Tax Type
Retail Sales and Use Tax
Description
Home heating fuel sales; Situs of sale; Local sales and use tax
Topic
Collection of Delinquent Tax
Date Issued
04-27-1992
April 27, 1992
Re: § 58.1-1821 Application: Sales and Use Tax
Dear ****
This will reply to your letter of September 27, 1991, seeking correction of a sales and use tax assessment for the period of June, 1988 through May, 1991.
FACTS
***** (the Taxpayer) is a dealer of home heating fuels whose business is located in a Virginia city which imposes Taxpayer's customers extend beyond the imposing city to localities which have elected to exempt home heating fuels for domestic consumption from the local 1% sales tax. The Taxpayer feels the collection of the 1% local tax on domestic heating fuel should be determined by the point of delivery, and not the business location of the seller.
DETERMINATION
The department's position on the local tax application with respect to domestic heating fuel is well established and longstanding as exhibited by Sales and Use Tax Policy Statement 81-1 and Virginia Regulation (VR) 630-10-40.2 (copies enclosed). In developing the policy regarding the imposition of the tax, representatives of the department solicited assistance and input from the statewide associations of fuel dealers. While the dealers recognized that there were problems inherent in adopting either a place of business or point of delivery situs, there was agreement as to defining the situs of sale as the locality in which the dealer's place of business is located. In fact, this approach was chosen since it would relieve the dealer of the burden of identifying the locality of residence of each of their customers and also would be consistent with the method of reporting tax from other retail sales.
Accordingly, I find no basis to adjust the assessment.
If you should have any further questions, please feel free to contact the department.
Sincerely,
W. H. Forst
Tax Commissioner
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner