Tax Type
Retail Sales and Use Tax
Description
Nonprofit organization maintaining public park and botanical garden
Topic
Exemptions
Taxability of Persons and Transactions
Date Issued
02-26-1986
February 26, 1986
Re: Ruling Request/Sales and Use Tax
Dear ****************
This will reply to your letter of December 20, 1985 requesting reconsideration of my prior ruling in this case dated October 15, 1985.
FACTS
************** (Taxpayer), is a 501(C)(3) organization, organized to maintain a public park and botanical garden.
In this connection, taxpayer operates and maintains a collection of plants and other living items for educational and recreational purposes and displays this collection to the general public on a regular basis. Once fully developed taxpayer expects to attract over 350,000 visitors per year. Taxpayer contends that based on this and its educational and aesthetic purposes, it should qualify for exemption from sales and use tax under §58.1-608(55) of the Virginia Code.
RULING
§58.1-608(55) of the Virginia Code exempts from the sales and use tax tangible personal property purchased for use or consumption by a nonprofit organization operating a public park and museum for recreational and educational purposes on property owned by a city.
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1979 ed., defines "museum" as, an institution devoted to the procurement, care, study, and display of objects of lasting interest or value. As stated in my previous ruling in this case, I cannot agree that a botanical garden can be deemed the equivalent of a museum, within the generally accepted meaning of that term. In addition, the definition of "museum" under the Museum Services Act and federal regulations promulgated thereunder, while significantly broader than the generally accepted definition cited above, is specifically intended for federal purposes.
Furthermore, in enacting §58.1-608(55), it was the intent of the 1985 General Assembly to provide an exemption for a particular museum and public park organized for recreational and educational purposes on property owned by a city, and not to provide a general sales and use tax exemption for other nonprofit organizations operating recreational facilities or museums. However, even in the absence of such specifically articulated legislative intent, the Virginia Supreme Court in WTAR Radio - TV Corp. v. Commonwealth, 217 Va. 877, 234 SE 2d 245 (1977)., confirmed the long standing position of the department that all exempting statutes must be strictly construed against the taxpayer, as taxation is the rule and not the exception.
Based on all of the foregoing, and my ruling dated October 15, 1985, I find no basis for granting the exemption requested by taxpayer in this case.
Sincerely,
W. H. Forst
Tax Commissioner
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner