Letter Ruling

Letter Ruling  Letter Ruling 80-12: Wood-Fueled Heating Systems

Date: 03/20/1980
Organization: Massachusetts Department of Revenue
Referenced Sources: Massachusetts General Laws

Sales and Use Tax

 

March 20, 1980

You inquire whether the following items sold by your company qualify for exemption from sales and use tax under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 64H, Section 6(gg), added by Section 11 of Chapter 796 of the Acts of 1979:

(1) a furnace designed to burn wood or coal, but which may be used in conjunction with an oil or gas furnace separately installed or already in place;

(2) a boiler equipped to burn wood or coal (special grates are recommended for burning coal), but which may be supplied with accessories permitting oil or gas operation;

(3) a combination furnace with adjacent integral wood and oil/gas combustion chambers;

(4) a combination boiler with adjacent integral wood and oil/gas combustion chambers (this boiler can also burn coal when equipped with special grates); and

(5) controls, valves, circulators and similar items used in the installation of items (1) through (4)

Each of the furnaces and boilers retails for more than $900 and has been approved by the State Fire Marshal.

Chapter 64H, Section 6(gg), added by Section 11 of Chapter 796 of the Acts of 1979, and due to expire on December 31, 1983, exempts from sales and use tax

"sales of equipment directly relating to any wood-fueled heating system, which is being utilized as a primary heating system for the purpose of heating a person's principal residence in the commonwealth, and costs more than nine hundred dollars, and providing such equipment has been approved by the state fire marshal or state building code commission."

Based on the foregoing, it is ruled that

(a) items (1) through (4) qualify for exemption if they are intended for use as primary heating systems for the purpose of heating a person's principal residence in Massachusetts; and

(b) the controls, valves, circulators and similar items qualify for exemption if the systems to which they directly relate qualify.

When making sales which are exempt from tax under Section 6(gg), you as vendor must maintain records sufficient to establish that the items qualify. An invoice showing the identity of the item purchased and its cost to the purchaser, together with a signed certification by the purchaser, will suffice for this purpose. The certification must state that the item directly relates to a wood-fueled heating system intended for use as a primary heating system for the purpose of heating a person's principal residence in Massachusetts. In addition, it must state the name and principal residence of the person in whose home the item will be installed.

If a purchaser cannot furnish the required evidence of qualification--as in purchases by a contractor for installation in homes under construction that may or may not be used as principal residences--he must pay a sales tax upon the purchases. However, such a purchaser will be entitled to reimbursement of sales tax that can later be established as having been imposed upon sales qualifying for exemption. In such a case the purchaser, acting under a power of attorney from the vendor, will be required to file an application for abatement on behalf of the vendor, accompanied by records sufficient to establish that the sales qualify for exemption.
 

Very truly yours,
 

/s/L. Joyce Hampers
 

L. Joyce Hampers
Commissioner of Revenue
 

 

LJH/JXD/jmcd
 

LR 80-12

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