Tax Type
Retail Sales and Use Tax
Description
Nonprofit organizations, private schools, and churches; Law student organization
Topic
Taxability of Persons and Transactions
Date Issued
02-28-1996
February 28, 1996
Re: Request for Ruling: Retail Sales and Use Tax
Dear ******
This will reply to your letter of January 26, 1996, in which you request a ruling on the availability of a retail sales and use tax exemption for****** (the "Taxpayer").
FACTS
The Taxpayer is a nonprofit, national coalition of law student organizations that offers grants and other forms of assistance to students and recent graduates engaged in public interest employment. The Taxpayer works with its member organizations to create public interest legal employment and training opportunities, remove the economic barriers that confront future public interest lawyers, and provide informational and inspirational resources for public service work.
RULING
There is no general exemption from the Virginia retail sales and use tax for nonprofit organizations. The only exemptions from the tax are set out in Code of Virginia §§ 58.1-609.1 through 58.1-609.13. The Virginia courts have consistently required strict construction of these exemptions, i.e., where there is any doubt as to the application of an exemption, the doubt is resolved against the one claiming the exemption. Based on the information provided, there is no exemption in §§ 58.1-609.1 through 58.1-609.13 that would apply to your organization.
While I am mindful of the worthwhile purpose that the Taxpayer serves, absent a statutory exemption that would allow the Taxpayer to make such purchases exempt of the tax, the department has no authority to grant such an exemption. Therefore, the Taxpayer is required to pay the tax to its vendors on all purchases of tangible personal property. If a vendor is not registered to collect the tax, the Taxpayer must report and pay use tax on a consumer use tax return, Form ST-7.
Enclosed is a questionnaire for legislative consideration of a sales and use tax exemption request and Tax Bulletin 94-13, which explains the procedure and information required. If you are interested in pursuing exemption legislation during the 1997 Session of the General Assembly, the questionnaire should be completed and forwarded to the legislator who will sponsor the bill for exemption. The legislator must sign the questionnaire and submit it to the department by November 1, 1996.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, you may contact******at ******* .
Sincerely,
Danny M. Payne
Tax Commissioner
OTP/10855F
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner