DEPARTMENT OF STATE REVENUE

04-20080518.LOF

Letter of Findings Number: 08-0518

Sales and Use Tax

For the Tax Year 2008

ISSUE

Taxpayer protests the assessment of use tax on an aircraft.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Taxpayer is an Indiana limited liability company that purchased an aircraft on December 27, 2007, for $270,000.00. Taxpayer did not pay sales tax at the time of purchase claiming an exemption for rental or lease to others. The Indiana Department of Revenue ("Department") reviewed the claim for exemption and determined that Taxpayer did not qualify for the exemption. On February 29, 2008, the Department denied the exemption and issued a proposed assessment for use tax, interest, and penalty on Taxpayer's use of the aircraft in Indiana. Taxpayer protested this imposition of the tax and penalty. A hearing was held, and this Letter of Findings results. Additional facts will be supplied as required.

DISCUSSION

Pursuant to IC § 6-8.1-5-1(c), all tax assessments are presumed accurate, and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving that an assessment is incorrect.

On initial review, the Department found that Taxpayer had purchased an aircraft without paying sales tax at the time of purchase, and assessed use tax on the purchase.

IC § 6-2.5-2-1 provides:

(a) An excise tax, known as the state gross retail tax, is imposed on retail transactions made in Indiana.

(b) The person who acquires property in a retail transaction is liable for the tax on the transaction and, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, shall pay the tax to the retail merchant as a separate added amount to the consideration in the transaction. The retail merchant shall collect the tax as agent for the state.

IC § 6-2.5-3-2(a) provides:

An excise tax, known as the use tax, is imposed on the storage, use, or consumption of tangible personal property in Indiana if the property was acquired in a retail transaction, regardless of the location of that transaction or of the retail merchant making that transaction.

Accordingly, Indiana imposes a sales tax on retail transactions and a complementary use tax on tangible personal property that is stored, used, or consumed in the state. IC § 6-2.5-1-1 et seq. An exemption from the use tax is granted for transactions where the gross retail tax ("sales tax") was paid at the time of purchase pursuant to IC § 6-2.5-3-4.

Additionally, IC § 6-6-6.5-8(d) provides for the payment of sales or use tax on an aircraft, as follows:

A person shall pay the gross retail tax or use tax to the department on the earlier of:

(1) The time the aircraft is registered; or

(2) not later than thirty-one (31) days after the purchase date;

unless the person presents proof to the department that the gross retail tax or use tax has already been paid with respect to the purchase of the aircraft or proof that the taxes are inapplicable because of an exemption.

Taxpayer contends that Taxpayer's use of the aircraft qualified for an exemption, therefore, Taxpayer did not pay the sales or use tax at the time of purchase. Taxpayer asserts that the Taxpayer's purchase of the aircraft meets the rental to others exemption.

The rental to others exemption is provided in IC § 6-2.5-5-8(b), as follows:

Transactions involving tangible personal property other than a new motor vehicle are exempt from the state gross retail tax if the person acquiring the property acquires it for resale, rental, or leasing in the ordinary course of his business without changing the form of the property.

The exemption for rental to others is further explained at 45 IAC 2.2-5-15 as follows:

(a) The state gross retail tax shall not apply to sales of any tangible personal property to a purchaser who purchases the same for the purpose of reselling, renting or leasing, in the regular course of the purchaser's business, such tangible personal property in the form in which it is sold to such purchaser.

(b) General rule. Sales of tangible personal property for resale, rental or leasing are exempt from tax if all of the following conditions are satisfied:

(1) The tangible personal property is sold to a purchaser who purchases this property to resell, rent or lease it;

(2) The purchaser is occupationally engaged in reselling, renting or leasing such property in the regular course of his business; and

(3) The property is resold, rented or leased in the same form in which it was purchased.

(c) Application of general rule.

(1) The tangible personal property must be sold to a purchaser who makes the purchase with the intention of reselling, renting or leasing the property. This exemption does not apply to purchasers who intend to consume or use the property or add value to the property through the rendition of services or performance of work with respect to such property.

(2) The purchaser must be occupationally engaged in reselling, renting or leasing such property in the regular course of his business. Occasional sales and sales by servicemen in the course of rendering services shall be conclusive evidence that the purchaser is not occupationally engaged in reselling the purchased property in the regular course of his business.

(3) The property must be resold, rented or leased in the same form in which it was purchased.

IC § 6-2.5-3-4(a)(2) allows for a use tax exemption for property that is acquired in a transaction that is exempt from sales tax under a provision in IC § 6-2.5-5 if the property is being stored, used, or consumed for the purpose for which the property was exempted.

In applying any tax exemption, the general rule is that "tax exemptions are strictly construed in favor of taxation and against the exemption." Indiana Dep't of State Revenue v. Kimball Int'l Inc., 520 N.E.2d 454, 456 (Ind. Ct. App. 1988).

The Department refers to IC § 6-2.5-5-8(e), which provides, as follows:

This subsection applies only after June 30, 2008. A transaction in which a person acquires an aircraft for rental or leasing in the ordinary course of the person's business is not exempt from the state gross retail tax unless the person establishes, under guidelines adopted by the department in the manner provided in IC 4-22-2-37.1 for the adoption of emergency rules, that the annual amount of the lease revenue derived from leasing the aircraft is equal to or greater than:

(1) ten percent (10 [percent]) of the greater of the original cost or the book value of the aircraft, if the original cost of the aircraft was less than one million dollars ($1,000,000); or

(2) seven and five-tenths percent (7.5 [percent]) of the greater of the original cost or the book value of the aircraft, if the original cost of the aircraft was at least one million dollars ($1,000,000).

While this statute was not yet in effect at the time of the February 2008 assessment, it is a useful guide of what constitutes reasonable annual rental revenues for a person in the business of renting or leasing an aircraft. Here, the aircraft in question's purchase price was $270,000. As provided by IC § 6-2.5-5-8(e)(2), after June 30, 2008, the annual amount of lease revenue that Taxpayer derives from the leasing of the aircraft would need to be equal or greater than ten percent of the greater of the original cost or the book value of the aircraft in order for Taxpayer to qualify for the exemption; i.e., a minimum of $27,000.

During the course of the protest, Taxpayer submitted leases, invoices, a flight log, and copies of monthly sales tax returns for December 2007 through September 2008 to demonstrate the business use of this aircraft. A review of the Department's sales tax records shows that Taxpayer has remitted sales tax on revenue it collected in 2007 and 2008. While it is true that Taxpayer did not remit the sales tax timely, as it is was supposed to do, Taxpayer has remitted sales tax on the revenue stream. Considering the amount of revenue collected and sales tax remitted, Taxpayer meets the ten percent lease-revenue requirement which took effect after June 30, 2008, as described by IC § 6-2.5-5-8(e)(1).

In addition to the information regarding the revenue stream, Taxpayer has provided other documentation supporting its position that it leased the aircraft in the ordinary course of its business, as required by IC § 6-2.5-5-8(b). Again, while the ten percent standard described by IC § 6-2.5-5-8(e)(1) did not take effect until after June 30, 2008, it is a useful guideline which Taxpayer satisfies. When taken into account with the other documentation Taxpayer has provided, Taxpayer has met the burden imposed by IC § 6-8.1-5-1(c).

FINDING

Taxpayer's protest is sustained.

DIN: 20090218-IR-045090117NRA

Composed: May 04,2024 7:49:04AM EDT

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