Please note: monetary amounts and sales tax rates are listed in this article at their 2000 levels. As of 2011, New York City's total Sales and Use tax rate is 8.875 percent.

As an artist conducting business in New York State, you are required by law to collect state and local sales taxes on any artwork you sell or services you provide in New York State. If you sell your artwork solely through a gallery, the collection and payment of sales tax becomes the gallery’s responsibility. However, if you sell artwork independently from your studio, through art fairs, or other venues, you are responsible for collecting, reporting, and paying sales tax to New York State (even if you fail to collect it from your customers).

Before you make any taxable sales, you must first register with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. To register you must complete a DTF-17: Application for Registration as a Sales Tax Vendor. The two-page application is quick and easy to complete, and there is no fee to register. See the Additional Assistance section below to find out how to acquire an application.

On the application you will need to determine for which of the three types of Certificates of Authority you are applying: Regular, Show/Entertainment, or Temporary. The type of certificate you need depends on where you sell your work. If you sell from a permanent physical location (i.e., your studio), you should apply for the Regular. If you do not have a permanent physical location and sell strictly at craft fairs, street festivals, or other show venues, you should apply for the Show/Entertainment. If you sell from both a permanent location and at craft fairs, etc., you should apply for the Regular. If you plan to sell your work during no more than two consecutive quarterly periods in any 12-month period (like a Christmas tree vendor), you should apply for the Temporary. Lastly, if you sell work from more than one permanent location within New York State (i.e., two studios at two different locations), you must submit information for each location by completing a DTF-17-ATT: Schedule of Business Locations.

When you complete your application, mail it to the following address: NYS Tax Department, Sales Tax Registration Unit, W A Harriman Campus, Albany, NY 12227-0155. The application takes about four weeks to process and you will be issued a Certificate of Authority. You cannot legally make sales until you receive this certificate.

The state sales tax rate in New York is 4%. Local sales tax rates of counties and cities within New York State vary between 0% and 4¼%. When calculating the appropriate sales tax rate, you need to add the state and local tax rates together. For example, the local sales tax in New York City is 4¼%, which when added to the state sales tax rate of 4% totals 8¼%. The total sales tax rate you collect on each sale depends upon the jurisdiction within New York State where the sale is made. If you sell all of your artwork from one location (i.e., your studio in Brooklyn), the combined total sales tax rate you would charge is 8¼% on all sales to collectors within New York State.

If you ship artwork to collectors outside of New York State, there is no New York State tax liability, regardless of where you made the sale. Make sure that your invoices clearly show the place of delivery. You should also keep any other documentation of the shipment.

On each sales record issued to your customers, the dollar amount of taxable sales and the amount of sales tax charged must be stated. Sales records must also be kept for at least three years after the due date of the return.

You must file a return summarizing your business activities every three months, even if you do not have any taxable sales during the period. When you first register as a vendor, you will automatically be classified as a quarterly filer. Depending on the amount of your taxable sales, you may be required later to file monthly (when making more than $300,000 in taxable sales) or be allowed to file annually (when making less than $3,000 total tax due for the 12-month period). To file a return, you will need to fill out a ST-100—New York State and Local Quarterly Sales and Use Tax Return. This form will be automatically mailed to you each quarter. If you do not receive one, call the New York State Tax Department, Taxpayer Assistance Bureau.

There are more than 80 separate jurisdictions (e.g., cities and counties) in New York State that impose local sales tax. You must report your taxable sales broken down by jurisdiction, so you will need to keep organized records. If you consistently file returns reporting only sales in a single jurisdiction, you will be sent a ST-102, a simplified, one-page return. All state and local sales taxes are paid to the same state agency, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, which in turn redistributes them to each jurisdiction.

September 20 for the period of June 1—August 31

December 20 for the period of September 1— November 30

March 20 for the period of December 1—February 28 (29)

June 20 for the period of March 1—May 31

If you file your return late or completely fail to file a return, you may be subject to civil penalties and interest on the outstanding returns. The minimum penalty for failure to file a return on time is $50.

Beware! The following acts are felonies: failure to collect sales tax with the intent to defraud the state of $10,000 or more, and failure to collect sales tax with the intent to defraud the state through a common scheme of ten or more failures to collect tax on sales of $100 or more each.

Publication 750—A Guide to Sales Tax in New York State (Read it carefully! It includes a complete description of sales tax obligations, application form, and instructions.)

DTF-17—Application for Registration as a Sales Tax Vendor

DTF-17-I—Instructions for Application for Registration as a Sales Tax Vendor Form

DTF-17-ATT—Schedule of Business Locations (You only need to fill this form out if you sell work from more than one location.)

ST-100—New York State and Local Quarterly Sales and Use Tax Return

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance offers free help to anyone with questions:

Telephone—Telephone assistance is available from 8:30 am to 4:25 pm EST, Monday through Friday. For general information, call (800) 225-5829. For business tax information and forms, call the Business Tax Information Center at (800) 972-1233. To order forms and publications, call (800) 462-8100. For artists with hearing and speech impairments, call (800) 634-2100 TDD.

Fax—Fax-on-Demand forms are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by calling (800) 748-3676.

Web—Visit their Web site for further information at www.tax.state.ny.us.

Mail—Write for further information to NYS Tax Department, Taxpayer Assistance Bureau, Taxpayer Correspondence, W A Harriman Campus, Albany, NY 12227.

If you do business in New York State, you may also be subject to other taxes. If you incorporate your business, you are responsible for paying a Corporation Franchise Tax. If you hire studio assistants, you are required to withhold New York State Income Tax. Lastly, if you base your business in New York City and make more than $25,000 annually in total gross income (prior to any deductions for cost of goods or services sold), you are also subject to an Unincorporated Business Tax.

For additional information about sales tax issues in New York State, please contact NYFA Source at our toll-free number (800) 232-2789, or by e-mail at source@nyfa.org.

(The preceding information has been excerpted and summarized from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance’s Publication 750: A Guide to Sales Tax in New York State. The information provided by the Hotline serves only as an overview of this publication. The Hotline requests that you obtain a copy of the publication and read it thoroughly to understand every issue that could potentially affect your personal situation.)

A project of the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Visual Artist Information Hotline is made possible through the generous support of the Hotline’s Consortium: Albert A. List Foundation; Alice Baber Art Fund; Basil H. Alkazzi; Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts; Fleishhacker Foundation; Virginia Gilder; Independence Community Foundation; Joan Mitchell Foundation; Judith Rothschild Foundation; Lannan Foundation; Lily Auchincloss Foundation; Liman Foundation; Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; Pew Fellowships in the Arts; Pollock-Krasner Foundation; and the Richard A. Florsheim Art Fund.