Response
July 9, 1993
Request
April
30, 1993
Utah
State Tax Commission
160
East 300 South
Salt
Lake City, Utah 84134
Gentlemen
SUBJECT: Request for Declaratory
Judgement
XXXXX, located at above address, has recently completed a sales tax audit
supervised by your field auditor, XXXXX. During the course of this audit I was
informed by XXXXX that it was not necessary to collect sales tax on the use of
the public scales located at the Truck Stop. I have passed this information on
to the manager of the Truck Stop, but feel that in order to best protect our
interests it will be imperative that we have this information in writing for
future reference.
Thank you for your cooperation in this mater.
Sincerely
XXXXX
July
9, 1993
XXXXX
Re:
Declaratory Judgment - Sales Tax on Charges for Use of Weigh Scales
Dear
XXXXX:
This
letter is in response to your recent request for the Tax Commission to issue a
declaratory judgment that your charges for use of public weigh scales are not
subject to tax under the Utah Sales and Use Tax Act.
Although
your inquiry was framed as a request for a declaratory judgment, Tax Commission
policy is to initially treat all such inquiries as requests for advisory
opinions. As such, it was referred to the Tax Commission's Auditing Division
for their analysis and recommendations. The division's recommendations are as
follows:
1. It is assumed that the scales of concern are
permanently affixed at a specific location and are not portable.
2.
While charges for use of such public weigh scales are not specifically exempt
under the language of the statutes, such charges are exempt by exclusion from
the innumeration of transactions subject to tax under the act. Consequently,
you should not collect sales tax on charges for use of weigh scales.
3.
The rental of portable scales would, however, be subject to the tax.
Based
upon the facts presented in your letter, we are in agreement with the Auditing
Division recommendations. Obviously, if there deviations from these facts, this
opinion may be negated.
If
you do not agree with the determination, you may appeal to the Tax Commission
for a formal hearing. The results of that hearing would constitute a
declaratory judgment and be appealable to the Utah Supreme Court. A Notice of
Appeal Rights and a copy of the Utah Taxpayer Bill of Rights are attached.
For
the Commission,
Joe
B. Pacheco Commissioner