Objects of art or cultural value bought by an artistic or cultural organization

A qualifying nonprofit artistic or cultural organization pays no Washington sales tax on art, objects of cultural value, materials used to create art, and items used to display art or stage exhibitions and performances for the public. It is a narrow exemption: office, building and audience items stay taxable.

Who qualifies

• An organization run only to provide artistic or cultural exhibitions, presentations or performances, or cultural or art education programs, for the general public.
• It must be a nonprofit corporation under chapter 24.03A RCW managed by a board of at least eight people, none of them paid employees. A corporation sole under chapter 24.12 RCW also fits the statute.
• No income may go to members, officers, directors or trustees, except as services under its purposes and bylaws. Pay to officers and executives must be for actual services, at levels comparable to similar jobs in Washington.
• Its assets must be dedicated to the exempt activities and, if it dissolves, may pass only to another organization that would also qualify.
• It must hold any license or certification the law requires, use exempt amounts for the exempt activities, serve people regardless of race, color, national origin or ancestry, and give the Department of Revenue access to its books.
• The qualifying programs are limited to: exhibitions of art or of objects of cultural or historical significance, such as those in art or history museums; musical or dramatic performances; and public educational programs on an artistic, cultural or historical subject.

What qualifies

• Objects of art and objects of cultural value, bought for exhibition or presentation to the general public.
• Objects used to create a work of art, other than tools.
• Objects used to display art or to present artistic or cultural exhibitions or performances.
• Rentals of any of these objects.
• Examples the rule gives: tickets, programs, signs, posters, fliers and playbills printed for a particular display or performance; scenery, costumes, stage props, scrims and the materials to build them.
• Stage lights, filters, control panels, color medium, stage drapes, sets, set paint, gallery exhibition materials, risers and display platforms, and the materials to build them.
• Sheet music, recordings, musical instruments and musical supplies for staging displays and performances.
• Movie projectors, films, sound systems, video and sound equipment, and computer hardware and prewritten software used directly and only in staging performances or displaying art.
• Services that are merely incidental to an exempt item, such as designing playbills or altering stage curtains sold to the organization; the whole charge is exempt.

Not covered

• Professional or commercial services from third parties, other than services merely incidental to an exempt item.
• Materials, equipment and services to repair, maintain or replace buildings or structures: theater seats, aisle carpeting, air conditioning, interior or exterior painting.
• Office and clerical items: bulk tickets for general use, stationery, computers, copy machines, general office supplies.
• Lobby furniture, vending machines, and supplies for audience or patron convenience.
• Shipping and packing materials, crates, boxes, dunnage, labels and tags used to move or store exempt objects.
• Tools, such as sewing machines and other durable equipment used to make, repair or maintain exempt objects.
• Theater or building lighting and utility fixtures, and computer hardware or software not used directly and only in staging performances or displaying art.
• The organization's own sales. If it charges for goods or services that are retail sales, it must collect and report sales tax; there is no exemption for sales by these organizations.

What the buyer gives

The Buyer's Retail Sales Tax Exemption Certificate, form REV 27 0032 (current revision 6/17/25). The buyer ticks single use or blanket, enters the seller's name and mailing address and the date, checks line 5c ("Objects of art or cultural value purchased by an artistic or cultural organization"), lists the items purchased, and completes the certification block: type of entity, type of business, Account ID, buyer name and title, street address, and signature. The form says it is not for resale purchases. WAC 458-20-249 also describes a written statement in essentially a set form (buyer's name, date of purchase, seller's name, signature, organization name and registration number) that these organizations may give their suppliers.

What the seller keeps

Keep the certificate. Form REV 27 0032 says: "Seller must retain the original of this certificate for their records. Do not send a copy of this certificate to the Department of Revenue." RCW 82.32.070(1) requires taxpayers to "keep and preserve, for a period of five years, suitable records as may be necessary to determine the amount of any tax for which the taxpayer may be liable." Under RCW 82.08.050(4), a seller is not relieved of the tax unless it "maintain[s] proper records of exempt or nontaxable transactions and provide[s] them to the department when requested." Under RCW 82.08.050(7)(a) the seller is relieved if it obtains a fully completed certificate within 90 days after the sale; if not, (7)(b) gives 120 days after a department request to prove the sale was not taxable or obtain a fully completed certificate taken in good faith. WAC 458-20-249(4)(h): "Vendors who accept such certifications in good faith are not required to collect and remit retail sales tax on such sales." RCW 82.04.470 governs proof of wholesale sales (reseller permits) and does not apply here: this is an exempt retail sale, not a sale for resale.

Common mistakes

• Using the certificate for office purchases. WAC 458-20-249 lists bulk tickets for general use, stationery, computers, copy machines and general office supplies as taxable.
• Treating building items as exempt objects. Theater seats, aisle carpeting, air conditioning and building painting are named as not exempt.
• Buying tools tax-free. Sewing machines and other durable equipment used to make or maintain costumes and sets are "tools," not exempt objects; the statute excludes tools.
• Buying shipping crates, boxes and packing materials for exhibits tax-free. The rule names these as taxable.

Common questions

Does every nonprofit arts group qualify for this sales tax exemption in Washington?

No. The organization must be run only to provide artistic or cultural exhibitions, performances or education programs for the public, be a nonprofit corporation under chapter 24.03A RCW (or a corporation sole under chapter 24.12 RCW), have a board of at least eight unpaid members, and meet the other conditions in RCW 82.04.4328.

Can a nonprofit theater buy costumes and set materials without paying sales tax?

Yes, if it qualifies. WAC 458-20-249 lists scenery, costumes, stage props, scrims and the materials to build them as exempt. The sewing machine used to make the costumes is a tool and stays taxable.

Is renting stage lights or sound equipment exempt too?

Yes. The rule says exempt sales include rentals of exempt objects, and it lists stage lights and sound systems used in staging performances.

Do we still charge sales tax on what we sell?

Yes, where it is a retail sale. The rule says these organizations must collect and report sales tax on goods or services they sell that are retail sales, and there is no sales tax exemption for their sales.

Sources

• RCW 82.08.031 Sales tax exemption for objects bought by artistic or cultural organizations
• RCW 82.12.031 Matching use tax exemption
• RCW 82.04.4328 "Artistic or cultural organization" defined, (1)-(2)
• WAC 458-20-249 (2) definitions; (4)(a)-(h) retail sales tax; (6) use tax
• DOR form REV 27 0032 (6/17/25), Buyer's Retail Sales Tax Exemption Certificate Page 1 single use/blanket; page 3 line 5c; page 4 certification; page 6 line 5c instructions
• RCW 82.08.050 (4), (7)(a)-(c) seller records and certificate timing
• RCW 82.32.070 (1) five-year record retention
• RCW 82.04.470 (1), (7) reseller permits and wholesale sales