OAG 82-190 | KOGC

Request By:

Ms. Alison Lobb Milby
Walker and Milby, P.S.C.
Attorneys at Law
224 West Main Street
Richmond, Kentucky 40475

Opinion

Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By Alex W. Rose, Assistant Attorney General

In your letter to the Attorney General you ask whether a religious institution is exempt from paying the utility gross receipts license tax under KRS 160.613.

Luckett v. Electric and Water Plant Board of The City of Frankfort, Ky., 558 S.W.2d 611 (1977), the Kentucky Supreme Court determined that the utility gross receipts license tax is a tax on the utility. KRS 160.617 permits the utility to raise its rates to cover the tax. But the tax is not a tax on the customers of the utility.

In OAG 69-202 we determined that a public library is not exempt from the tax. In OAG 70-788 we stated that the housing authority of Lexington is required to pay the tax. Similarly in OAG 72-460 and 76-269 we determined that governments are not exempt from the tax.

It is, therefore, our opinion that religious institutions are required to pay the tax. There are no exemptions from this tax provided by statute and Section 170 of the Kentucky Constitution does not exempt religious institutions from this tax.

LLM Summary

In OAG 82-190, the Attorney General, Steven L. Beshear, addressed an inquiry regarding whether religious institutions are exempt from the utility gross receipts license tax under KRS 160.613. The decision references previous opinions (OAG 69-202, OAG 70-788, OAG 72-460) which determined that other entities such as public libraries, housing authorities, and governments are not exempt from this tax. Based on these precedents and statutory interpretation, the opinion concludes that religious institutions are also required to pay the tax, as there are no exemptions provided by statute or the Kentucky Constitution.

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