To the purchaser
If you have a valid Certificate of Authority, you may use Form ST-121 to
purchase, rent, or lease tangible personal property or services exempt
from tax to the extent indicated in these instructions. Complete all
required entries on the form and give it to the seller.
You may use Form ST-121 as a blanket certicate covering the rst and
subsequent purchases of the same general type of property or service.
However, each subsequent sales slip or purchase invoice (excluding
utility bills) based on this blanket certicate must show your name,
address, and Certificate of Authority identication number.
If you make further purchases from the seller that do not qualify for
the exemption, you must pay the appropriate sales tax at the time of
purchase.
As used in this document, the term predominantly means that the
property or service(s) is used more than 50% of the time directly for the
purpose stated in the particular section. The term exclusively means
that the property or service(s) is used 100% of the time directly for the
purpose stated in the particular section. The term primarily means that
the property or service(s) is used 50% or more of the time directly for the
purpose stated in the particular section.
Part 1 — Exemptions related to production
Except as described in item C, you must have a Certificate of Authority
to claim the exemptions listed in Part 1.
A — You may purchase, exempt from tax, machinery and equipment,
including parts, tools, and supplies, used or consumed directly
and predominantly in the production of tangible personal property,
gas, electricity, refrigeration, or steam for sale by manufacturing,
processing, generating, assembling, rening, mining, or extracting.
For more information on these various production exemptions, see
Publication 852, Sales Tax Information for: Manufacturers, Processors,
Generators, Assemblers, Refiners, Miners and Extractors, and Other
Producers of Goods and Merchandise.
B — You may purchase, exempt from tax, tangible personal property
used directly and predominantly in the production (including editing,
dubbing, and mixing) of a lm for sale regardless of the medium by
which the lm is conveyed to the purchaser. (For purposes of this
exemption, the term film means feature lms, documentary lms, shorts,
television lms, television commercials, and similar productions.)
C — You may purchase, exempt from tax, tangible personal property
used directly and predominantly in the receiving, initiating, amplifying,
processing, transmitting, retransmitting, switching, or monitoring of
switching of telecommunications services for sale, or Internet access
services for sale, or any combination of the two services. If you are
engaged exclusively in providing Internet access services for sale, a
Certificate of Authority is not required when claiming this exemption;
however, if you have a Certificate of Authority, enter the number in the
space provided on page 1.
D — You may purchase, exempt from tax, machinery, equipment, or
other tangible personal property (including parts, tools, and supplies)
used or consumed by television or radio broadcasters directly
and predominantly in the production (including post-production)
of live or recorded programs which are used or consumed by a
broadcaster predominantly for the purpose of broadcast over the
air by the broadcaster or for transmission through a cable television
or direct-broadcast satellite system by the broadcaster. You may
also purchase, exempt from tax, machinery, equipment, and other
tangible personal property (including parts, tools, and supplies) used
or consumed directly and predominantly in the transmission of live
or recorded programs over the air or through a cable television or
direct-broadcast satellite system by the broadcaster. Tangible personal
property purchased by a broadcaster (lessor) for lease to another person
(lessee) for that person’s use or consumption directly and predominantly
in the production (including post production) of live or recorded programs
by the person will be deemed to be used or consumed by the lessor
broadcaster for purposes of determining whether the lessor broadcaster
has met the direct and predominant use requirement of the exemption
described in the above sentence. (For more information concerning this
exemption, see TSB-M-00(6)S, Summary of the 2000 Sales and
Compensating Use Tax Budget Legislation.)
E — You may purchase, exempt from tax, gas or electricity or gas or
electric service used or consumed directly and exclusively to provide
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Instructions
gas or electric service of whatever nature consisting of operating a gas
pipeline, a gas distribution line, or an electric transmission or distribution
line or to ensure the necessary working pressure in an underground gas
storage facility.
F —You may purchase, exempt from tax, fuel, gas, electricity,
refrigeration, and steam and gas, electric, refrigeration, and steam
service used or consumed directly and exclusively in the production
of tangible personal property (or a lm, regardless as to the means by
which the lm is conveyed) for sale, by manufacturing, processing,
assembling, generating, rening, mining, or extracting. You must pay
any state and local taxes due on any part of any fuel or utility service
not used directly and exclusively for an exempt purpose. For example,
electricity purchased solely to light a factory must be purchased tax
paid, but electricity used for both an exempt purpose and a taxable
purpose may be purchased exempt from tax. However, you must report
the tax due on the electricity used for the taxable purpose on your sales
and use tax return as a purchase subject to tax.
G —You may purchase, exempt from tax (except for the local tax
imposed on sales and uses in New York City), fuel, gas, electricity,
refrigeration, and steam and gas, electric, refrigeration, and steam
service used or consumed directly and exclusively in the production
of gas, electricity, refrigeration, and steam for sale by manufacturing,
processing, assembling, generating, rening, mining, or extracting. You
must pay any state and local taxes due on any part of any fuel or utility
service not used directly and exclusively for an exempt purpose.
Part 2 — Services exempt from tax
H — You may purchase the services of installing, repairing, maintaining,
and servicing qualifying property listed in Part 1, items A through D,
exempt from tax.
I — You may purchase the services of producing, fabricating,
processing, printing, and imprinting, including editing, dubbing, and
mixing, qualifying property listed in Part 1, items B and D, exempt from tax.
J — If you are a facility regulated by the DEC as either a transfer station
or construction and demolition debris processing facility, you may
purchase the service of waste removal exempt from tax, provided that
the waste is not generated by your facility. Under the DEC regulations, a
transfer station is dened generally as a solid waste management facility
other than a recyclables handling and recovery facility, used oil facility,
or a construction and demolition debris processing facility, where solid
waste is received for the purpose of subsequent transfer to another
solid waste management facility for further processing, treating, transfer,
or disposal. A construction and demolition debris processing facility
is a processing facility that receives and processes construction and
demolition debris by any means.
Part 3 — Other exemptions
A Certificate of Authority is not required when claiming the exemptions
described in Part 3 on page 2. However, if you have a Certificate of
Authority, enter the number in the space provided on page 2.
K — Tangible personal property used or consumed directly and
predominantly in research and development in the experimental or
laboratory sense is exempt from tax.
L — Gas, electricity, refrigeration, and steam, and gas, electric,
refrigeration, and steam service used or consumed directly and
exclusively in research and development in the experimental or
laboratory sense may be purchased exempt from tax.
Research and development does not include the ordinary testing or
inspection of materials or products for quality control, efciency surveys,
management studies, consumer surveys, advertising, promotions, or
research in connection with literary, historical, or similar projects.
M—Vendors may purchase, exempt from tax, cartons, containers, and
other wrapping and packaging materials and supplies and components
thereof used to package tangible personal property for sale if the
property is actually transferred by the vendor to the purchaser of the
property.
N — Enhanced emissions inspection equipment certied by the DEC
for use in testing and inspecting motor vehicles as part of the enhanced
emissions inspection and maintenance program required by the Federal
Clean Air Act and the New York State Clean Air Compliance Act may
be purchased without payment of tax. To qualify for the exemption,
the equipment must be purchased and used by an ofcial inspection
station which is licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles and
authorized to conduct enhanced emissions inspections. (For more