Sales Tax Changes

Jo Laird emails a reminder that changes to the New York State sales tax law went into effect January 1 which will require the tax to be paid on certain sales by museums and other tax exempt organizations:

"The provision on sales at auction houses will eliminate an advantage that exempt organizations have had in selling art. If a buyer knows that he won't have to pay sales tax on a picture, he can spend more money on the work itself. That advantage has not only garnered more funds for museums and other exempt institutions; it has also affected donors' decisions in the past as to whether to sell art and donate the proceeds of the sale to a charity or to donate the art itself. Those calculations will now change."

The changes are described here.