CHAPTER 3. USE TAX
IC 6-2.5-3
Chapter 3. Use Tax
IC 6-2.5-3-1
Definitions
Sec. 1. For purposes of this chapter:
(a) "Use" means the exercise of any right or power of ownership
over tangible personal property.
(b) "Storage" means the keeping or retention of tangible personal
property in Indiana for any purpose except the subsequent use of that
property solely outside Indiana.
(c) "A retail merchant engaged in business in Indiana" includes
any retail merchant who makes retail transactions in which a person
acquires personal property or services for use, storage, or
consumption in Indiana and who:
(1) maintains an office, place of distribution, sales location,
sample location, warehouse, storage place, or other place of
business which is located in Indiana and which the retail
merchant maintains, occupies, or uses, either permanently or
temporarily, either directly or indirectly, and either by the retail
merchant or through a representative, agent, or subsidiary;
(2) maintains a representative, agent, salesman, canvasser, or
solicitor who, while operating in Indiana under the authority of
and on behalf of the retail merchant or a subsidiary of the retail
merchant, sells, delivers, installs, repairs, assembles, sets up,
accepts returns of, bills, invoices, or takes orders for sales of
tangible personal property or services to be used, stored, or
consumed in Indiana;
(3) is otherwise required to register as a retail merchant under
IC 6-2.5-8-1; or
(4) may be required by the state to collect tax under this article
to the extent allowed under the Constitution of the United States
and federal law.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, tangible
or intangible property that is:
(1) owned or leased by a person that has contracted with a
commercial printer for printing; and
(2) located at the premises of the commercial printer;
shall not be considered to be, or to create, an office, a place of
distribution, a sales location, a sample location, a warehouse, a
storage place, or other place of business maintained, occupied, or
used in any way by the person. A commercial printer with which a
person has contracted for printing shall not be considered to be in
any way a representative, an agent, a salesman, a canvasser, or a
solicitor for the person.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.52, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.70-1993,
SEC.2; P.L.81-2004, SEC.3.
IC 6-2.5-3-2
Imposition
Sec. 2. (a) An excise tax, known as the use tax, is imposed on the
storage, use, or consumption of tangible personal property in Indiana
if the property was acquired in a retail transaction, regardless of the
location of that transaction or of the retail merchant making that
transaction.
(b) The use tax is also imposed on the storage, use, or
consumption of a vehicle, an aircraft, or a watercraft, if the vehicle,
aircraft, or watercraft:
(1) is acquired in a transaction that is an isolated or occasional
sale; and
(2) is required to be titled, licensed, or registered by this state
for use in Indiana.
(c) The use tax is imposed on the addition of tangible personal
property to a structure or facility, if, after its addition, the property
becomes part of the real estate on which the structure or facility is
located. However, the use tax does not apply to additions of tangible
personal property described in this subsection, if:
(1) the state gross retail or use tax has been previously imposed
on the sale or use of that property; or
(2) the ultimate purchaser or recipient of that property would
have been exempt from the state gross retail and use taxes if
that purchaser or recipient had directly purchased the property
from the supplier for addition to the structure or facility.
(d) The use tax is imposed on a person who:
(1) manufactures, fabricates, or assembles tangible personal
property from materials either within or outside Indiana; and
(2) uses, stores, distributes, or consumes tangible personal
property in Indiana.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the use
tax is not imposed on the keeping, retaining, or exercising of any
right or power over tangible personal property, if:
(1) the property is delivered into Indiana by or for the purchaser
of the property;
(2) the property is delivered in Indiana for the sole purpose of
being processed, printed, fabricated, or manufactured into,
attached to, or incorporated into other tangible personal
property; and
(3) the property is subsequently transported out of state for use
solely outside Indiana.
(f) As used in this subsection, "prepurchase evaluation" means an
examination of an aircraft by a potential purchaser for the purpose of
obtaining information relevant to the potential purchase of the
aircraft. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the use
tax is not imposed on the keeping, retaining, or exercising of any
right or power over an aircraft, if:
(1) the aircraft is titled, registered, or based (as defined in
IC 6-6-6.5-1(m)) in another state or country;
(2) the aircraft is delivered to Indiana by or for a nonresident
owner or purchaser of the aircraft;
(3) the aircraft is delivered to Indiana for the sole purpose of
being repaired, refurbished, remanufactured, or subjected to a
prepurchase evaluation; and
(4) after completion of the repair, refurbishment,
remanufacture, or prepurchase evaluation, the aircraft is
transported to a destination outside Indiana.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.52, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.26-1985,
SEC.3; P.L.335-1989(ss), SEC.2; P.L.162-2006, SEC.20;
P.L.211-2007, SEC.9.
IC 6-2.5-3-3
Rates; certain transactions defined
Sec. 3. The use tax is measured by the gross retail income
received in a retail unitary transaction and is imposed at the same
rates as the state gross retail tax under IC 6-2.5-2-2. For purposes of
this chapter, transactions described in IC 6-2.5-3-2(b) and (c) shall
be treated as retail transactions within the meaning of IC 6-2.5-1-2.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.52, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1981,
P.L.78, SEC.1.
IC 6-2.5-3-4
Exemptions
Sec. 4. (a) The storage, use, and consumption of tangible personal
property in Indiana is exempt from the use tax if:
(1) the property was acquired in a retail transaction in Indiana
and the state gross retail tax has been paid on the acquisition of
that property; or
(2) the property was acquired in a transaction that is wholly or
partially exempt from the state gross retail tax under any part of
IC 6-2.5-5, except IC 6-2.5-5-24(b), and the property is being
used, stored, or consumed for the purpose for which it was
exempted.
(b) If a person issues a state gross retail or use tax exemption
certificate for the acquisition of tangible personal property and
subsequently uses, stores, or consumes that property for a nonexempt
purpose, then the person shall pay the use tax.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.52, SEC.1.
IC 6-2.5-3-5
Credit for payment of other taxes
Sec. 5. A person is entitled to a credit against the use tax imposed
on the use, storage, or consumption of a particular item of tangible
personal property equal to the amount, if any, of sales tax, purchase
tax, or use tax paid to another state, territory, or possession of the
United States for the acquisition of that property.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.52, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.26-1985,
SEC.4; P.L.335-1989(ss), SEC.3; P.L.81-2004, SEC.4.
IC 6-2.5-3-6
Liability; payment; collection; computation
Sec. 6. (a) For purposes of this section, "person" includes an
individual who is personally liable for use tax under IC 6-2.5-9-3.
(b) The person who uses, stores, or consumes the tangible
personal property acquired in a retail transaction is personally liable
for the use tax.
(c) The person liable for the use tax shall pay the tax to the retail
merchant from whom the person acquired the property, and the retail
merchant shall collect the tax as an agent for the state, if the retail
merchant is engaged in business in Indiana or if the retail merchant
has departmental permission to collect the tax. In all other cases, the
person shall pay the use tax to the department.
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (c), a person liable for the use tax
imposed in respect to a vehicle, watercraft, or aircraft under section
2(b) of this chapter shall pay the tax:
(1) to the titling agency when the person applies for a title for
the vehicle or the watercraft;
(2) to the registering agency when the person registers the
aircraft; or
(3) to the registering agency when the person registers the
watercraft because it is a United States Coast Guard
documented vessel;
unless the person presents proof to the agency that the use tax or
state gross retail tax has already been paid with respect to the
purchase of the vehicle, watercraft, or aircraft or proof that the taxes
are inapplicable because of an exemption under this article.
(e) At the time a person pays the use tax for the purchase of a
vehicle to a titling agency pursuant to subsection (d), the titling
agency shall compute the tax due based on the presumption that the
sale price was the average selling price for that vehicle, as
determined under a used vehicle buying guide to be chosen by the
titling agency. However, the titling agency shall compute the tax due
based on the actual sale price of the vehicle if the buyer, at the time
the buyer pays the tax to the titling agency, presents documentation
to the titling agency sufficient to rebut the presumption set forth in
this subsection and to establish the actual selling price of the vehicle.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.52, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1981,
P.L.79, SEC.1; P.L.26-1985, SEC.5; P.L.335-1989(ss), SEC.4;
P.L.18-1994, SEC.6; P.L.28-1997, SEC.8; P.L.182-2009(ss),
SEC.175.
IC 6-2.5-3-7
Presumption of taxability; exemption certificate; verification for
property used or consumed in providing public transportation
Sec. 7. (a) A person who acquires tangible personal property from
a retail merchant for delivery in Indiana is presumed to have acquired
the property for storage, use, or consumption in Indiana. However,
the person or the retail merchant can produce evidence to rebut that
presumption.
(b) A retail merchant is not required to produce evidence of
nontaxability under subsection (a) if the retail merchant receives
from the person who acquired the property an exemption certificate
which certifies, in the form prescribed by the department, that the
acquisition is exempt from the use tax.
(c) A retail merchant that sells tangible personal property to a
person that purchases the tangible personal property for use or
consumption in providing public transportation under IC 6-2.5-5-27
may verify the exemption by obtaining the person's:
(1) name;
(2) address; and
(3) motor carrier number, United States Department of
Transportation number, or any other identifying number
authorized by the department.
The person engaged in public transportation shall provide a signature
to affirm under penalties of perjury that the information provided to
the retail merchant is correct and that the tangible personal property
is being purchased for an exempt purpose.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.52, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.211-2007,
SEC.10.
IC 6-2.5-3-8
Receipt for payment; issuance; evidence of payment
Sec. 8. (a) When a retail merchant collects the use tax from a
person, he shall, upon request, issue a receipt to that person for the
use tax collected.
(b) If the department assesses the use tax against a person for the
person's storage, use, or consumption of tangible personal property
in Indiana, and if the person has already paid the use tax in relation
to that property to a retail merchant who is registered under
IC 6-2.5-6, to the department, or, in the case of a vehicle or aircraft,
to the proper state agency, then the person may avoid paying the use
tax to the department if he can produce a receipt or other written
evidence showing that he has so made the use tax payment.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.52, SEC.1.