Tax 11.84(3)(a)(a) Section 77.54 (5) (a) 1., Stats., provides an exemption for the sale of aircraft, including accessories, attachments, and fuel therefor, to persons using the aircraft as certified or licensed carriers of persons or property in interstate or foreign commerce. Scheduled air carriers and commuter carriers with air carrier operating certificates shall qualify for this exemption. This exemption does not apply to persons with air worthiness certificates which indicate certain safety standards have been met, if they do not otherwise qualify. Tax 11.84(3)(b)(b) Section 77.54 (5) (a) 2., Stats., provides an exemption for sales of aircraft to persons who are not residents of this state who will not use such aircraft in this state other than to remove the aircraft from this state. The exemption also applies to repair or other services performed on the aircraft. Tax 11.84(3)(c)(c) Section 77.54 (5) (a) 3., Stats., provides an exemption for sales of parts used to modify or repair aircraft. For purposes of this exemption, the following definitions apply: Tax 11.84(3)(c)1.1. “Part” means a durable unit of definite, fixed dimensions that is attached to the aircraft. Tax 11.84(3)(c)2.2. “Parts used to modify or repair aircraft” include tires, oil filters, spark plugs, engine cowls, built-in radios and avionics equipment, strobes, and flap cable. “Parts used to modify or repair aircraft” does not include supplies, accessories, or ground equipment in sub. (2) (a) 2., and does not include parts used in the original construction of an aircraft as such parts are not used to modify or repair an aircraft. Tax 11.84(4)(4) Nontaxable services. Amounts received from the following services are not taxable: Tax 11.84(4)(a)(a) Except as provided in sub. (2) (c), transporting customers or property for hire when the customer only designates the time of departure and destination while the owner retains control over the aircraft in all other respects. Tax 11.84(4)(b)(b) Flight instruction when the fees for the instruction are separately stated from the charge for the rental of the aircraft. Tax 11.84(4)(c)(c) Advertising promotions such as skywriting and banner towing if the person towing the banner also provides it, except when the aircraft is leased to a person who provides the person’s own pilot. Tax 11.84(4)(d)(d) Emergency rescue service, forest fire spotting, and pipeline inspection service, except where the aircraft is leased to a company which provides its own pilot. Tax 11.84(4)(e)(e) Crop dusting, spraying, fertilizing, and seeding a farmer’s crops. A person in the business of crop dusting, spraying, fertilizing, and seeding for farmers may purchase weed killers, fertilizer, and seed without tax for resale, if these items are used in conjunction with but not incidental to providing the service. Tax 11.84(4)(j)(j) Repair, service, alteration, fitting, cleaning, painting, coating, towing, inspection, and maintenance of any aircraft or any part used to modify or repair an aircraft. Tax 11.84 NoteNote: The interpretations in s. Tax 11.84 are effective under the general sales and use tax law on and after September 1, 1969, except: (a) the exemption for federal aviation fuel is effective January 1, 1982, pursuant to Chapter 20, Laws of 1981; (b) The exemption for aircraft brought into Wisconsin by new residents became effective August 1, 1987, pursuant to 1987 Wis. Act 27; (c) The exemption for certain nonresidents’ aircraft became effective May 15, 1988, pursuant to 1987 Wis. Act 399; (d) The exemption for transfers of aircraft to in-laws became effective August 15, 1991, pursuant to 1991 Wis. Act 39; (e) The requirement to collect the tax on sales of aircraft by persons who are not dealers but who hold a Wisconsin seller’s permit became effective October 1, 2009, pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 2; (f) 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; (g) The repair, service, alteration, fitting, cleaning, painting, coating, towing, inspection, and maintenance of aircraft and aircraft parts, under s. 77.52 (2) (a) 10., Stats., became nontaxable effective July 1, 2014, pursuant to 2013 Wis. Act 185; and (h) The exemption for parts used to modify or repair aircraft under s. 77.54 (5) (a) 3., Stats., became effective July 1, 2014, pursuant to 2013 Wis. Act 185. Tax 11.84 HistoryHistory: Cr. Register, November, 1977, No. 263, eff. 12-1-77; am. (2) (b) 1. and 2., Register, January, 1983, No. 325, eff. 2-1-83; am. (2) (a) 2. and (3), Register, June, 1983, No. 330, eff. 7-1-83; am. (4) (e), Register, July, 1987, No. 379, eff. 8-1-87; am. (1) (b) 3., cr. (1) (d), Register, April, 1990, No. 412, eff. 5-1-90; am. (1) (c), cr. (1) (e) and (3) (b), renum. (3) (intro.) to be (3) (a), Register, June 1991, No. 426, eff. 7-1-91; am. (1) (b) 1., (c), (2) (b), (3), (4) (intro.) and (b), Register, April, 1993, No. 448, eff. 5-1-93; CR 02-128: am. (1) (b) 1. and 2., (c) and (4) (a) and (c), renum. (2) (c) to be (2) (c) (intro.) and am., cr. (2) (c) 1. to 4., Register July 2003 No. 571, eff. 8-1-03; EmR0924: emerg. am. (1) (a), (b) 1., (c), (e) 1., 3. a., b., d., 4., (2) (a), (c) (intro.), (3), (4) (intro.) and (c) to (e), cr. (1) (e) 3. bm., eff. 10-1-09; CR 09-090: am. (1) (a), (b) 1., (c), (e) 1., 3. a., b., d., 4., (2) (a), (c) (intro.), (3), (4) (intro.) and (c) to (e), cr. (1) (e) 3. bm. Register May 2010 No. 653, eff. 6-1-10; CR 12-014: r. and recr. (1) (b), r. (2) (c) 2., 3., am. (2) (c) 4., cr. (4) (g) to (i) Register August 2012 No. 680, eff. 9-1-12; CR 16-053: am. (1) (a), (c), (2) (a) (title), 2., r. (2) (a) 3., am. (3) (title), (a), r. and recr. (3) (b), cr. (3) (c), (4) (j) Register June 2018 No. 750, eff. 7-1-18; CR 22-044: am. (1) (c) Register June 2023 No. 810, eff. 7-1-23. Tax 11.85Tax 11.85 Boats, vessels, and barges. Tax 11.85(1)(1) Taxable sales. Taxable receipts involving boats include the following: Tax 11.85(1)(a)(a) The receipts from the sale, license, lease, or rental of boats and boat accessories, and of attachments, parts, supplies, and materials therefor, by any retailer registered or required to be registered to collect Wisconsin sales or use tax, regardless of whether the retailer is a boat dealer. Tax 11.85(1)(b)(b) Charges for services involved in installing an item on a boat for a consumer. Tax 11.85(1)(c)(c) Charges for repair, service, alteration, fitting, cleaning, painting, coating, towing, inspecting, and maintaining boats and their accessories or component parts. Services purchased outside Wisconsin, which would be taxable if purchased in Wisconsin, with respect to property later used in Wisconsin, are subject to use tax. Tax 11.85 NoteExample: Individual A, a resident of Wisconsin, takes his boat to Illinois to have it repaired. No Illinois tax is charged to Individual A on the repair services. Individual A brings the boat back to Wisconsin where it is used. Individual A owes Wisconsin use tax on the purchase of the repair services performed in Illinois.
Tax 11.85(1)(d)(d) Charges for docking and storing boats. The tax applies to boat storage in public storage warehouses. Tax 11.85(2)(a)(a) The sale of a boat not required to be registered in Wisconsin with the Wisconsin department of natural resources or documented under the laws of the United States may qualify as an exempt occasional sale if the transferor does not hold and is not required to hold a seller’s permit. Tax 11.85(2)(b)(b) Sales of boats to the spouse, parent, stepparent, father-in-law, mother-in-law, child, stepchild, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law of the transferor are exempt if the boat was previously registered or titled with the Wisconsin department of natural resources, if required to be registered or titled, or documented under the laws of the United States in the transferor’s name and if the transferor is not engaged in the business of selling boats. Tax 11.85(2)(c)(c) Vessels and barges primarily engaged in interstate or foreign commerce or commercial fishing that are documented under the laws of the United States showing a net volumetric tonnage of 50 tons or more are exempt from the tax. Accessories, attachments, and parts attached to the vessel or barge and fuel for the vessels and barges are also exempt. Tax 11.85(2)(d)(d) A boat purchased outside Wisconsin by a nonresident and used by the nonresident while temporarily in Wisconsin shall be exempt from the tax if the boat is not used in Wisconsin in the conduct of a trade, occupation, business, or profession or in the performance of personal services for wages or fees. The use tax does not apply to a boat for an individual’s personal use purchased by a nonresident outside this state 90 days or more before bringing the boat into Wisconsin in connection with a change of domicile to this state. Tax 11.85(2)(e)(e) A boat purchased by a Wisconsin or federal governmental unit or by certain nonprofit organizations is exempt from the tax, regardless of the boat’s size or kind, pursuant to s. 77.54 (9a) or 77.55 (1), Stats. Tax 11.85(2)(f)(f) Section 77.53 (17m), Stats., exempts a boat purchased in a state contiguous to this state, as determined under s. 77.522, Stats., by a person domiciled in that state if the boat is berthed in this state’s boundary waters adjacent to the state of the domicile of the purchaser and if the transaction was an exempt occasional sale under the laws of the state in which the purchase was made. Tax 11.85(2)(g)(g) Section 77.54 (30) (a) 7., Stats., exempts fuel sold for use in motorboats that are regularly employed in carrying persons for hire for sport fishing in and upon the outlying waters, as defined in s. 29.001 (63), Stats., and the rivers and tributaries specified in s. 29.2285 (2) (a) 1. and 2., Stats., if the owner and all operators are licensed under s. 29.514, Stats., to operate the boat for that purpose. Tax 11.85(3)(a)(a) No boat may be registered in Wisconsin unless the registrant presents proof that the sales or use tax has been paid or that the transaction was exempt. If the registrant does not present proof that the tax has been paid, the registrant shall pay the tax at the time the boat is registered or titled in Wisconsin, even though the boat may also be used out-of-state. Tax 11.85(3)(b)(b) A boat purchased outside Wisconsin which is required to be registered under Wisconsin law is subject to the Wisconsin use tax, regardless of the state of domicile of the person bringing the boat into Wisconsin or the use of the boat in Wisconsin, unless exempt under sub. (2) (d). Tax 11.85(3)(c)(c) A credit is permitted against the Wisconsin use tax for the sales or use tax imposed by and paid to the state in which the boat was purchased. Tax 11.85(3)(d)(d) The “boat” subject to the use tax at the time the boat is registered in this state includes all accessories affixed or attached to the boat when in use. Anchors, boat cushions, marine radios, radar equipment, and other similar accessories are included in the measure of the tax. Tax 11.85 NoteNote: In a decision dated July 25, 1983, in the case of Alan G. Dwyer vs. Wisconsin Department of Revenue, the Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission held that the tax applies to boat accessories, including the anchor, boat cushions, and marine radio, in addition to the bare hull of the boat.
Tax 11.85(4)(4) Taxable supplies. Sales of consumable supplies or furnishings not attached to the vessel or barge are not exempt from sales or use tax under s. 77.54 (13), Stats. Tax 11.85 NoteNote: Sales of bedding, linen, table and kitchenware, tables, chairs, lubricants, work clothes, acetylene gas, paper towels, etc., used on commercial vessels or barges of 50 ton burden or over engaged primarily in interstate or foreign commerce or commercial fishing are subject to sales and use tax.
Tax 11.85(5)(5) Sales to ships. Sales of tangible personal property, items, property, and goods under s. 77.52 (1) (b), (c), and (d), Stats., and taxable services delivered to operators of foreign flag ships or ships under the U.S. flag in a Wisconsin harbor are subject to tax, unless the retailer receives a properly completed exemption certificate from the purchaser. Tax 11.85 NoteExample: The operator of the ship may purchase without tax fuel and repair parts for a ship which exceeds 50-ton burden under s. 77.54 (13), Stats. Tax 11.85 NoteNote: The interpretations in s. Tax 11.85 are effective under the general sales and use tax law on and after September 1, 1969, except: (a) Boats documented under laws of the United States do not qualify for the occasional sale exemption effective February 28, 1979, pursuant to Chapter 1, Laws of 1979; (b) Charges by governmental units for docking and storing boats became taxable effective June 1, 1980, pursuant to Chapter 221, Laws of 1979; (c) The exemption for boats of nonresidents kept in waters contiguous to the nonresident’s state of domicile became effective September 1, 1985, pursuant to 1985 Wis. Act 29, later amended effective June 1, 1988, pursuant to 1987 Wis. Act 268; (d) The exemption for boats brought into Wisconsin by new residents became effective August 1, 1987, pursuant to 1987 Wis. Act 27; (e) The exemption for transfers to in-laws became effective August 15, 1991, pursuant to 1991 Wis. Act 39; (f) The exemption for fuel used in motorboats by persons regularly employed in carrying persons for hire for sport fishing became effective July 1, 2009, pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 28; and (g) The requirement to collect the tax on sales of boats by persons who are not dealers but who hold a Wisconsin seller’s permit became effective October 1, 2009, pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 2; and (h) 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. Tax 11.85 HistoryHistory: Cr. Register, December, 1978, No. 276, eff. 1-1-79; am. (1) (d), (2) (a) and (b), Register, January, 1983, No. 325, eff. 2-1-83; am. (2) (a), Register, September, 1984, No. 345, eff. 10-1-84; cr. (2) (f), Register, July, 1987, No. 379, eff. 8-1-87; am. (2) (b) to (e), cr. (3) (d) and (4), Register, April, 1990, No. 412, eff. 5-1-90; am. (2) (a), (c) and (f) and (3) (b), cr. (4), renum. (4) to be (5), r. (1) (e), Register, June, 1991, No. 426, eff. 7-1-91; am. (2) (b) and (3) (a), Register, April, 1993, No. 448, eff. 5-1-93; EmR0924: emerg. am. (title), (1) (intro.), (a), (c), (2) (a) to (d), (f), (3) (a), (d) and (5), cr. (2) (g), eff. 10-1-09; CR 09-090: am. (title), (1) (intro.), (a), (c), (2) (a) to (d), (f), (3) (a), (d) and (5), cr. (2) (g) Register May 2010 No. 653, eff. 6-1-10; CR 12-014: am. (2) (b), cr. (2) (bm) Register August 2012 No. 680, eff. 9-1-12. Tax 11.86Tax 11.86 Utility transmission and distribution lines. Tax 11.86(1)(a)(a) “Utility facilities” include telephone, telegraph, and television lines; electrical, water, and gas transmission and distribution lines; and poles, transformers, and towers, including pipes, conduits, sleeves, risers for cable television lines, or other property by which lines are supported or in which they are contained or connected. Tax 11.86(1)(b)(b) “Real property” includes underground utility facilities; lines, poles, foundations, towers, gravel, and any buildings of a substation located on a utility’s own land; and concrete foundations, anchors, crushed rock, and backfill whether or not on land owned by the utility. Tax 11.86(1)(c)(c) “Tangible personal property” includes overhead utility facilities and circuit breakers and other equipment, but not their foundations, installed to control the flow of electricity. It also includes other overhead property by which lines are supported or in which they are contained or connected if erected or installed under an easement or license, including authorizations under ss. 86.16 and 182.017, Stats., on land owned by a person other than the utility. Tax 11.86(2)(a)(a) The sales price from the installation, license, lease, rental, repair, service, alteration, fitting, cleaning, painting, coating, towing, inspection, or maintenance of tangible personal property or items, property, or goods under s. 77.52 (1) (b), (c), or (d), Stats., is subject to sales tax. Tax 11.86(2)(b)(b) Materials used in construction or forming of real property are taxable when purchased by the contractor. Tax 11.86 NoteExamples: 1) The charges by a contractor for the construction and installation of an overhead utility facility, or a portion of an overhead utility facility, and from a sale “in place” of the facility, if installed under an easement on land owned by a person other than the utility, are taxable. Materials used in the construction or installation of the property may be purchased without tax for resale.
Tax 11.86 Note2) The charges by a utility for the repair, service, alteration, fitting, cleaning, painting, coating, towing, inspection, or maintenance of an overhead utility facility, or a portion of an overhead facility of another utility are taxable. Materials used in the repair, service, alteration, fitting, cleaning, painting, coating, towing, inspection, maintenance, or installation may be purchased without tax for resale.
Tax 11.86 Note3) Charges for the installation, sale, license, lease, rental, repair, service, alteration, fitting, cleaning, painting, coating, towing, inspection, or maintenance and removal of underground utility facilities are not subject to sales or use tax. However, the materials used in the construction or installation of the underground utility facilities cannot be purchased for resale and are subject to tax at the time of purchase unless otherwise exempt.
Tax 11.86 Note4) X-ray testing of weld joints in the pipe as part of the construction of an underground utility pipeline is part of the construction process and the charges are not subject to sales or use tax. However, materials used in the X-ray testing of the underground utility pipeline cannot be purchased for resale and are subject to tax at the time of purchase unless otherwise exempt.
Tax 11.86(3)(3) Related expenses. The taxable receipts from the performance of a lump sum contract for the construction of an overhead utility facility, which is tangible personal property, may not be reduced by expenses in performing the contract, such as payments for crop damage, site preparation, restoration work, tree trimming, line clearing, relocating existing lines, engineering and design work, surveying, purchasing a right-of-way, and unloading and hauling materials. Tax 11.86 NoteNote: The related expenses described in sub. (3) are costs of performing the contract and do not affect the amount of taxable receipts.
Tax 11.86(4)(a)(a) The taxable receipts from a contract to construct or repair an overhead utility facility which is tangible personal property may not be reduced by the amount of hourly charges for the use of equipment. Tax 11.86(4)(b)(b) The charges for the rental of equipment used in the construction or repair of a utility line to a utility are taxable. Tax 11.86(5)(a)(a) The sales price received from tree and shrub trimming services for a utility for the purpose of keeping the overhead transmission and distribution lines free from interference from nearby trees and shrubs or inaccessible to children is not taxable under s. 77.52 (2) (a) 20., Stats. Tax 11.86(5)(b)(b) The sales price received under a separate contract for tree trimming and line clearing in connection with the construction of a new utility line is not taxable. Tax 11.86(5)(c)(c) The sales price received from a separate charge for removing an existing utility line is not taxable. Tax 11.86(5)(d)1.1. The sales price received for a service provided by an electric cooperative to another electric cooperative, or by a telecommunications utility to another telecommunications utility, for disaster relief work performed during a disaster period. Tax 11.86(5)(d)3.3. The exemption in this paragraph does not apply to materials and supplies used in performing exempt disaster relief services. Tax 11.86(6)(6) Landscaping services. The sales price received from landscaping and lawn maintenance services is taxable. Except as provided in sub. (5) (a) and (b), landscaping and lawn maintenance services include: Tax 11.86(6)(b)(b) Lawn and garden services, such as planting, mowing, spraying, and fertilizing. Tax 11.86(6)(d)(d) Spreading topsoil and installing sod or planting seed where trenches have been dug or sump pump, transmission, and distribution lines have been buried in residential, business, commercial, and industrial locations, cemeteries, golf courses, athletic fields, stadiums, parking lots, and other areas, and along highways, streets, and walkways. Tax 11.86 NoteNote: The interpretations in s. Tax 11.86 are effective on and after September 1, 1969, except: (a) Underground utility facilities were determined not to be tangible personal property, effective September 1, 1970; (b) Landscaping services described in sub. (6) became taxable effective May 1, 1982, pursuant to Chapter 317, Laws of 1981; (c) The Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission decision in Capital City Tree Experts, Inc., dated June 19, 1987, later modified by stipulation and order of the Circuit Court of Dane County dated September 21, 1987, held that the service of trimming trees on a utility right-of-way to prevent interference and to make inaccessible to children is not a taxable landscaping service; d) 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 (e) The exemption for services performed during a disaster period became effective January 1, 2017, pursuant to 2017 Wis. Act 290. Tax 11.86 HistoryHistory: Cr. Register, November, 1978, No. 275, eff. 12-1-78; am. (4) (a) and cr. (5), Register, September, 1984, No. 345, eff. 10-1-84; r. and recr., Register, June, 1991, No. 426, eff. 7-1-91; emerg. r. and recr. (6), eff. 5-18-97; r. and recr. (6), Register, October, 1997, No. 502, eff. 11-1-97; correction in (6) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 1., Stats., Register, May, 1999, No. 521; EmR0924: emerg. am. (1) (a), (b), (2) (a), (3), (4), (5), (6) (intro.), (b) and (d), eff. 10-1-09; CR 09-090: am. (1) (a), (b), (2) (a), (3), (4), (5), (6) (intro.), (b) and (d) Register May 2010 No. 653, eff. 6-1-10; CR 20-018: cr. (5) (d) Register July 2021 No. 787, eff. 8-1-21. Tax 11.87Tax 11.87 Prepared food, food and food ingredients, and soft drinks.
