Washington loses up to $375 million annually – equal to about 5 percent of tax collections – to as many at 164,000 unregistered businesses operating in the state, according to a new study issued by the Washington State Department of Revenue.

The department recovers about $25 million annually from unregistered businesses through its tax discovery efforts, but the findings will help it bring more businesses into compliance through a combination of education and enforcement, Director Cindi Holmstrom said Thursday. "Legitimate businesses have told us time and again that nobody should enjoy a competitive advantage simply by evading taxes."

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Are you ready for those power outages, fires, earthquakes and major technological breakdowns? If not, you may want to attend tomorrow’s annual business fair sponsored by the University Place / Fircrest division of the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber.

It’s free, and runs from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Pierce County Environmental Services Building, 9850 64th St. W. in University Place. (That’s at the southern end of Grandview Drive, out by the new golf course.)

Free of charge and open to the public, the business-to-business fair will feature an emergency preparedness seminar, plus information about the retention

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Those lattes at Starbucks will soon come with less fat.

Starbucks Corp. said today it will replace whole milk with 2 percent as the default milk for its drinks by the end of the year.

Here’s what that means to you: A 16-ounce "grande" latte made with reduced fat milk has 190 calories, compared with 260 calories in one made with whole milk.

But if you love extra fat with your espresso, don’t worry. Customers can still request their drinks with whole milk, the company said.

Starbucks said it made the switch based on increased

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Grab your sunscreen. Alaska Airlines wants to take you to the Aloha state.

The airline announced today it will offer year-round daily flights beginning Oct. 12 between Sea-Tac and Honolulu, and nonstop between Sea-Tac and Lihue on the island of Kauai starting Oct. 28. The flights are available for purchase now at alaskaair.com.

“Our customers will now be able to enjoy Alaska’s special brand of service when visiting the Aloha state,” said Gregg Saretsky, Alaska Airlines’ executive vice president of flight and marketing. “Hawaii is the largest market out of Seattle and Anchorage that

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Warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. said Thursday its fiscal third-quarter profit declined 4.9 percent due to a charge, but sales advanced at a double-digit pace, The Associated Press reports.

Income for the quarter ended May 13 slid to $224 million from $235.6 million. Per-share earnings were flat at 49 cents.

The latest quarter includes a $30.3 million charge to reflect the reduced gross margin on estimated future returns recorded in the increased sales return reserve. Excluding the item, earnings per share were 56 cents, in line with the average analyst estimate, according to a Thomson Financial survey.

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This just in:

IKEA announced today that its Portland store will open on July 25. If you are familiar with Portland, the new store is out near the airport, off of Interstate 205.

IKEA Portland will present 50 different room settings, three complete model homes, a supervised children’s play area, and a 250-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries or salmon plates, as well as American dishes, according to a news release from the company.

The store will also include approximately 1,200 parking spaces, 75 bicycle racks (very Portland), as well as

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At yesterday’s Port of Tacoma commission meeting, port staff announced they’d finally reached an agreement with Arkema to buy the chemical company’s property on Taylor Way.

The news was overshadowed by the eminent domain action, so I thought I’d provide a few more details here.

The port has been trying to obtain the 67 acres owned by Arkema for the past few years. Saying that the negotiations were taking too long, the port filed a condemnation action against the company last December.

The property – at 2901 Taylor Way – once housed a caustic soda and liquid chlorine plant. The business opened in 1929 and operated under the name Pennwalt for much of its life.

The property hasn’t been used for years.

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As George Harrison sang: "Let me tell you how it will be, there’s one for you, nineteen for me."

And now it’s your turn to be The Taxman.

The Internal Revenue Service is looking for Revenue Officer candidates for positions in Bellevue, Kennewick, Olympia, Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver and Yakima. Applicants must apply by June 21.

An applicant must be a U.S.citizen and have a bachelor’s degree, with superior academic achievement, or equivalent work experience. Revenue officers are trained in both tax law and collection techniques necessary for the collection of delinquent taxes and delinquent tax returns. Duties

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