Nonprofits are especially active during the holiday season. During this time of year, the famous “Hoosier hospitality” is displayed through food kitchens, holiday craft shows, toy collections, bake sales, and much more.
As the holidays approach, it’s easy to forget when nonprofits are or are not exempt from sales tax. Here’s a quick refresher.
But first, are you a qualified nonprofit?
If you have an organization that buys and sells tangible personal property but does not make a financial profit, you generally would be classified a nonprofit corporation. To register as a nonprofit and qualify to receive sales tax exemptions, you must:
- Qualify properly as a nonprofit by securing a nonprofit, or tax exempt, status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS will provide you with a Federal Determination letter showing the exemption from federal tax.
- Nonprofits who wish to have the Indiana sales tax exemption must file a Nonprofit Application for Sales Tax Exemption (Form NP-20A) and annually file a Nonprofit Organization’s Annual Report (Form NP-20) with the Indiana Department of Revenue.
Nonprofits making sales
If you sell items for 30 days or less during a calendar year (it doesn’t matter if they are consecutive), your sales are exempt from sales tax. That means during your annual ornament sale, you do not need to collect Indiana’s seven percent sales tax!
If you engage in sales for 31 days or more during a calendar year, you must register as a retail merchant and collect sales tax. If you think you might be in this category, find more details at www.in.gov/dor/3968.htm.
Nonprofits making purchases
If you are a qualified and registered nonprofit, you are exempt from paying sales tax on some of your purchases. Here are some of the requirements for exempt purchases:
- The item purchased must be used for the same purpose for which your organization is exempt.
- The transaction must be invoiced directly to your nonprofit organization and paid directly via your organization’s funds.
- Purchases for the private benefit of any organization member, such as meals and lodgings, are not eligible for exemption.
For each of these exempt purchases, you need to complete Form ST-105 and provide it to the vendor from whom you are purchasing the exempt item. The form tells the vendor you are exempt from sales tax. The vendor must use the form to verify you are sales tax exempt and must keep a copy to show the department if audited.
Here are a few notes about completing Form ST-105:
- It should be signed by a responsible business representative – a board trustee, a secretary/treasurer or in some cases a pastor/minister.
- It should be updated periodically as circumstances, staff, or other details change.
- It can be issued to a vendor on a “blanket” basis (there is a checkbox on the form) for vendors from whom you purchase regularly. In these cases, you would not need to repeatedly provide the form.
- Be sure your Form ST-105 is correctly and fully completed. It is a vendor’s responsibility to grant sales tax exemptions only to those who present qualified and correctly completed exemption certificates.
Resources
As always, don’t hesitate to contact the department if you have questions about your nonprofit. Here are a few resources to help:
- For questions about your sales tax exemption, call the sales tax hotline at 317-233-4015.
- To read more details about your nonprofit’s purchases or how to handle unique sales tax exemption situations, check out Sales Tax Information Bulletin #10.
- To learn more about registering as a nonprofit, visit www.in.gov/dor/3968.htm.
- To read a complete guide on taxes nonprofits may be required to collect and remit, read our Income Tax Information Bulletin #17
