ST 1999-03 - Purchases by Government Employees - Revised
January, 1999
The purpose of this release is to reiterate the Department of
Taxation's position on the taxability of transactions with
government employees.
Purchases of tangible personal property and selected services
made by federal, state, or local government employees (who
will later seek reimbursement from their government employer)
are subject to the Ohio sales or use tax, since the employee
is considered the purchaser not
the government. For example, government employees who travel
on official government business and seek reimbursement for
lodging, meals, or other travel expenses; office supplies;
etc. must pay sales tax on these purchases and seek recovery
of the amounts paid, including the sales tax.
Purchases made by and charged to a federal, state, or local
government account are considered sales to the government
entity. Sales to the federal government, the State of Ohio or
any of its political subdivisions, or to any other state or
its political subdivisions that grant a similar exemption to
the State of Ohio or any of its political subdivisions are
not subject to the Ohio sales or use tax even though the
goods or services are picked-up or used by a government
employee. The invoice or bill of sale must clearly indicate
that the sale was to the government entity.
Some federal employees have been given special credit cards
for the purpose of purchasing selected goods or services for
official federal business purposes. These special credit
cards are embossed with "U S GOVT TAX
EXEMPT" and the employee's name. Additionally, these
special credit cards contain specific codes within the card
number (for the "fleet" and "purchase" cards, the first four
digits will be 4486, 4716, 5568, or 8699 and for the "travel"
cards, the first four digits will be 4486, 4716 or 5568, with
the sixth digit being 0, 6, 7, 8 or 9) which identify the
purchase as one made by the Federal Government. Since the
Federal Government (and not the employee) is considered to be
the purchaser, purchases made with the special credit card
are not subject to the Ohio sales/use tax.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, you should
call us at 1-888-405-4039.
OHIO RELAY SERVICES FOR
THE HEARING OR SPEECH IMPAIRED
Phone: 1-800-750-0750