Tax Type
Retail Sales and Use Tax
Description
Air conditioning service
Topic
Taxability of Persons and Transactions
Date Issued
04-21-1997
April 21, 1997
Re: § 58.1-1821 Application: Retail Sales and Use Tax
Dear*************
This is in reply to your letter of January 9, 1997, in which you seek correction of a retail sales and use tax assessment issued to ******** (the "Taxpayer") for the period October 1993 through September 1996.
FACTS
The Taxpayer is a heating and air conditioning sales and service business. An audit by the department resulted in the assessment of tax on various recurring purchases. The Taxpayer contests the tax assessed on subscription renewals of a news publication focusing on air conditioning and heating issues.
DETERMINATION
Code of Virginia § 58.1-609.6(3) exempts from the retail sales and use tax "[a]ny publication issued daily, or regularly at average intervals not exceeding three months.... except that newsstand sales of the same are taxable." A publication is defined as "a newspaper, magazine or other periodical which is available for general distribution to the public." Jefferson Publishing Corporation v. W. H. Forst, State Tax Commissioner, 217 Va. 988, 234 S.E.2d 297 (1977).
Based on the information provided, the materials at issue qualify as a publication as defined in Jefferson and satisfy the criteria in Code of Virginia § 58.1-609.6(3). The news publication is available for general distribution to the public and meets the interval test provided in the statute. Therefore, subscription sales of the news publication qualify for exemption from the tax. However, sales of the news publication at retail are subject to the tax.
The subscription renewals for the news publication will be removed from the audit. The Taxpayer will shortly receive an updated bill with interest accrued to date. The bill should be paid within 30 days to avoid the accrual of additional interest.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, you may contact ********** of the department's Office of Tax Policy at *********** .
Sincerely,
Danny M. Payne
Tax Commissioner
OTP/12199F
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner