(1) TAXABLE SALES.
Sales by service station operators and fuel oil dealers subject to the sales
tax include the following:
(a) The sale of
furnace or heating fuel to customers, other than for residential or farm
use.
(b) The repair, service,
alteration, fitting, cleaning, painting, coating, inspection, and maintenance
of motor vehicles, including the total amount charged for parts and labor and
including motor vehicles and truck bodies owned by nonresidents except as
provided in sub. (2).
(c) The
towing of motor vehicles, which includes the hauling of motor vehicles by a tow
truck, as defined in s.
340.01(67n),
Stats.
Examples:
1) The
charge to a customer for towing a vehicle to a repair facility is taxable.
2) The charge to a customer by a
towing company for towing the customer's vehicle from a no parking zone is
taxable.
3) The charge to a
customer by a towing company for towing a demolished vehicle to a junk yard is
taxable.
4) The charge to a
Wisconsin governmental unit by a towing company for towing is exempt from tax.
5) The charge to a repair facility
by a towing company for towing a vehicle to the facility for repair which will
be passed on to the customer is not taxable provided the repair facility gives
the towing company a properly completed exemption certificate claiming resale.
However, the charge for the towing service to the customer by the repair
facility is taxable.
(d)
Retail sales of tangible personal property and items, property, and goods under
s. 77.52(1) (b), (c), and
(d), Stats., including motor oil, antifreeze,
motor vehicle parts and supplies, tobacco products, candy, and soft drinks by
service stations except as provided in sub. (2).
(e) Charges for car washes, whether automated
or not.
(f) Providing parking for
motor vehicles. Providing temporary storage of a motor vehicle is considered
parking if the vehicle is ready and available for immediate use.
(2) EXEMPT SALES. Sales by service
station operators and fuel oil dealers not subject to the sales tax include the
following:
(a) Sales of gasoline, general
aviation fuel and special fuel including diesel and L.P. fuel, which are
subject to the Wisconsin motor vehicle fuel taxes under ch. 78, Stats. The
holder of a Wisconsin special fuel license may issue an exemption certificate
to purchase special fuel without sales tax. On special fuel which a licensee
puts into highway motor vehicles, the licensee is required to pay the special
fuel tax. If motor fuel or special fuel is purchased without tax under s.
77.54(11),
Stats., because it is subject to the excise tax imposed under ch. 78, Stats.,
and then the excise taxes are later refunded under s.
78.75, Stats., because the buyer
does not use the fuel in operating a motor vehicle upon the public highways,
the fuel is subject to the tax, unless otherwise exempt under s.
77.54(1), (3), (5), (6) (am) 3., (9a), (12),
(13), (30) (a), Stats., or other exemptions
in subch. III of ch. 77, Stats.
(b)
Sales made directly to this state or any agency thereof, the University of
Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority, the Wisconsin Aerospace Authority,
the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, and the Fox River Navigational
System Authority; any county, city, village, town, or school district in this
state; a county-city hospital established under s.
66.0927, Stats.; a sewerage
commission organized under s.
281.43(4),
Stats., or a metropolitan sewerage district organized under ss.
200.01 to
200.15 or
200.21 to
200.65, Stats.; any other unit
of government in this state or any agency or instrumentality of one or more
units of government in this state; any federally recognized American Indian
tribe or band in this state; any joint local water authority created under s.
66.0823, Stats.; any
corporation, community chest fund, foundation, or association organized and
operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, or educational
purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, except
hospital service insurance corporations under s.
613.80(2),
Stats., no part of the net income of which inures to the benefit of any private
stockholder, shareholder, member, or corporation; certain title holding
entities described under section
501 (c) (2) of the Internal
Revenue Code that are exempt from federal income tax under section
501 (a) of the Internal
Revenue Code and organized for the exclusive purpose of holding title to
property, collecting income from that property, and turning over the entire
amount of that income, less expenses, to an entity described under s.
77.54(9a) (f),
Stats.; a local exposition district under subch. II of ch. 229, Stats.; a local
cultural arts district under subch. V of ch. 229, Stats. Sales to a cemetery
company or corporation described under section
501 (c) (13) of the
Internal Revenue Code, are exempt from sales and use tax if the cemetery
company or corporation uses the items exclusively for the purposes of the
company or corporation. Section
77.55(1),
Stats., provides an exemption for sales to the United States, its
unincorporated agencies and instrumentalities, and any incorporated agency or
instrumentality of the United States wholly owned by the United States or by a
corporation wholly owned by the United States. Sales to employees of these
entities are not exempt, even though the entity may reimburse the employee for
the expenditure.
(bg) Sales made
to a state veterans organization, as defined in s.
45.41(1) (b),
Stats., except property and services used primarily in preparing, storing,
serving, selling, or delivering food and beverages, including products and
services for cleaning machinery and equipment used for the food and beverages
that are sold by the veterans organization.
(c) Sales of accessories, attachments, parts,
supplies, and highway fuel for common or contract carrier motor trucks, truck
tractors, road tractors, buses, trailers, and semi-trailers used exclusively in
common or contract carriage, including the urban mass transportation of
passengers as defined in s.
71.38, Stats. This exemption
applies to purchases for school buses operated under contract with a public or
private school to transport students. A station wagon or van which is not
registered as a bus or truck with the division of motor vehicles in the
Wisconsin department of transportation does not qualify for this
exemption.
(d) Sales to farmers of
parts and repairs for tractors or farm machines used exclusively and directly
in farming, but this exemption does not apply if these items are used in motor
vehicles for highway use.
(e) Sales
to farmers of fuel used in farming.
(f) Sales of general aviation fuel to persons
using aircraft as certified or licensed carriers of persons or property in
interstate commerce are exempt under s.
77.54(5) (a),
Stats.
(g) Sales of coal, fuel oil,
propane, steam, peat, fuel cubes produced from solid waste, wood, and biomass
as defined in s.
196.378(1)
(ar), Stats., used for fuel sold for
residential use. In this paragraph, "residential use" means use in a structure
or portion of a structure which is a person's permanent residence as defined in
s.
Tax 11.57(2) (q)
2. and 3.
(h) Sales of repairs, services, alterations,
fitting, cleaning, painting, coating, towing, inspection, and maintenance
services to common or contract carrier vehicles exempt under sub. (2) (c),
mobile mixing and processing units and the vehicle or trailer on which they are
mounted, and motor vehicles not required to be licensed for highway use which
are exclusively and directly used in conjunction with waste reduction or
recycling activities.
(i) Sales of
accessories, attachments, parts, supplies, and materials for mobile mixing and
processing units and the vehicle or trailer on which they are mounted,
including highway fuel for units operated on public highways.
(j) Sales of any residue used for fuel in a
business activity that results from the harvesting of timber or the production
of wood products including slash, sawdust, shavings, edgings, slabs, leaves,
wood chips, bark and wood pellets manufactured primarily from wood or wood
residue.
(k) Sales of fuel consumed
in manufacturing tangible personal property, or items or property under s.
77.52(1) (b) or
(c), Stats., in Wisconsin.
(l) Sales of fuel consumed in operating an
industrial waste treatment facility.
(3) PURCHASES.
(a) Service station operators who repair
motor vehicles may purchase, without tax, "for resale," repair parts and
materials used in the work which are physically transferred to their customers.
This includes auto parts, chassis lubricants, wheel greases, car waxes, paints,
paint hardeners, plastic body fillers, and welding rods.
(b) A service station operator's purchases of
equipment, tools, supplies, and other property, items, or goods not physically
transferred to customers as part of the performance of a taxable service are
subject to the sales and use tax. Supplies such as sandpaper, masking paper,
masking tape, buffing pads, paint and lacquer thinner, clean and glaze
compound, paint remover, tack rags, steel wool, metal conditioner, lacquer
removing solvent, rubbing compound, wax and grease remover, fluxing materials,
disc adhesives, and other property or items used or consumed in performing
motor vehicle repair service are taxable.
Note: Section
Tax 11.49
interprets ss. 77.52(2) (a)
8m, 9., and 10. and (2m) (b) and 77.54 (3), (5), (9a), (9g), (11), and (30),
Stats.
