Tax Type
Retail Sales and Use Tax
Description
Publishing and broadcasting; Game programs
Topic
Taxability of Persons and Transactions
Date Issued
08-28-1997
August 28, 1997
Re: Request for Ruling: Retail Sales and Use Tax
Dear*****************
This will reply to your letter in which you request a ruling on behalf of ********** (the "Taxpayer") regarding the availability of a retail sales and use tax exemption for the******* (the "program"). I apologize for the delay in responding to your letter.
FACTS
The Taxpayer publishes the program during football and men's basketball seasons. It is distributed to fans free of charge over approximately a 20 game schedule throughout the football and basketball seasons, which run from September through March. You ask if the program qualifies for an exemption from the sales and use tax.
RULING
Code of Virginia § 58.1-609.3(2)(v) provides an exemption for"equipment,
printing or supplies used directly to produce a publication described in subdivision 3 of
§ 58.1-609.6 whether it is ultimately sold at retail or for resale or distribution at no cost."
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, and advertising supplements and any other printed matter ultimately distributed with or as part of such publications, except that newsstand sales of the same are taxable."
The department has traditionally relied on the definition of "publication" as upheld by the Virginia Supreme Court in Jefferson Publishing Corporation v. W. H. Forst, 217 Va. 988, 234 S.E.2d 297 (1977), in determining whether various printed materials qualify as exempt publications. The court defined "publication" as "a newspaper, magazine or other periodical which is available for general distribution to the public."
Based on the information provided, the program does not qualify for the publication exemption. The program does not satisfy the interval test, as it is not published at least quarterly. The program is not published during the months of April through August (a five-month interval). Thus, the Taxpayer's purchases of tangible personal property used directly or indirectly to produce the program are subject to the tax.
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/11835F
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner