state sales tax

[maple flats]

In NYS just ask for a farmer exemption certificate or better yet go online to NYS tax forms and print up some forms to have with you. When you fill out a form for each vender you buy from, check the box that says Blanket Certificate. This should apply to all producers who are "trying to make a profit" and show your sales/expenses on your taxes. Hobby maplers who do not sell or who do not want to keep records can not claim exemption. Make note that you do not need to show a profit to be considered trying to make a profit. Please note, I am not an accountant nor attorney nor do I play one on TV.

[svharper]

In WV, you fill out a tax exempt form at each business location and they keep it on file so it is in the system for each susequent purchases.

So if in WV maple syrup is tax exempt, how do we file it?

[nymapleguy607]

Be careful with the tax exempt in NY because a I believe that you need to show something like $10,000 in sales over a 2 year period.

[maple flats]

Wrong, you only need to show $10,000 in sales (not profit) to qualify for agricultural assessment. To file a farmer's exempt in NY you only need to file a form F, farm income/loss on your federal taxes. There is no minimum amount required. That being said, if you don't show a profit in 3 sucessive years you may be subject to audit and declared a hobby farm. Hobby farms are not entitled to the farm exempt purchases.
I however had about 8 yrs in a row where a loss was filed and I had no audit. Losses are still more frequent than profits, but after equipment has been depreciated fully that will not be the case.
To claim farmer exempt in NYS you just need to file a form ST 125 with the vendor. You must fill it out completely (only takes about a minute) and give it to the vendor. You can fill it out for a single purchase or blanket purchases. If you file the blanket option it need to be renewed periodically, something like every 3 or 5 years. The vendor will ask for a new one when they need it. The vendor only keeps the form in their file in case they get audited by the sales tax people. Then they must show why they charged no sales tax on any exempt purchases.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

I had the unfortunate experience of going to a big box store that begins with LOWES having my form all filled out. They would not accept my form said it had to be on their form and proceeded to hand me a form just like the state form I had just given to them. They then demanded to see my "certificate" with my tax exempt number on it. (I have no idea if I ever had such a certificate or where it might be after 45 years of farming and being tax exempt). After being refused tax exemption, I left several thousand $'s in purchases at the desk and refuse to go into that store!

[sapman]

[QUOTE=Thompson's Tree Farm;226892. After being refused tax exemption, I left several thousand $'s in purchases at the desk and refuse to go into that store![/QUOTE]

Good for you! That's why those places suck. Can't think outside the boxes they create, not even understanding they don't have the facts correct.

[maple flats]

There is no number available, just your signature on the form. Farm exempt gets no number, tax exempt non farm organizations are the ones who get an exempt number.

[Clarkfield Farms]

From the New York Farm Bureau's website: "...The process works by the farmer submitting the completed form ST-125 to a vendor within 90 days of a transaction (this can either be a blanket form for multiple purchases or a one time purchase form). The form is a claim by the farmer that the items being purchased do not need to have sales tax charged. The vendor keeps this form and all receipts of the farm's purchases on file to verify to Tax & Finance thatsales tax did not need to be collected on the purchases. The Department always has the option of auditing the farm to ensure the purchases were truly eligible for the exemption. It is the farm's responsibility to demonstrate that the exemption is appropriately being utilized.

"Nothing requires the vendor to accept the exemption. If a vendor feels an individual is not qualified and therefore does not extend the exemption, the farmer can either pay the tax up-front and file for a refund from NYS or take the business elsewhere.

"If a farm files for a refund, form AU-11 needs to be completed. It can take up to four months for a refund to be returned to the farm."

Yeah, may have to avoid Lowe's from now on.

[delivron]

New York Farm Exemption Certificate can be downloaded at this location. http://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/current_forms/st/st125.pdf As previously stated you must have gross receipts of $10,000 for your farm. In general the farmer is responsible to verify this to the tax department in event of an audit. And a farmer does not have a resale certificate number like typically associated with any other type of business.