Tax Type
Retail Sales and Use Tax
Description
Mailing and printing service
Topic
Taxability of Persons and Transactions
Date Issued
06-02-1993
June 2. 1993
Re: Request for Ruling: Retail Sales & Use Tax
Dear********
This will reply to your letter of February 3, 1992 in which you seek a ruling on the applicability of the retail sales and use tax to your business,*********** (the "Taxpayer").
The Taxpayer, a mailing and printing service company, generally is engaged in the services of applying labels to printed matter and delivering the addressed material to the post office. In some instances, the Taxpayer actually prints the materials itself. Its business, however, involves no creative design activities -- the Taxpayer merely prints what its customers provide to it. However, at the direction of a customer, the Taxpayer may deliver materials to a newspaper.
You seek a ruling on the applicability of the tax to your business.
RULING
Based upon the information provided, I find that for purposes of the retail sales and use tax, the Taxpayer is not an advertising agency, but rather a mailing and printing company. The applicability of the sales tax to mailing and printing companies was addressed by the department in P.D. 86-9 (1/3/86), copy enclosed. As the ruling letter indicates, when mailing services alone are provided, no tax is due from customers for the services provided. However, in instances in which mailing services are provided in connection with the sale of printed materials, the sales tax is due on the total charge for the printing and the services provided.
While P.D. 86-9 mentions a sales tax exemption for printed materials stored for months or less in Virginia and distributed outside the state which was effective through June 30, 1990, you should note that this exemption was permanently extended in 1989.
If you have any further questions about this matter, please contact the department.
Sincerely,
W. H. Forst
Tax Commissioner
OTP/6917H
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner