Sales and Use Tax

Sales and Use Tax

The University as a non-profit organization is exempt from federal income taxes. Sales and use tax is governed by state law requiring separate applications for each state. Applying for tax exemption is costly and burdensome; therefore, the University completed and holds sales tax exemptions in the states where the most purchases are from. These are:

If you plan to incur expenses using the University's MasterCard purchase card, please contact Accounts Payable prior to purchase. The Accounts Payable office will provide you with state-specific exemption forms.

If you are purchasing from a state that is not listed above, you may be able to use the Ohio tax-exemption form. In this situation it is the vendor’s decision alone to either accept or decline the Ohio form.

Sales Tax on the Purchase of Goods and Services

The Accounts Payable Office supplies tax exemption forms for the purchase of goods and services when processing purchase orders.

Sales Tax Exemption for Meals and Lodging

Certain, but not all, lodging and meal expenses incurred while traveling on University business may be exempt from state sales tax. If you plan to incur meals and/or lodging expenses in one of the above-listed states, please contact Accounts Payable prior to travel.

Taxes and charges that are not exempt using these forms include: destination, resort, or marketing charges or special state and local hotel-only taxes.

Note: In order to obtain exemption, the University must make the payment directly to the hotel or restaurant using a University MasterCard purchasing card or check. The sales tax exemption will not apply if a traveler makes the payment using a personal credit card.

Sales Tax Exemption with Certain Retailers

The University, because of vendor policy, has special tax-exempt cards for certain retailers. To receive tax-exemption for purchases you are required to use ID cards from the vendor. These retailers are:

If you plan to purchase from one of the above-listed retailers, please contact Accounts Payable prior to purchase. These retailers’ ID cards are good at any of their stores nationwide.

International Sales Tax

Most countries have sales and use tax on purchases of goods, services, meals, and lodging. These taxes are known by various names, such as Value Added Tax (VAT) in most of Europe and Asia, and Goods and Services Tax (GST) or Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in Canada, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. When you are traveling or purchasing products for the University internationally, the University is liable for these taxes in all cases; there are no exemptions.