N.Y. TAX Law § 1116 — New York Code / Act TAX / Article 28 / Part 3 / Section 1116
Exempt organizations
Status: in_force

§ 1116. Exempt organizations. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this\nsection, any sale or amusement charge by or to any of the following or\nany use or occupancy by any of the following shall not be subject to the\nsales and compensating use taxes imposed under this article:\n  (1) The state of New York, or any of its agencies, instrumentalities,\npublic corporations (including a public corporation created pursuant to\nagreement or compact with another state or Canada) or political\nsubdivisions where it is the purchaser, user or consumer, or where it is\na vendor of services or property of a kind not ordinarily sold by\nprivate persons;\n  (2) The United States of America, and any of its agencies and\ninstrumentalities, insofar as it is immune from taxation where it is the\npurchaser, user or consumer, or where it sells services or property of a\nkind not ordinarily sold by private persons;\n  (3) The United Nations or any international organization of which the\nUnited States of America is a member where it is the purchaser, user or\nconsumer, or where it sells services or property of a kind not\nordinarily sold by private persons;\n  (4) Any corporation, association, trust, or community chest, fund,\nfoundation, or limited liability company, organized and operated\nexclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public\nsafety, literary or educational purposes, or to foster national or\ninternational amateur sports competition (but only if no part of its\nactivities involve the provision of athletic facilities or equipment),\nor for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the\nnet earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder\nor individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is\ncarrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence\nlegislation, (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h) of section\nfive hundred one of the United States internal revenue code of nineteen\nhundred fifty-four, as amended), and which does not participate in, or\nintervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements),\nany political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate\nfor public office. The provisions of this paragraph regarding political\ncampaign activity shall be interpreted in the same manner as section\n501(c)(3) of the United States internal revenue code has been\ninterpreted as of the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two\nthousand nineteen that amended this paragraph;\n  (5) A post or organization of past or present members of the armed\nforces of the United States, or an auxiliary unit or society of, or a\ntrust or foundation for, any such post or organization:\n  (A) organized in this state,\n  (B) at least seventy-five percent of the members of which are past or\npresent members of the armed forces of the United States as defined in\nsection thirteen-a of the general construction law and substantially all\nof the other members of which are individuals who are cadets or are\nspouses, widows, widowers, ancestors, or lineal descendants of past or\npresent members of the armed forces of the United States or of cadets,\nand\n  (C) no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any\nprivate shareholder or individual.\n  (6) The following Indian nations or tribes residing in New York state:\nCayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Poospatuck, Saint Regis Mohawk, Seneca,\nShinnecock, Tonawanda and Tuscarora, where it is the purchaser, user or\nconsumer.\n  (7) A not-for-profit corporation operating as a health maintenance\norganization subject to the provisions of article forty-four of the\npublic health law.\n  (8) Cooperative and foreign corporations doing business in this state\npursuant to the rural electric cooperative law.\n  (9) A credit union, as defined in subdivision nine of section two of\nthe banking law, where it is the purchaser, user, or consumer, or where\nit is a vendor of services or property of a kind not ordinarily sold by\nprivate persons.\n  (b) Nothing in this section shall exempt:\n  (1) (i) retail sales of tangible personal property by any shop or\nstore operated by an organization described in paragraph (4), (5) or (6)\nof subdivision (a) of this section; (ii) sales, other than for resale,\nof services described in subdivision (b) or paragraph five of\nsubdivision (c) of section eleven hundred five of this article by that\norganization, whether or not at a shop or store; (iii) retail sales of\ntangible personal property and sales, other than for resale, of those\nservices by that organization, made with a degree of regularity,\nfrequency, and continuity by remote means, such as by telephone, the\ninternet, mail order or otherwise; or (iv) retail sales of tangible\npersonal property by lease or rental by that organization as lessor,\nwhether or not at a shop or store;\n  (2) sales of food or drink in or by a restaurant, tavern or other\nestablishment operated by an organization described in paragraph (1),\nparagraph (4), paragraph (5) or paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of this\nsection, other than sales exempt under paragraph (ii) of subdivision (d)\nof section eleven hundred five, from the taxes imposed hereunder, unless\nthe purchaser is an organization exempt under this section;\n  (3) sales of the service of providing parking, garaging or storing for\nmotor vehicles by an organization described in paragraph (4) or\nparagraph (5) of subdivision (a) of this section operating a garage\n(other than a garage which is part of premises occupied solely as a\nprivate one or two family dwelling), parking lot or other place of\nbusiness engaged in providing parking, garaging or storing for motor\nvehicles; or\n  (4) sales of tangible personal property or services by cooperative and\nforeign corporations doing business in this state pursuant to the rural\nelectric cooperative law, unless the purchaser is an organization exempt\nunder this section.\n  (5) purchases of motor fuel or diesel motor fuel from the tax required\nto be prepaid pursuant to section eleven hundred two of this article and\nretail sales of motor fuel or diesel motor fuel subject to the tax\nimposed by sections eleven hundred five and eleven hundred ten of this\narticle, except that purchases of such fuel by an organization described\nin paragraph one or two of subdivision (a) of this section for its own\nuse or consumption, purchases of motor fuel by a hospital included in\nthe organizations described in paragraph four of such subdivision for\nits own use and consumption, purchases of motor fuel and diesel motor\nfuel by a fire company or fire department, as defined in section three\nof the volunteer firefighters' benefit law or a voluntary ambulance\nservice, as defined in section three thousand one of the public health\nlaw, for such department, company or service's own use and consumption\nfor use in firefighting vehicles, apparatus or equipment, or emergency\nrescue or first aid response vehicles, apparatus or equipment, owned and\noperated by such department, company or service if such company,\ndepartment or service qualifies as an exempt organization pursuant to\nthe provisions of paragraph four of subdivision (a) of this section and\npurchases of diesel motor fuel by an organization described in paragraph\nfour of such subdivision for its own heating use and consumption shall\nbe exempt from such tax required to be prepaid and from retail sales and\nuse taxes on such fuel.\n  (6) purchases of cigarettes from the tax required to be prepaid\npursuant to section eleven hundred three of this article, except that no\nprepayment of tax shall be required on sales of cigarettes sold under\nsuch circumstances that this state is without power to impose such tax\nor sold to the United States or sold to or by a voluntary unincorporated\norganization of the armed forces of the United States operating a place\nfor sale of goods pursuant to regulations promulgated by the appropriate\nexecutive agency of the United States, to the extent provided in such\nregulations and written policy statements of such agency applicable to\nsuch sales.\n  (7) rent received by a hotel operated by a college or university,\nwhere such hotel offers one hundred or more rooms for occupancy, and\nwhere the individual paying said rent is not doing business on behalf of\nany organization exempted pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section.\n  (c) (1) Where any organization described in paragraph four of\nsubdivision (a) of this section carries on its activities in furtherance\nof the purposes for which it was organized, in premises in which, as\npart of said activities, it operates a hotel, occupancy of rooms in the\npremises and rents therefrom received by such corporation or association\nshall not be subject to tax hereunder.\n  (2) Nothing in this subdivision shall exempt any hotel operated by a\ncollege or university and which offers one hundred or more rooms for\noccupancy from collecting taxes imposed pursuant to section eleven\nhundred five of this article from individuals who are not doing business\non behalf of an organization exempted pursuant to subdivision (a) of\nthis section.\n  (d) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subdivision, any\nadmissions all of the proceeds of which inure exclusively to the benefit\nof the following organizations shall not be subject to any of the taxes\nimposed under subdivision (f) of section eleven hundred five:\n  (A) an organization described in paragraph (4), (5) or (6) of\nsubdivision (a) of this section;\n  (B) a society or organization conducted for the sole purpose of\nmaintaining symphony orchestras or operas and receiving substantial\nsupport from voluntary contributions; or\n  (C) national guard organizations; or\n  (D) a police or fire department of a political subdivision of the\nstate, or a voluntary fire or ambulance company, or exclusively to a\nretirement, pension or disability fund for the sole benefit of members\nof a police or fire department or to a fund for the heirs of such\nmembers.\n  (2) The exemption provided under paragraph (1) of this subdivision\nshall not apply in the case of admissions to:\n  (A) Any athletic game or exhibition unless the proceeds shall inure\nexclusively to the benefit of elementary or secondary schools or unless\nin the case of an athletic game between two elementary or secondary\nschools, the entire gross proceeds from such game shall inure to the\nbenefit of one or more organizations described in paragraph (4) of\nsubdivision (a) of this section;\n  (B) Carnivals or rodeos in which any professional performer or\noperator participates for compensation, unless the entire net profit\nfrom such carnival or rodeo shall inure exclusively to the benefit of an\norganization described in paragraph four of subdivision (a) of this\nsection, and such organization shall have as its charitable or\neducational purpose the operation of a school and of such a carnival or\nrodeo; or\n  (3) Admission charges for admission to the following places or events\nshall not be subject to any of the taxes imposed under subdivision (f)\nof section eleven hundred five:\n  (A) Any admission to agricultural fairs if no part of the net earnings\nthereof inures to the benefit of any stockholders or members of the\nassociation conducting the same; provided the proceeds therefrom are\nused exclusively for the improvement, maintenance and operation of such\nagricultural fairs.\n  (B) Any admission to a home or garden which is temporarily open to the\ngeneral public as a part of a program conducted by a society or\norganization to permit the inspection of historical homes and gardens;\nprovided no part of the net earnings thereof inures to the benefit of\nany private stockholder or individual.\n  (C) Any admissions to historic sites, houses and shrines, and museums\nconducted in connection therewith, maintained and operated by a society\nor organization devoted to the preservation and maintenance of such\nhistoric sites, houses, shrines and museums; provided no part of the net\nearnings thereof inures to the benefit of any private stockholder or\nindividual.\n  (e) Receipts from the service of trash removal shall be exempt from\nthe tax on such service imposed by this article, where such service is\nrendered by a municipal corporation of the state, other than a city of\none million or more, including such service rendered on its behalf,\nunder an agreement with such corporation.\n  (f)(1) For purposes of paragraph four of subdivision (a) of this\nsection, in the case of a qualified amateur sports organization (A) the\nrequirement of such paragraph that no part of its activities involve the\nprovision of athletic facilities or equipment shall not apply, and (B)\nsuch organization shall not fail to meet the requirement of such\nparagraph merely because its membership is local or regional in nature.\n  (2) For purposes of this subdivision, the term "qualified amateur\nsports organization" means any organization organized and operated\nexclusively to foster national or international amateur sports\ncompetition if such organization is also organized and operated\nprimarily to conduct national or international competition in sports or\nto support and develop amateur athletes for national or international\ncompetition in sports.\n  (g) For purposes of paragraph five of subdivision (a) of this section,\nduly authorized representatives of any such post or organization, while\nacting on behalf of such post or organization, shall not be subject to\nthe tax imposed under subdivision (e) of section eleven hundred five or\nthe unit fee imposed by section eleven hundred four of this article,\nprovided that such representatives provide an exempt organization\ncertificate from such post or organization certifying that such\nrepresentative is acting on its behalf.\n