “I don’t think we should be paying extra.”
To verify whether the tax was a problem, KIRO 7 took the receipts directly to the Washington State Department of Revenue.
“Beverages containing milk are going to be exempt from sales tax,” said Quinn Dickason, education coordinator in the Taxpayer Services Division with the Washington Department of Revenue.
When shown several receipts, Dickason confirmed the charge should not be there.
“I would say that’s incorrect,” she said.
Here’s why: In Washington State, grocery food is not taxed. Soft drinks, like soda, are taxed. But beverages that contain at least 50% juice or any milk are exempt.
That means bottled coffee drinks containing milk should not be taxed.
For customers already feeling squeezed by rising costs, even small amounts add up.
“Everything’s super expensive,” said Fabricio Miura, an ampm customer. “We’re always working, trying to do our best. Even if it’s only 50 cents, we shouldn’t be paying that.”
To see how widespread the issue might be, KIRO 7 checked more stores — and quickly noticed a pattern.
Every ampm convenience store we visited in Everett, Renton, Auburn, Tacoma and Lacey charged sales tax on the same bottled coffee drinks.
A store manager in Auburn told KIRO 7 the sales tax is all set by corporate.
According to data company ScrapeHero, there are 127 ampm locations across Washington state. At roughly 50 cents in tax per drink, that could add up to significant money paid by customers statewide.
“We pay without knowing,” said Fabricio Miura. “We didn’t check the receipts.”
His wife, Juliana Miura, said she buys the drinks weekly.
At that rate, customers could be paying roughly $25 a year in sales tax on drinks that should be exempt.
KIRO 7 repeatedly contacted ampm corporate — calling, emailing, messaging on X and filing a consumer complaint. After about two weeks, the corporate owner of ampm – BP – finally responded.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We take compliance with local, state and federal laws very seriously and are reviewing the issue,” said Paul Takahashi, Head of U.S. Media Affairs with BP.
When asked about oversight, the Department of Revenue said it does not routinely audit businesses specifically for food tax accuracy, though it would review tax practices if a store were selected for a broader audit.
Despite KIRO 7’s findings, the department said cases like this are uncommon.
“I think you got lucky,” Dickason said. “Generally, people get it right… I don’t think it’s any malicious intent at all. I think it is just a human error,” she said.
Some customers remain skeptical.
“I think it’s a little naive to think it’s a mistake,” Miura said. “But hopefully, it’s a mistake.”
As for refunds, the Department of Revenue says customers’ best option is to ask the store directly. If that fails, customers can request a refund through the department’s website — but a receipt is required.
KIRO 7 continues to press ampm to correct the issue and will update this story if the company updates its sales tax system.