2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 44 - Taxation › Chapter 44-18.1 - Adoption of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement › Section 44-18.1-18. - Administration of exemptions.

§ 44-18.1-18. Administration of exemptions.
(A)
Each member state shall observe the following provisions when a purchaser claims an exemption:
(1)
The seller shall obtain identifying information of the purchaser and the reason for claiming a tax exemption at the time of the purchase as determined by the governing board.
(2)
A purchaser is not required to provide a signature to claim an exemption from tax unless a paper exemption certificate is used.
(3)
The seller shall use the standard form for claiming an exemption electronically as adopted by the governing board.
(4)
The seller shall obtain the same information for proof of a claimed exemption regardless of the medium in which the transaction occurred.
(5)
A member state may utilize a system wherein the purchaser exempt from the payment of the tax is issued an identification number that shall be presented to the seller at the time of the sale.
(6)
The seller shall maintain proper records of exempt transactions and provide them to a member state when requested.
(7)
A member state shall administer use-based and entity-based exemptions when practicable through a direct pay permit, an exemption certificate, or other means that does not burden sellers.
(8)
After December 31, 2007, in the case of drop shipment sales, member states must allow a third party vendor (e.g., drop shipper) to claim a resale exemption based on an exemption certificate provided by its customer/re-seller or any other acceptable information available to the third party vendor evidencing qualification for a resale exemption, regardless of whether the customer/re-seller is registered to collect and remit sales and use tax in the state where the sale is sourced.
(B)
Each member state shall relieve sellers that follow the requirements of this section from the tax otherwise applicable if it is determined that the purchaser improperly claimed an exemption and to hold the purchaser liable for the nonpayment of tax. This relief from liability does not apply to a seller who fraudulently fails to collect the tax; to a seller who solicits purchasers to participate in the unlawful claim of an exemption; to a seller who accepts an exemption certificate when the purchaser claims an entity-based exemption when (1) the subject of the transactions sought to be covered by the exemption certificate is actually received by the purchaser at a location operated by the seller and (2) the state in which that location resides provides an exemption certificate that clearly and affirmatively indicates (graying out exemption reason types on the uniform form and posting it on a state’s web site is an indicator) that the claimed exemption is not available in that state.
(C)
Each state shall relieve a seller of the tax otherwise applicable if the seller obtains a fully completed exemption certificate or captures the relevant data elements required under the Agreement within 90 days subsequent to the date of sale.
(1)
If the seller has not obtained an exemption certificate or all relevant data elements as provided in § 44-18.1-18, subsection (C) the seller may, within 120 days subsequent to a request for substantiation by a member state, either prove that the transaction was not subject to tax by other means or obtain a fully completed exemption certificate from the purchaser, taken in good faith. For purposes of this section, member states may continue to apply their own standards of good faith until such time as a uniform standard for good faith is defined in the Agreement.
(2)
Nothing in this section shall affect the ability of member states to require purchasers to update exemption certificate information or to reapply with the state to claim certain exemptions.
(3)
Notwithstanding the aforementioned, each member state shall relieve a seller of the tax otherwise applicable if it obtains a blanket exemption certificate for a purchaser with which the seller has a recurring business relationship. States may not request from the seller renewal of blanket certificates or updates of exemption certificate information or data elements when there is a recurring business relationship between the buyer and seller. For purposes of this section a recurring business relationship exists when a period of no more than twelve months elapses between sales transactions.
History of Section.
P.L. 2006, ch. 246, art. 30, § 12; P.L. 2007, ch. 6, § 6.