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<section article="gtg" article_name="Tax - General" number="11-204" title_number="11" title_name="Sales and Use Tax" subtitle_number="2" subtitle_name="Exemptions">
  <level label="a">
    <text>The sales and use tax does not apply to:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>a sale to a cemetery company, as described in § 501(c)(13) of the Internal Revenue Code in effect on July 1, 1987;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>a sale to a credit union organized under the laws of the State or of the United States;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>a sale to a nonprofit organization made to carry on its work, if the organization:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <level label="1">
          <text>is located in the State;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>is located in an adjacent jurisdiction and provides its services within the State on a routine and regular basis; or</text>
        </level>
        <level label="3">
          <text>is located in an adjacent jurisdiction whose law:</text>
        </level>
        <level label="A">
          <text>does not impose a sales or use tax on a sale to a nonprofit organization made to carry on its work; or</text>
        </level>
        <level label="B">
          <text>contains a reciprocal exemption from sales and use tax for sales to nonprofit organizations located in adjacent jurisdictions similar to the exemption allowed under this subsection;</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>is a charitable, educational, or religious organization;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>is not the United States; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>except for the American National Red Cross, is not a unit or instrumentality of the United States;</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>a sale, not exceeding $500, to a nonprofit incorporated senior citizens’ organization made to carry on its work, if the organization:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>is located in the State; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>receives funding from the State or a political subdivision of the State;</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>a sale to a volunteer fire company or department or volunteer ambulance company or rescue squad located in the State made to carry on the work of the company, department, or squad;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>a sale of tangible personal property, a digital code, or a digital product to a nonprofit parent–teacher association located in the State if the association makes the purchase to contribute the property to a school to which a sale is exempt under item (3) of this subsection or § 11–220 of this subtitle;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="7">
      <text>a sale to a nonprofit organization made to carry on its work, if the organization:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>is qualified as tax exempt under § 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>is engaged primarily in providing a program to render its best efforts to contain, clean up, and otherwise mitigate spills of oil or other substances occurring in United States coastal and tidal waters; or</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="8">
      <text>a sale to a bona fide nationally organized and recognized organization of veterans or an auxiliary of the organization or one of its units, if the organization is qualified as tax exempt under § 501(c)(4) or § 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>The sales and use tax does not apply to a sale by:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>a bona fide church or religious organization, if the sale is made for the general purposes of the church or organization;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>a gift shop at a mental hospital that the Maryland Department of Health operates;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>a hospital thrift shop that:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>is operated by all volunteer staff;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>sells only donated articles;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>contributes the profits from sales to the hospital with which the shop is associated; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>is not operated in conjunction with a gift shop or another retail establishment;</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>a vending facility operated under the Maryland Vending Program for the Blind if:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>the facility is located on property held or acquired by or for the use of the United States for any military or naval purpose; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>a post exchange or other tax–exempt concession is located and operated on the same property;</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>an elementary or secondary school in the State or a nonprofit parent–teacher organization or other nonprofit organization within an elementary or secondary school in the State for the sale of magazine subscriptions in a fund–raising campaign, if the net proceeds are used solely for the educational benefit of the school or its students, including a sale resulting from an agreement or contract with an organization to participate in a fund–raising campaign for a percentage of the gross receipts under which students act as agents or salespersons for the organization by selling or taking orders for the sale;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>a parent–teacher organization or other organization within an elementary or secondary school in the State or within a school system in the State;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="7">
      <text>subject to subsection (e) of this section, a bona fide church, religious organization, or other nonprofit organization exempt from taxation under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code if:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>the sale is made at an auction sale; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>the proceeds of the sale are used to carry on the exempt purposes of the church or organization;</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="8">
      <text>a nonprofit organization exempt from taxation under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code that maintains a memorial on property that is owned by the State if the proceeds of the sale are used to maintain a memorial on property that is owned by the State; or</text>
    </level>
    <level label="9">
      <text>an elementary or secondary school in the State or a nonprofit parent–teacher organization or other nonprofit organization within an elementary or secondary school in the State if the sale is made at a book fair held in–person on the premises of the school and the net proceeds are used solely for the educational benefit of the school or its students, including a sale resulting from an agreement or a contract with an organization to participate in a book fair for a percentage of the gross receipts under which students, teachers, school staff, or members of the parent–teacher organization or other nonprofit organization within an elementary or secondary school act as agents or salespersons for the third–party vendor by managing the book fair.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>To qualify as an organization to which a sale is exempt under subsection (a)(3) or (5) of this section, the organization shall file an application for an exemption certificate with the Comptroller.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>The Comptroller may treat the possession of an effective determination letter of status under § 501(c)(3) or (13) of the Internal Revenue Code from the Internal Revenue Service as evidence that an organization qualifies under subsection (a)(3) or (5) or (1) of this section, respectively.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <text>For a sale described under subsection (b)(7) of this section that is not otherwise exempt under this section, only that part of the sale price that qualifies for a deduction under the federal income tax as a charitable contribution under the regulations and guidelines of the Internal Revenue Service is exempt from the sales and use tax under this section.</text>
  </level>
</section>
