Tax 11.14(15)(a) (a) A purchaser who gives an exemption certificate knowing at the time that the transaction is not exempt may be guilty of a misdemeanor under s. 77.52 (16), Stats. The purchaser may also be liable for other penalties provided by law for filing incorrect returns.

Tax 11.14(15)(b) (b) A purchaser who uses an exemption certificate in a manner that is prohibited by or inconsistent with Wisconsin law or who provides incorrect information to a seller or certified service provider relating to an exemption being claimed will also be subject to a penalty of $250 for each invoice or bill of sale related to the prohibited or inconsistent use to which the incorrect information applies.

Tax 11.14(16) (16) Exemption certificate not needed for certain sales. No exemption certificate is required for sales of property, items, goods, or services that are exempt from Wisconsin sales and use tax under s. 77.54 (5) (a) 3., (7), (7m), (8), (10), (11), (14), (15), (17), (20n), (21), (22b), (31), (32), (35), (36), (37), (42), (44), (45), (46), (51), (52), (66), and (67), Stats.

Tax 11.14 Note Note: Section Tax 11.14 interprets ss. 77.52 (13) to (17), 77.53 (10) to (13), 77.54 (9a) and (9g), 77.60 (13), and 77.77 (3), Stats.

Tax 11.14 Note Note: The interpretations in s. Tax 11.14 are effective under the general sales and use tax law on and after September 1, 1969, except: (a) The exemption for railroad lubricants became effective July 1, 1978, pursuant to Chapter 418, Laws of 1977; (b) The use of direct pay permits in Wisconsin became effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1995, pursuant to 1993 Wis. Act 437; (c) The elimination of the exemption certificate requirement for sales of certain consigned commodities became effective December 1, 1997 as it relates to sales taxes on commodities consigned for resale, pursuant to 1997 Wis. Act 27, and June 17, 1998 as it relates to sales and use taxes on commodities consigned for sale, pursuant to 1997 Wis. Act 237; (d) The multipurpose exemption certificate, form S-211, was created in November 1998 to replace various types of exemption certificates; (e) The removal of the good faith requirement if a fully completed exemption certificate is obtained by the seller from the purchaser within 90 days of the date of sale became effective October 1, 2009, pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 2; (f) The requirement that a seller is allowed 120 days after the Department of Revenue requests that they obtain an exemption certificate or otherwise prove that a transaction is exempt became effective October 1, 2009, pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 2; (g) The exemption from sales and use tax for federally recognized American Indian bands or tribes in Wisconsin became effective July 1, 2009, pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 28; (h) The acceptance of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate to prove a transaction is exempt became effective October 1, 2009, pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 2; (i) The penalty for prohibited or inconsistent use of an exemption certificate or direct pay permit became effective October 1, 2009 pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 2; (j) The identification of the specific exemptions for which an exemption certificate is not required became effective October 1, 2009, pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 2; (k) The change of the term “gross receipts” to “sales price” and the separate impositions of tax on coins and stamps sold above face value under s. 77.52 (1) (b), Stats., certain leased property affixed to real property under s. 77.52 (1) (c), Stats., and digital goods under s. 77.52 (1) (d), Stats., became effective October 1, 2009, pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 2; and (L) The exemption for certain title holding entities described under section 501 (c) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code was effective retroactively to September 1, 2017, pursuant to 2017 Wis. Act 231.

Tax 11.14 History History: Cr. Register, November, 1978, No. 275, eff. 12-1-78; am. (7) (a)., Register, June, 1983, No. 330, eff. 7-1-83; cr. (2) (c) and am. (10), Register, July, 1987, No. 379, eff. 8-1-87; cr. (2) (a) 5. and 6., (10), (11) and (14), am. (2) (a), (5) (b), (6) (b) (intro.) and 5., (7) (a) (intro.) and 4. and 5., (8) (a) and (9), renum. (10) and (11) to be (12) and (13) and am., Register, March, 1991, No. 423, eff. 4-1-91; am. (2) (c), (3) (b) and (c), (6) (b) 4., r. and recr. (12), Register, June, 1995, No. 474, eff. 7-1-95; renum. (12), (13) and (14) to be (13), (14) and (15), am. (2) (a) (intro.), cr. (2) (a) 7. and (12), Register, October, 1997, No. 502, eff. 11-1-97; am. (1) (c), (3) (a) and (b), (5) (b), (6) (a) 2., (b), 3., r. and recr. (2) (a) 1. and 2., cr. (6) (b) 4. c. and (16), r. (2) (a) 3. to 7., (7) (b), (10) (b), (11) (b) and (12) (b) 1., renum. (7) (a) 1. to 6. to be (12) (a) to (f) and am. (12) (d), renum. (8) to (10) (a) to be (7) to (9) and am. (7) (a), (8) and (9), renum. (11) (a) 1. to 3. to be (10) (a) to (c), renum. (12) (a) to be (11) (a) and am., renum. (12) (b) 2. and 3., (13), (14) and (15) to be (11) (b) 1. and 2., (13), (14) and (15) and am. (13) (a), 1. and 3. and (b), Register, August, 1999, No. 524, eff. 9-1-99; CR 02-128: am. (6) (a) 2., and (13) (a) (intro.) and (b), Register July 2003 No. 571, eff. 8-1-03; EmR0924: emerg. am. (2) (a) (intro.), 1., (b), (c), (5) (a), (6) (a) 1., 2., (b) 2., (7) (a), (11), (12) (intro.), (b) to (f), (13) (a) 1. and (b), cr. (2) (a) 3. and (15) (b), r. and recr. (3), (4), (5) (b) and (16), r. (6) (b) 3. and 5., renum. (6) (b) 4. and (15) to be (6) (b) 3. and (15) (a) and am. (6) (b) 3. (intro.), eff. 10-1-09; CR 09-090: am. (2) (a) (intro.), 1., (b), (c), (5) (a), (6) (a) 1., 2., (b) 2., (7) (a), (11), (12) (intro.), (b) to (f), (13) (a) 1. and (b), cr. (2) (a) 3. and (15) (b), r. and recr. (3), (4), (5) (b) and (16), r. (6) (b) 3. and 5., renum. (6) (b) 4. and (15) to be (6) (b) 3. and (15) (a) and am. (6) (b) 3. (intro.) Register May 2010 No. 653, eff. 6-1-10; CR 10-094: am. (2) (c), (3) (a), (4) (b), (5) (a), (6) (a), (7) (a), (9), (12) (a), r. and recr. (4) (c) Register November 2010 No. 659, eff. 12-1-10; CR 12-014: am. (2) (a) 3., (6) (b) 1., (8), (9), (10) (intro.), (13) (b) Register August 2012 No. 680, eff. 9-1-12; CR 19-112: am: (2) (b), (16) Register June 2020 No. 774, eff. 7-1-20; CR 20-018: am. (12) (d), (16) Register July 2021 No. 787, eff. 8-1-21; correction in (16) made under s. 35.17, Stats., Register July 2021 No. 787.

Tax 11.15 Tax 11.15 Containers and other packaging and shipping materials.

Tax 11.15(1) (1) Property exempt under s. 77.54 (6) (am) 2., stats.

Tax 11.15(1)(a) (a) To be exempt, containers, labels, sacks, cans, boxes, drums, bags, or other packaging and shipping materials for use in packing, packaging, or shipping tangible personal property or items or property under s. 77.52 (1) (b) or (c), Stats., shall be “used by the purchaser to transfer merchandise to customers.” Whether the containers or other packaging or shipping materials are returnable or nonreturnable is not a factor. The exemption does not apply to containers used in the incidental transfer of property to customers by persons providing services.

Tax 11.15(1)(b) (b) Containers include barrels, bottles, cartons, chemical carboys, and kegs. Packaging and shipping materials include property used inside a package to shape, form, preserve, stabilize, or protect the contents, such as excelsior, straw, cotton, cardboard fillers, separators, shredded paper, ice, dry ice, and batting, and rope, twine, gummed tape, wrapping paper, rubber bands, crates, and crating materials, pallets, skids, and mailing tubes.

Tax 11.15(1)(c) (c) The sales price from the sale of the following items is within the exemption:

Tax 11.15(1)(c)1. 1. Cans in which canned goods, paints, and other commodities are contained; medicine bottles; boxes in which jewelry, candy, suits, dresses, and hats are delivered to customers; and ice cream cartons.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)2. 2. Bottles and cases used by breweries, wineries, or soda water beverage producers to transfer the product to customers.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)3. 3. Barrels, half-barrels, kegs, and the like, used by a brewery to transfer draft beer to wholesalers or retailers.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)4. 4. Caps for milk, beer, and soda water bottles.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)5. 5. “Fragile,” “Handle with Care,” or other shipping labels.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)6. 6. Paper food dividers used to separate food sections in a container for transfer to a customer.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)7. 7. Paper bags purchased by grocery stores, bakeries, or other retailers and used by their customers in carrying out their purchases.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)8. 8. Feed bags purchased by feed dealers who use the bags to transfer merchandise sold to their customers.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)9. 9. Bale ties sold to a hay owner and used to deliver hay to the owner’s customers.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)10. 10. Ice used by a commercial fisher inside a box of fish to preserve the fish during shipment to market.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)11. 11. LPG tanks used to transfer fuel to customers which are replaced each time the fuel is exhausted.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)12. 12. Packaging and shipping materials for use in packing, packaging, or shipping meat or meat products, regardless of whether these items are used to transfer merchandise to customers.

Tax 11.15 Note Note: See Tax 11.12 for information on farmer’s container exemption.

Tax 11.15(2) (2) Property not exempt under s. 77.54 (6) (am) 2., Stats. Sales of the following items are not within this exemption:

Tax 11.15(2)(a) (a) Wrapping equipment such as paper holders, tape dispensers, staplers, and string holders.

Tax 11.15(2)(b) (b) Coat hangers used on display racks in stores.

Tax 11.15(2)(c) (c) Shopping carts or baskets and similar equipment.

Tax 11.15(2)(d) (d) Computer produced gummed label mailing lists used to address envelopes. However, labels for envelopes used to transfer tangible personal property or items or property under s. 77.52 (1) (b) or (c), Stats., to customers are exempt.