Search Category: Producers

Recordkeeping for Printing and Publishing

You must keep records of all the purchases and sales your business makes. You must have a valid seller’s permit and your records must show that you properly collected, reported and forwarded taxes to Idaho. Learn how to register for a free permit on our Idaho Business Registration Information page.

Records you must keep

  • Normal books of account. (Books of account can include information stored on computers.)
  • Documents that support entries in the books of account.
    Examples:
    • Bills
    • Receipts
    • Invoices
    • Cash register tapes
    • Job or work orders
    • Contracts
    • All schedules or working papers used to prepare your tax returns
  • All records of sales (and credit granted for returned items).
  • Purchases.
  • Tax returns.
  • Tax payments.
  • Copies of Form ST-101, Sales Tax Resale or Exemption Certificate, for all exempt buyers.
    Note: Keep buyers’ exemption certificates for as long as you do business with those buyers, plus four years. We’ll bill you for tax due if you don’t have completed exemption certificates for buyers you sell to tax exempt.

What the records must show

  • Gross receipts from sales and services made in Idaho, even sales that you or your customer might consider exempt from tax. If you deliver the product or service somewhere other than your place of business, you also must keep records that prove where delivery took place.
  • The identity of customers claiming an exemption, the type of exemption, and what you sold them tax exempt.
  • All deductions claimed in filing returns.
  • The total purchase price of anything bought for sale, rental, lease, or your own use.
  • The amount of sales tax collected from your customer or that you paid to a vendor.
  • Sales Tax Resale or Exemption Certificate, for all exempt buyers.
    Note: Keep buyers’ exemption certificates for as long as you do business with those buyers, plus four years. We’ll bill you for tax due if you don’t have completed exemption certificates for buyers you sell to tax exempt.

You must keep all sales and use tax records for at least four years. You should keep records for seven years if you don’t file returns.

Buying Goods for Resale – Printing and Publishing

Buying if you qualify for the production exemption

You can buy certain goods exempt if you qualify for the production exemption. But you must carefully evaluate your purchases to see if they’re exempt when you’re a printer making and selling a mixture of both tangible personal property and non-tangible pesonal property (e.g., digital media).

Purchases that can qualify

Examples of items that might qualify for the exemption:
  • Computer hardware and software that operate production equipment
  • Film processors
  • Photo printing equipment
  • Typesetting equipment
  • Cameras
  • Contact frames
  • Plate burners and processors
  • Step-and-repeat machines
  • Color-key proofing systems
  • Laminated proofing systems
  • Offset and letter presses
  • Cutters to size material before printing and in the bindery process
  • Stitchers, trimmers, folders, gluers, drills, punches and binders used in the bindery process
  • Paper, ink and other supplies which become part of the product
  • Chemicals, catalysts and other materials that make your product more marketable
  • Copiers
To buy qualifying items exempt, give the seller a completed pdf Form ST-101, Sales Tax Resale or Exemption Certificate.

Purchases that don't qualify

Examples of items you must pay tax on when you buy them:

  • Air compressors used to clean production equipment
  • Equipment used in maintenance and repair activities
  • Equipment and supplies used in selling and distribution activities
  • Office equipment and supplies
  • Cleaning supplies
  • Coffee, coffee cups

Free newspapers

Certain equipment and materials used directly and primarily to produce free newspapers are exempt. The equipment and materials must be essential to the publication of free newspapers. A publication qualifies as a free newspaper if all of the following apply:
  • Its largest source of revenue comes from advertising.
  • Its content has at least 10% informative material that doesn’t produce income.*
  • It’s produced in a newspaper format, as defined by Sales Tax Rule 127.
  • It’s publicly distributed without charge.
The buyer must give you a completed pdf Form ST-101, Sales Tax Resale or Exemption Certificate.

Percentage computed on an average annual column inch basis.

Vending machines

If you operate a self-service copier, you might be able to buy it exempt. An automated device that sells taxable goods and accepts only legal money as payment is exempt. This includes devices that allow customers to print photocopies or photographs when they insert legal money into the machine. Legal money means coins, bills, debit cards or credit cards.

The operator of a vending machine must follow special rules related to sales tax on sales from the vending machine. See Vending Machines and Retailers.

To buy the vending machine exempt, give the seller a completed pdf Form ST-101, Sales Tax Resale or Exemption Certificate.

Read more in our Vending Machines guide.

Printing and Publishing Exemption

Qualifying for the production exemption

If you manufacture, process or fabricate goods that you’ll sell, you might qualify to buy some equipment and supplies without paying sales or use tax. Read more in our Production Exemption guide.

Historically, many printers qualified for this exemption because they primarily produced tangible personal property for resale. Tangible personal property means something you can feel, see and touch. Today, some printers primarily produce digital goods that aren’t tangible personal property. Those printers no longer qualify for the exemption.

Tangible property a printer produces

Examples:

  • Printed products
    • Photographs
    • Posters, flyers and printed promotional items
    • Newspapers and magazines
  • Products sold on physical storage media
    • Photographs on a portable storage drive
    • Posters, flyers and other promotional materials on a secure digital card
    • Magazines or newspapers on a thumb drive

Items a printer produces that aren’t tangible personal property

Examples:

  • Newspapers or magazines that are accessed online only
  • Digital photographs delivered electronically
  • Leased or rented digital products (leasing and renting are not a permanent right to use)
  • Information stored in and accessed only from an electronic medium — other than digital products (see above)

Printers that qualify for the production exemption

If more than 50% of your business operation is devoted to producing tangible personal property for sale, you can buy certain equipment and supplies exempt. You must primarily and directly use the necessary and essential equipment and supplies to produce tangible personal property for sale.

Separately operated business segment

A portion of your business might qualify for the production exemption if it’s a separately operated business segment that’s primarily printing products for resale. To qualify, you must keep separate accounting records for that business segment. This includes separately recording income, expenses, wages and assets of the business segment. You also must have employees primarily dedicated to operating the separate business segment.

Printers that don't qualify for the production exemption

If more than 50% of your business operation isn’t producing tangible personal property for sale, you don’t qualify for the production exemption. You must pay sales tax on all items you buy.

Exceptions:

  • You buy an item that isn’t taxable (e.g., downloaded computer software).
  • You’ll resell the item.

Printing and Publishing Sales

Sales

The total amount you charge for most printed materials is taxable. This includes what you charge for labor and services to make a finished product, even if the materials are owned by your customer.

Taxable sales

As a printer, you’ll charge tax on such things as:

  • Artwork printed on a physical item (e.g., mugs, T-shirts) or delivered on physical storage media
  • Printing or imprinting on a physical material
  • Digital books, when the buyer has a permanent right to use
  • Mats and matting services
  • Typography
  • Binding and finishing services
  • Setting and composition charges, both by hand and machine
  • Design fees that are included in making a finished product (e.g., stationery, business cards, signs)
    Note: If you only charge a fee to create a design (e.g., logo) for your customer — without anything else — it’s not taxable since there’s no transfer of tangible personal property
  • Engraving
    Note: You must charge tax on engraving fees even if the item you’re working on is the customer’s own property.
  • Author’s alterations and corrections (e.g., design, content)
  • Vending machine sales from a machine the customer operates (e.g., self-service photocopiers, printers, engraving machines)

Nontaxable sales

Some services related to mailing printed materials aren’t taxable. These services include:

  • Addressing
  • Stamping
  • Supplying or attaching government postage
  • Sealing
  • Inserting or wrapping property into direct-mail advertising

Sales of advertising spots that are displayed or circulated in your newspaper or magazine aren’t taxable.

You must list these charges separately on the customer’s invoice, or the charges are taxable.

Exempt sales

Sales to manufacturers, producers or wholesalers

Manufacturers, producers and wholesalers can buy the following without paying tax:

  • Labels or name plates (including the printing on them) when used to put on their own product or container
  • Items that accompany manufactured products when sold to the ultimate consumer (e.g., packing inserts, individual folding boxes, setup boxes)
  • Items supplied to the customer when the product is sold (e.g., direction sheets, instruction books, manuals, pamphlets)

Sales to Idaho or U.S. government agencies

Sales billed to and paid directly by the U.S. federal government or an Idaho government agency (state, county or city) are exempt. They can pay the charges by check, credit card or cash. The qualifying agency must give you a completed pdf Form ST-101, Sales Tax Resale or Exemption Certificate. Or, when they pay with cash, they can use a pdf Form ST-104G, Sales Tax Exemption Claim for Cash Purchases by Government Agencies.

Sales to exempt organizations

Qualifying organizations can buy printed items exempt when they pay or are billed for it directly. The sale is taxable if employees pay the charges themselves, even if they are later reimbursed by an exempt organization. Qualified organizations are listed in Idaho Code section 63-3622O and on pdf Form ST-101, Sales Tax Resale or Exemption Certificate. The organization must give you a completed Form ST-101.

Sales to certain nonprofits

Sales of printed literature to a nonprofit can qualify for the exemption if all of these apply:

  • The nonprofit both publishes and sells the literature.
  • Profits of the organization don’t benefit any private person or shareholder.
  • The literature is in one of the following formats:
    • Books
    • Periodicals
    • Pamphlets
    • Tracts
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Machine-readable media

The nonprofit must give you a completed pdf Form ST-101, Sales Tax Resale or Exemption Certificate.

Printing and Publishing Laws and Rules

Learn more about printing and publishing:

Printing and Publishing Basics Guide

This guide explains Idaho sales and use tax for commercial printers. Commercial printers are retailers who produce printed materials that they’ll sell. This guide refers to commercial printers and publishers as “printers.”

As a printer, you must have a valid seller’s permit, collect sales tax, file a sales tax return and forward the tax to the Tax Commission. See our Retailers guide for information about getting an Idaho seller’s permit, doing business in Idaho and much more.

Income tax note: For multistate income tax apportionment, see Income Tax Rule 580.01.f.

Laws and Rules for Mining

Learn more about mining:

Learn more about Idaho tax statutes 

Learn more about our Rules 

Purchases that Qualify for the Mining Exemption

Purchase Requirements

An item qualifies for the exemption, if it meets all of the following requirements:

  • Primarily used in the mining process. (See Idaho Code section 63-3607A.)
  • Necessary or essential – you can’t remove or process ore without it.
  • Directly used in or consumed during mining or ore processing – after the beginning and before the end of the process:
    • The mining process begins when you start to develop a known ore deposit
    • The process ends when the ore is at the later point of
      – When you place it in storage, even temporarily, to be prepared for shipment or
      – When the ore’s ready to be sold in its final form
  • Tangible personal property – must not become real property
  • Allowable by law – must not be specifically excluded from the mining production exemption by law or rule

Exempt Purchases — Mining

The production exemption lists items that are exempt from tax. Qualifying miners can also buy the following items exempt:

Note: There are separate sections for underground mining and for above-ground and open pit mining.

 

Underground mining

Equipment and supplies used to develop a mine with known ore deposits

  • Diamond drills and attachments
  • Levels, laterals, crosscuts, drifts, stopes, raises, and shafts

Note: Equipment, supplies, and materials used in exploration activities aren’t exempt.

Mine support materials

Timbers, rock bolts, concrete, matting

Slushing and mucking equipment

Used to convey broken ore and waste to passes and chutes

  • Slushers, muckers, scrapers
  • Loaders, hoists
  • Backhoes used to recover ore and waste

Equipment used for drilling blast holes

  • Pneumatic rock drills
  • Air compressors that supply compressed air to operate pneumatic drills

Extraction and retrieval equipment

Used to extract the minerals and ore from the mine

  • Blasting supplies: explosives, caps, fuses
  • Loaders, backhoes, and similar earthmoving equipment

Equipment used to move ore, waste, and people from the mine to the surface

  • Haulage equipment
    • Locomotives, cars, batteries
    • Tracks and supplies
    • Ore dumps and bins
  • Electrical distribution systems, including light signals
  • Vertical and horizontal support and transport
    • Skips, hoists, hoist cables
    • Shafts, shaft timbers, shaft pockets, shaft guides
    • Concrete

Backfilling equipment used to backfill mined-out areas

  • Pumps, including sumps
  • Pipes
  • Concrete
  • Supplies

Quality control equipment and supplies

  • Assaying
  • Sampling

Safety equipment and supplies

If required by a state or federal agency and if used in the production area

  • Hard hats
  • Miners’ lights
  • Belts
  • Batteries

Pollution control equipment, supplies, and materials

If they:

  • Are required* to meet air and water quality standards
  • Become part of the pollution control equipment, or
  • Are used to operate the pollution control equipment, or
  • Are used to treat the effluent from the mining process.

* The standards must be set by a state or federal agency that has authority to set them.

Note: Pollution control materials or equipment that become part of real property may also be exempt for mining companies that qualify for the production exemption. (See Idaho Code section 63-3622X.)

Examples of pollution control equipment that aren’t exempt:

  • A building or other structure that merely houses the equipment
  • Construction equipment used to build or install pollution control equipment

Aboveground, open pit mining

Blasting and drilling equipment

Used to loosen or remove ore and overburden

  • Track drills, rotary drills
  • Drill rods, drill bits
  • Compressors to operate drills

Extraction and removal equipment

Used to remove loosened ore and overburden from the pit

  • Loaders
  • Excavators
  • Backhoes
  • Power shovels

Haulage equipment

Used to move ore and overburden to stockpiles, loading sites, or disposal sites at the mine

  • Heavy equipment
  • Transport equipment
    • Scrapers, carryalls
    • Off-highway trucks and trailers
    • Conveyors

Equipment used for sorting, grading, sizing, and crushing ore and overburden

  • Bulldozers
  • Loaders
  • Crushers
  • Conveyors
    • Grading
    • Sorting
    • Sizing
    • Crushing

Pollution control equipment, supplies, and materials

If they:

  • Are required* to meet air and water quality standards
  • Become part of the pollution control equipment, or
  • Are used to operate the pollution control equipment, or
  • Are used to treat the effluent from the mining process.

* The standards must be set by a state or federal agency that has authority to set them.

Note: Pollution control materials or equipment that become part of real property may also be exempt for mining companies that qualify for the production exemption. (See Idaho Code section 63-3622X.)

Examples of pollution control equipment that aren’t exempt:

  • A building or other structure that merely houses the equipment
  • Construction equipment used to build or install pollution control equipment

Sales by or to Miners

Selling the goods you produce by mining or processing ore for sale

Wholesalers

If you only sell goods to a customer who will resell them, you may be a wholesaler. Read more in our Wholesalers guide.

Retailers

If you sell to a final consumer, you might be a retailer. Read more in our Retailers guide.

Examples of sales you must collect tax on if you’re a retailer:

  • Selling gravel to a contractor or employee
  • Selling ore to collectors who don’t resell them
  • Selling equipment or promotional items to customers who don’t resell them

Don’t charge tax if the goods you’re selling are:

Vendors that sell to miners

  • If you sell to miners, don’t charge sales tax on exempt items if the miner gives you a completed exemption certificate (e.g., ST-101).
  • If you have a completed certificate on file, don’t collect sales tax on exempt sales to the miner in the future.

Note: Not everything is exempt for miners. You must charge tax on items that aren’t exempt from sales tax. Read more on making sales in our Retailers guide.

Exemption Certificates – Mining

To buy an item exempt from sales tax, give the seller a completed exemption certificate.

ST-101, Idaho Resale or Exemption Certificate

pdf Form ST-101 – Sales Tax Resale or Exemption Certificate

Fill in the form:

  1. Write the name and address of both the seller and your business at the top.
  2. In section 2 “Producer Exemptions,” check the box for the producer exemption(s) you qualify for.
  3. List any products you produce on the line at the bottom of section 2.
  4. Under “Buyer,” at the bottom of the page, sign the form. Fill in the rest of the fields (name, title, EIN or driver’s license information, and date).
  5. The seller should keep the form and not charge you tax on exempt items in the future.

Optional short version of ST-101

  • Retailers can print or stamp a short version of the ST-101 on sales invoices, or
  • Buyers can print the short version on their purchase orders.
  • This shorter version must be completed for each sale. The wording must be:

I certify that the property I’ve purchased will be used by me directly and primarily in the process of producing tangible personal property by mining, manufacturing, processing, fabricating, or farming, or as a repair part for equipment used primarily as described above. This tax exemption qualifies if this statement is signed by the buyer and the name, address, and nature of the buyer’s business are shown on the invoice. Any person who signs this certification with the intention of evading payment of tax is guilty of a misdemeanor.

[Indicate spaces for NATURE OF BUSINESS and SIGNATURE OF BUYER]

Retailers should keep a copy of the sales invoice showing the stamped or printed exemption.

Multijurisdictional

You can use the Uniform Sales and Use Tax Certificate – Multijurisdiction when you buy from out-of-state businesses that are registered Idaho retailers instead of Form ST-101 if:

  • You’re a multi-state taxpayer, and
  • You’ll resell the goods you buy

Instructions:

  1. Write the name and address of both the seller and your business at the top.
  2. Check the box for “Retailer” if you sell to end users or “Wholesaler” if you sell to buyers who’ll resell the goods.
  3. Write your Idaho seller’s permit number in the ID section.
  4. Sign and fill in the bottom of the form.
  5. The seller should keep the form and not charge you tax in the future.

Note: Everything you buy using the Multijurisdiction exemption certificate is exempt because you can use it only for goods you’ll resell.

Remember: Even if you buy from a seller that has your exemption certificate, not everything is exempt.

  • Some items are always taxable.
  • Some items are taxable if they’re not used in qualifying activities.