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Capital Improvements……………..

EricPaulson | Posted in Business on July 2, 2009 03:24am

If I do a Capital Improvement on a clients home, I am to get a signed cert from them and keep one on file.

Now, from my subs……….I am getting a little confoosed.

Plumber sends me a certificate to be signed. He filled in my name and address in the section for where the cap imp took place. i signed it and returned it.

Shower door guy comes out and hands me a COD with tax on it. I asked him about it and he is checking into it.

Electrician just sent me a bill with no tax added.

Can you guys help me clarify this?

 

 

“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.” — Sherlock Holmes, 1896

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Replies

  1. User avater
    jonblakemore | Jul 02, 2009 06:19pm | #1

    Is this a NY requirement?

     

    Jon Blakemore

    RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

    1. User avater
      EricPaulson | Jul 02, 2009 07:17pm | #3

      Yes, it is a NY thing. If you install products that are not considered portable in to a home it is considered a Cap. Imp. and thus no sales tax is collected or paid. 

       

      "When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking." — Sherlock Holmes, 1896

      1. frammer52 | Jul 02, 2009 08:52pm | #4

        Eric, they used to give us a list of what is capital and what is not, to make things easier.  Have you looked at the Dept of tax web page?

  2. User avater
    Gene_Davis | Jul 02, 2009 06:49pm | #2

    I was never able to understand the tiering down aspect of this, and I was unable to get any of the stooges in Albany to explain it to me.

    Furthermore, I had some suppliers that refused to acknowledge it, and insisted on charging sales tax.

    Good luck!

     

    View Image

    "A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."

    Gene Davis        1920-1985

  3. User avater
    Gene_Davis | Jul 02, 2009 09:53pm | #5

    See if you can get an answer from Albany on whether plumbing fixtures, specifically toilets, bathtubs, shower units, sinks, and all their faucets, drains, and other fittings, fall into the "permanent incorporation into building" category, and therefore should be exempt from sales tax.

    Is a toilet portable?  Does one ordinarily come out and go on the moving van when it is time to leave for New Hampshire?

    How about windows and doors? 

    What is more "portable," a cast iron wood stove, or a built-in dishwasher?

    Which major appliances are considered "portable," and which are not?

    It is really tough to wade all through this, and tougher to get building materials suppliers to go along with it.  I considered framing lumber a material type which certainly could be considered exempt from state sales tax, under the "permanently installed items" under the capital improvements statute, but none of the yards would ever comply, even when furnished a copy of the certificate.

     

    View Image

    "A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."

    Gene Davis        1920-1985

    1. frammer52 | Jul 03, 2009 04:33pm | #6

      is really tough to wade all through this, and tougher to get building materials suppliers to go along with it.  I considered framing lumber a material type which certainly could be considered exempt from state sales tax, under the "permanently installed items" under the capital improvements statute, but none of the yards would ever comply, even when furnished a copy of the certificate.

      If I remember correctly it is the labor to install that is not taxed.  The product is taxed at time of purchase.  This is what I was told when I went to inquire years ago as to whether I should have a tax number.

      As I didn't do repair work it was not necessary!

      1. User avater
        EricPaulson | Jul 03, 2009 07:04pm | #7

        If I remember correctly it is the labor to install that is not taxed.  The product is taxed at time of purchase.  This is what I was told when I went to inquire years ago as to whether I should have a tax number.

        I think you hit it. I am just getting back into this. I shall go to the NYS website and get the skinny.

        Actually, if you have a sales tax id#, you should be able to purchase all materials with no tax paid to the vendor, as long as you collect it from the end user and pay it to the state. 

         

        "When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking." — Sherlock Holmes, 1896

  4. Piffin | Jul 04, 2009 02:12am | #8

    I don't even know it all in my own state. We just had a tax law change up here. Rumour is that sales tax applies to mechanics labor now too. I wrote to the tax division asking for clarification - do I now charge sales tax on my labor?

    That was a week ago and no answer yet

     

     

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