Request By:
Ms. Linda Gosnell
Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum
Attorneys at Law
300 Lexington Building
201 West Short Street
Lexington, Kentucky 40507
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By Alex W. Rose, Assistant Attorney General
In your letter you request an opinion concerning the exemption status for Kentucky sales and use tax of the Lexington Ballet Company, a non-profit organization. The organization has received a Notice of Tax Due from the Department of Revenue for sales and use tax for the final quarter of 1980.
In OAG 80-598 we determined that all institutions of purely public charity and institutions of education were exempt from sales and use tax pursuant to § 170 of the Kentucky Constitution. See Department of Revenue v. Louisville Children's Theatre, Ky. App., 565 S.W.2d 643 (1978). In OAG 80-598 we specifically stated that the Louisville Orchestra was exempt from sales tax on proceeds from the sale of its admission tickets.
It is our opinion that the Lexington Ballet Company is exempt as an institution of purely public charity under § 170, pursuant to the definition of purely public charity in Commonwealth ex rel. Luckett v. I. W. Bernheim Foundation, Ky., 505 S.W.2d 762, 764 (1974), which states:
". . . charity . . . includes activities which reasonably better the condition of mankind."
See also OAG 73-517 (re Actors Theatre of Louisville) and OAG 80-598 (re Louisville Orchestra, Inc.). Therefore, the Lexington Ballet is exempt from paying sales or use tax on its purchases and is exempt from collecting sales tax on its admission tickets.
The Department of Revenue has informed us that the Lexington Ballet Company was granted a sales and use tax exemption on August 7, 1981. Therefore, the only question remaining is the liability of the ballet company for the taxes assessed for the final quarter of 1980. Since the ballet company was exempt during 1980, although it had not been granted an exemption, the taxes are not due. You should contact Mr. Wayne Byrd of the Department of Revenue, (502) 564-3286, and request a cancellation of the ballet's sales and use tax permit and a voiding of the outstanding tax assessment.