Virginia Administrative Code › Title 23 - TAXATION › Agency 10 - DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION › Chapter 210 - RETAIL SALES AND USE TAX › Section 23VAC10-210-3010 - Printing

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Definitions. The
				following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following
				meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Administrative supplies" mean, but are not limited to,
				  letterhead, envelopes and other stationery, invoices, billing forms, payroll
				  forms, price lists, time cards, computer cards, certificates, business cards,
				  diplomas and awards. The term also includes supplies for internal use by the
				  purchaser, such as menus, calendars, datebooks, desk reminders, appointment
				  books, employee newsletters, and other house organs.
"Consumer printing" means the production or fabrication of
				  printed matter for one's own use or consumption and not for resale.
"Custom printing" means the production or fabrication of
				  printed matter in accordance with a customer's order of copy for the customer's
				  use or consumption.
"Publisher printing" means the printing of books,
				  newspapers, magazines or other periodicals for sale or resale by the
				  publisher-printer and includes the printing of a "publication" as defined in
				  23VAC10-210-1060 which is
				  distributed free of charge.
B. Generally. The printing of tangible
				personal property for sale or resale is deemed to be industrial manufacturing.
				Therefore, to the extent relevant, the provisions of
				23VAC10-210-320 apply to printing
				except as otherwise noted.
C.
				Custom printing.
Sales and purchases. Unless otherwise noted, the sale of
				  custom printing represents a taxable sale of tangible personal property. The
				  tax is computed on the total invoice charge made on the transaction. The total
				  invoice charge includes the charge made for any engraved, lithoplated, or other
				  type photoprocessed plate, die, or mat involved in the printing and includes
				  the charge made for printing and imprinting when the customer furnishes the
				  printing stock. The printer must add the amount of the tax to the invoice
				  charge.
Purchases by the printer of items which become part of the
				  printed matter for sale or resale are not subject to the tax. Examples of such
				  property include ink, printing stock, staples, stapling wire, binding twine,
				  and glue. Purchases by the printer of items used directly in the production of
				  tangible personal property for sale or resale are similarly not subject to the
				  tax. Examples of such items include engraved, photoprocessed, lithoplated, or
				  any other type of plate, die or mat, machinery and tools and their replacement
				  parts, blotting papers, drying papers, and typesetting.
D. Consumer printing. Consumer printing is
				not the production of printed matter for sale or resale. Therefore, the tax
				applies to all purchases by persons engaged in consumer printing, except as
				provided in subsections G and H of this section.
E. Publisher printing.
Sales and purchases. A publisher-printer making retail sales
				  of books, etc., must add the tax to the charge. He must register as a dealer
				  and collect and pay the tax. But the sale of any publication issued daily, or
				  regularly at average intervals not exceeding three months is exempt from the
				  tax, except as to the newsstand sales thereof (see
				  23VAC10-210-1060 ).
The tax applies to purchases by publisher-printers in the
				  same manner as that set forth in subsection C relating to custom printing. The
				  manufacturing exemption set forth in
				  23VAC10-210-920 applies to the
				  necessary ancillary activities of newspaper and magazine printing when such
				  activities are performed by the publisher of any newspaper or magazine defined
				  as a publication under
				  23VAC10-210-1060.
F. Materials furnished to
				printers. The tax does not apply to paper, ink, and other materials furnished
				to a printer that will become component or ingredient parts of products
				fabricated by the printer. Materials, such as photographs and plates, that are
				furnished by customers, but do not become a part of the printer's finished
				product, are taxable.
G. Catalogs
				and other printed advertising materials. The tax does not apply to catalogs and
				other printed materials when distributed for use outside the state after
				storage in Virginia for one year or less. The tax also does not apply to the
				envelopes, containers, and labels used to package and mail the catalogs and
				printed materials exempted above. This exemption applies to materials printed
				for one's own use or consumption as well as materials printed for sale or
				resale, provided that such materials are used outside the state after storage
				here for less than one year.
For a more detailed description of the statutory exemption
				  for catalogs and other printed advertising materials, including a description
				  of the materials qualifying for exemption, see regulation
				  23VAC10-210-260.
H.
				Letters, brochures, reports and similar printed materials. From July 1, 1986,
				to June 30, 1990, letters, brochures, reports, and similar printed materials
				(except "administrative supplies" as defined in subsection A of this section,
				are exempt from the tax when stored for 12 months or less in Virginia and
				mailed to or distributed outside of Virginia. Neither does the tax apply to the
				envelopes, containers, and labels used to package and mail the materials
				exempted as well as materials printed for sale or resale.
Administrative supplies as defined in subsection A of this
				  section, are subject to the tax when sold at retail. The only administrative
				  supplies that are not taxable are those that become an integral part of the
				  exempt printed materials described above and in subsection G of this section.
				  For example, letterhead upon which fundraising or promotional letters are
				  printed, return envelopes enclosed with fundraising letters, and price lists
				  enclosed within catalogs advertising tangible personal property for sale or
				  resale are not taxable.
When stored in Virginia for 12 months or less and mailed to
				  or distributed outside of Virginia, the following printed materials are exempt
				  from the tax:
Fund raising and promotional letters, circulars, folders,
				  brochures, and pamphlets, including those for charitable, political, and
				  religious purposes;
Corporate stockholder meeting notices;
Proxy materials and enclosed proxy cards;
Meeting and convention promotional materials;
A business prospectus;
Corporate monthly, quarterly, and annual stockholder
				  reports;
Announcements, invitations, and informational pieces for
				  external promotional purposes;
Greeting cards, brochures, menus, calendars, datebooks, desk
				  reminders, appointment books, art prints, and posters for external promotional
				  purposes; and
Printed point-of-purchase sales devices, including display
				  racks, animated and action pieces, posters and banners.
The foregoing list is merely illustrative of exempt printed
				  items and is not designed to be all inclusive.
I. Sales of printing to customers outside of
				Virginia. The sale and delivery of printing from a Virginia printer to a
				customer outside the Commonwealth is not taxable, provided the conditions set
				forth in 23VAC10-210-780 on interstate
				commerce are met. Except as provided in subsections F and G of this section;
				however, the delivery to a customer of printing in Virginia by any means is
				taxable. For example, a taxable transaction occurs when an out-of-state
				customer sends a truck into Virginia to pick up materials sold to him by a
				Virginia printer. The tax would not be due in a similar situation, however, if
				the printer shipped the materials to the out-of-state customer by common
				carrier or the U.S. mail. When a customer purchases printing and directs the
				printer to ship materials to the customer's business location both within and
				without Virginia, the tax is applicable only to the materials delivered to the
				Virginia locations. On the other hand, the tax is applicable in full when
				printing is delivered to a central storage facility in Virginia for subsequent
				distribution to facilities outside the Commonwealth, except as otherwise noted
				in subsections F and G of this section.
J. Sales for resale. Sales of printing to
				customers for resale by them are not taxable, provided that the printer is
				furnished a resale exemption certificate by the purchaser. An example of an
				exempt sale for resale is the sale of labels that will be affixed to canned
				goods, clothing, or other items of tangible personal property that will be sold
				to consumers. Also exempt are bags, boxes, and other printed materials used to
				package products for sale or resale.
K. Photocopying. The sale of photocopies and
				photostats represents the taxable sale of tangible personal property. "Quick
				printers" and persons operating photocopy or photostating machines primarily
				for the reproduction of copy furnished by customers are not industrial
				manufacturers and are not entitled to exemption from the tax on machinery and
				tools used in their businesses. Such persons may purchase exempt from the tax
				only those items, such as paper, that will become ingredient or component parts
				of the finished products they sell. The application of the tax to photocopying
				is also described in
				23VAC10-210-2050.
For publications, see
				  23VAC10-210-1060; for
				  manufacturers, see
				  23VAC10-210-1060; for typesetting,
				  see 23VAC10-210-6020.
Statutory Authority
§§ 58.1-203, 58.1-609.3(2)(v), and 58.1-609.6(4)
					 of the Code of Virginia.