Tax Type
Retail Sales and Use Tax
Description
Nonprofit social services to children and families
Topic
Exemptions
Property Subject to Tax
Date Issued
04-02-1991
April 2, 1991
Re: Request for Ruling: Retail Sales and Use Tax
Dear**************
This will reply to your letter of February 7, 1991 in which you request a ruling whether your organization,**********(the "Taxpayer"), qualifies for exemption from the retail sales and use tax.
FACTS
The Taxpayer is a nonstock, nonprofit organization exempt from income taxation pursuant to Internal Revenue Code §501(c)(3) and from local personal property taxes. It was organized and is operated to offer various social services relating to children and families, including counseling, family life education, an emergency shelter for runaway youth, independent living for teenagers and home health care for the elderly. It also offers services to parents of children with disabilities.
You seek an exemption to allow the Taxpayer to purchase items exempt from the retail sales and use tax under the social services exemptions effective July 1, 1990.
DETERMINATION
There is no general exemption from the Virginia retail sales and use tax for nonprofit organizations. Two "social services" exemptions, as set forth in Va. Code §§58.1-608(8)(p) and 58.1-608(8)(q), were enacted in 1990. Va. Code §58.1-608(8)(p) provides an exemption from the sales and use tax for:
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- tangible personal property purchased for use or consumption by a nonstock, nonprofit charitable corporation exempt from taxation under §501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and from local property taxes and organized and operated to offer social services, including, but not limited to, aid or assistance to travelers who, for financial or other reasons, find themselves stranded or otherwise in distress and in need of temporary assistance (traveler's aid); family life education; assistance to persons interested in the adoption of children or acting as foster care parents; counseling to persons in financial need or distress and the provision of services related thereto; counseling for individuals living with persons afflicted with mental health problems or the mentally retarded, as well as providing services directly to the mentally ill or mentally retarded; and related social welfare activities.
Va. Code §58.1-608(8)(q) provides an exemption for:
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- tangible personal property purchased for use or consumption by a nonstock, nonprofit charitable corporation exempt from taxation under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and organized and operated to offer social services, including, but not limited to, transitional housing for homeless individuals, employment counseling, placement and referral services to persons in financial need, health-related assistance, child care for children whose parents are either employed or enrolled in job training programs, emergency assistance (including the provision of food) to persons in financial need who may face eviction or termination of utility services, and related social welfare activities.
Under principles established by the courts, taxation is the rule and exemption is the exception. Therefore, the exemptions from the sales and use tax are strictly construed.
To qualify for either of the above exemptions, an organization must be organized to offer the services specified. Based on a review of the information you provided, and applying the rule of narrow construction for exemptions from taxation, the Taxpayer does not meet all of the necessary criteria under either of the above Code sections. In addition, while Va. Code §§58.1-608(8)(g) and 58.1-608(8)(h) provide exemptions for organizations providing services similar to those provided by the Taxpayer, such exemptions are limited to organizations organized exclusively to provide the specified services. The Taxpayer was organized to provide a variety of services which may include those specified, however, it was not organized exclusively to provide such services.
Notwithstanding the worthwhile purposes which the Taxpayer serves, absent a statutory exemption that would allow it to make purchases exempt of the tax, the department has no authority to grant an exemption to the Taxpayer. Therefore, the Taxpayer is required to pay the tax to the retailer if the retailer is registered to collect the tax. If the retailer is not registered to collect the tax, the Taxpayer must report and pay the tax on a Consumer Use Tax Return, Form ST-7 (copy enclosed).
I regret that I am unable to provide you with a more favorable reply. If you have additional questions or if we may be of any further assistance, please contact the department.
Sincerely,
W. H. Forst
Tax Commissioner
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner