§ 9743. Organizations not covered
Any sale, service, or admission to a place of entertainment charged by or to any of
the following or any use by any of the following are not subject to the sales and
use taxes imposed under this chapter:
(1) The State of Vermont, or any of its agencies, instrumentalities, public authorities,
public corporations, including a public corporation created pursuant to agreement
or compact with another state, or political subdivisions when it is the purchaser,
user, or consumer, or when it is a vendor of services or property of a kind not ordinarily
sold by private persons, or when it charges for admission to any entertainment, except
that sales of alcoholic beverages shall not be exempt from sales tax.
(2) The United States of America, any of its agencies and instrumentalities, insofar as
it is immune from taxation when it is the purchaser, user, or consumer, or when it
sells services or property of a kind not ordinarily sold by private persons.
(3) Organizations that qualify for exempt status under the provisions of 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) and agricultural organizations qualified for exempt status under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(5), when presenting agricultural fairs, field days, or festivals, as amended, shall
be exempt as follows:
(A) The organization first shall have obtained a certificate from the Commissioner stating
that it is entitled to the exemption. The Commissioner shall issue a certificate to
any organization that has received federal certification of Section 501(c)(3) status
and may issue a certificate to any other qualified organization.
(B) Charges for admission to a place of entertainment by and sales to or uses by such
organizations shall be exempt from the tax under this chapter.
(C) Sales other than entertainment charges by qualified Section 501(c)(3) organizations
shall be exempt if the organization’s gross sales of tangible personal property and
services that would be subject to tax under this chapter but for this subdivision,
in the prior year, did not exceed $20,000.00.
(D) Sales of fresh cut flowers only, by a qualified Section 501(c)(3) organization, during
a single annual sales event not to exceed seven days, shall be exempt.
(4)(A) Sales of building materials and supplies to be used in the construction, reconstruction,
alteration, remodeling, or repair of:
(i) any building structure, or other public works owned by or held in trust for the benefit
of any governmental body or agency mentioned in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this section
and used exclusively for public purposes;
(ii) any building or structure owned by or held in trust for the benefit of any organization
described in subdivision (3) and used exclusively for the purposes upon which its
exempt status is based; and
(iii) any building or structure owned by any “local development corporation” as defined
in 10 V.S.A. § 212(10) and used exclusively for the purposes authorized in 10 V.S.A. chapter 12; provided, however, that the governmental body or agency, the organization, or the
development corporation has first obtained a certificate from the Commissioner stating
that it is entitled to the exemption, and the vendor keeps a record of the sales price
of each separate sale, the name of the purchaser, the date of each separate sale,
and the number of the certificate.
(B) As used in this subdivision, the words “building materials and supplies” include all
materials and supplies consumed, employed, or expended in the construction, reconstruction,
alteration, remodeling, or repair of any building, structure, or other public work,
as well as the materials and supplies physically incorporated therein.
(5) Organizations that qualify for exempt status under the provisions of 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(4)-(13) and (19), and political organizations as defined in 26 U.S.C. § 527(e), as the same may be amended or redesignated, other than organizations that qualify
for exempt status under the provisions of 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(4) whose bylaws provide for the contribution of their net income to organizations that
qualify for exempt status under the provisions of 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3), shall not be exempt from taxation of the sale or use of tangible personal property
as defined in section 9701 of this title, but shall be exempt from the sales and use tax upon entertainment charges as defined
in section 9701 in the case of not more than four special events (not including usual
or continuing activities of the organization) held in any calendar year, and that,
in the aggregate, are not held on more than four days in such year, and that are open
to the general public. In case the organization holds more than four such special
events a year, or such events are held on more than four days in a year, the organization
may elect the events or the days to which the exemption provided by this subdivision
shall apply, by giving prior notice to the Commissioner. This subdivision shall not
apply to agricultural organizations governed by subdivision (3) of this section.
(6) A school or municipality; provided, however, that a vendor who is required to register
with the Commissioner pursuant to section 9707 of this title who receives a share of the proceeds from the sale of property at a school or municipal
premises shall collect and remit tax on the total sale price of such sales regardless
of who is the direct recipient of the payment. As used in this subdivision, “school”
means a school as defined in 16 V.S.A. § 11(7) and (8), and “municipality” means a city, town, unorganized town, village, grant,
or gore.
(7) An exemption under subdivision (3) of this section shall not be available for entertainment
charges for admission to a live performance by an organization whose gross sales of
entertainment charges by or on behalf of an organization for admission to live performances
in the prior calendar year exceeded $100,000.00. (Added 1969, No. 144, § 1, eff. June 1, 1969; amended 1971, No. 73, § 40, eff. April 16, 1971; 1973, No. 165 (Adj. Sess.), eff. March 20, 1974; 1983, No. 62, eff. April 26, 1983; 1983, No. 206 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 26, 1984; 1989, No. 222 (Adj. Sess.), § 31, eff. May 31, 1990; 1995, No. 28; 1995, No. 132 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 30, 1996; 1997, No. 50, § 35, eff. June 26, 1997; 2009, No. 1 (Sp. Sess.), § H.44; 2009, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 41; 2011, No. 45, § 36; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 595, eff. July 1, 2022.)