Sales tax on stove and installation in NY?

[av8roc]

I've had two local VC dealers (smaller ones) quote me a price on Montpelier insert installed for about $4100 and both of them said no sales taxes are applied on wood stoves. (Capital improvement or something like that?)

Two larger dealers in my area that carry several different brands say sales tax is applicable. One of the smaller dealers said to watch out for the other guys as they use that boost their profits.

Of course I would like to buy from a guy not charging me close to $400 in sales tax but the more I read the more I'm leaning towards a Jotul or other brand.

So is sales tax applicable on the stoves or not?

 

[Greg123]

NO in NY state it's a Capital improvement. No sales Tax. I just had a new stove, chimney ect installed from a large dealer and there was no sales tax. You can read some information on it here (broken link removed)

 

[Jotulf3cb]

I just bought mine in NY last month and no sales tax ...... I wouldn't even deal with someone that is so sleazy

 

[Fsappo]

Because of this sentence:
"becomes part of the real property or is permanently
affixed to the real property so that removal would cause
material damage to the property or article itself; and

A stove installed to an existing chimney or fireplace is not considered a capital improvement according to our contacts at the IRS, our accountants and our tax laywers (My shop is owned my a 70 mill a year corp.) Because a fireplace insert can be removed and the fireplace brought back to its original design with min. effort in most cases, we were advised this was not a cap imp. Same with plugging a wood stove into an existing flue. New installations of wood, gas and pellet stoves where wall/floor/roof penetrations are part of the job, with new chimney systems, gas and electric hooks would be considered a cap imp. Larger businesses have access to better laywers and accountants who, in order to cover the arses of their clients, will er to the side of caution. I doubt you will find many large hearth retailers charging tax and pocketing it in order to skim 7 or 8 %. The gains are far outweighed by the consequences.

It is just how these laws were made. Tax codes, even the new one for the tax credit are written in a way that the reader can interpet it how they want, kind of like the bible. I do think the responsibility falls on the retailer and not the consumer, so either way, you would be safe...I think.

 

[High_Iron]

I'm not sure where on the island you are but .....I bought my hampton from a place called Kindle wood. they are on Vets hwy near the airport. They charged me tax, maybe I got taken . I did ask about the no tax, home improvement but was told it didn't apply. again, I may have been taken. I am still happy. They gave me the best bottom line.

I was on the fence between the Hampton and the Jotul Kennebec. If you want to shop for the Jotul, the best price I found was at a stove shop on Main street in Patchogue.

Good luck

***EDIT*** Its been a few years, Thats what I was told, because it is an insert , it was not considered permanent, hence the sales tax.

 

[Fsappo]

It has been 3 years since the Long Island days, now I run a shop north of Syracuse. I know the guys at Kindlewood, good people. I managed the store in Patchogue, The Woodbox for 14 years, as well as their other shop in Commack. A year or so after I left (On good terms) The Commack store closed, with the Patchogue store closing soon after. It was a sad thing seeing something I helped build up after 14 years just vanish...but thats business.

 

[yukiginger]

I reviewed the tax document and found it severely lacking in its treatment of an insert. All I could find was a mention of the installation of one falling under "Repair, maintenance, or installation." I was charged tax on my insert and liner when it was installed 6 years ago. The installers (for the shop where I purchased) knocked out the damper frame and damper (and a couple bricks) from my existing masonry chimney/fireplace when they installed the unit and liner. Now, I remember getting the plate or notice that if I ever removed the insert I would need to return the fireplace to serviceable condition, but wouldn't this be quite costly (to reinstall some bricks and a working damper)? I think in effect they've made the insert a permanent fixture in my fireplace. I don't see how that is any different than cutting some holes through a floor and roof or through a wall for a new stove and chimney.

Any thoughts on this? I'd like to think I could recover some funds from good old NY state for a capital improvement.

MarkG

 

[Deron]

Same question for Ohio and KY.

One dealer says no tax and the other just sent me a quote with tax.

I thought home improvement or additions were tax exempt everywhere.

 

[Fsappo]

Its how they interpet "Home Improvements" Wanna get confused? Call an IRS person and ask the question. You'll be passed from person to person for hours and still get the idea that it's really up to you to make the call but if you make the wrong call your still in trouble

 

[moosetrek]

Is it really worth worrying over? Maybe just ask for the best out the door price and whoever wins and has decent attitude/service is the one to go with. Sales tax in this case sounds like a nebulous item, given the tax guidelines. Maybe comparable to a trade-in on a car, kind of a shell game. One store may drop the stove price, but push the sales tax and vice versa next door.

 

[Fsappo]

Is it really worth worrying over? Maybe just ask for the best out the door price and whoever wins and has decent attitude/service is the one to go with. Sales tax in this case sounds like a nebulous item, given the tax guidelines. Maybe comparable to a trade-in on a car, kind of a shell game. One store may drop the stove price, but push the sales tax and vice versa next door.

Yup, or that

 

[Deron]

Its how they interpet "Home Improvements" Wanna get confused? Call an IRS person and ask the question. You'll be passed from person to person for hours and still get the idea that it's really up to you to make the call but if you make the wrong call your still in trouble

IRS is not an issue, it's a state sales tax not federal tax.

$250 in needless sales tax = a cord of wood.

 

[Fsappo]

great, then call the state tax dept and they will clear it right up for you with fast clear answers

 

[Jags]

great, then call the state tax dept and they will clear it right up for you with fast clear answers

I'd put a wager on that one. :lol:

 

[Deron]

In KY anyway, if it is a permanent home improvement which is installed then it is definitely non-taxable.

For instance, I had a new stove and dishwasher put in by Lowes and paid no sales tax. Same thing with
a new door installed by Home Depot.

Now if I did not have them install them then I would have been liable for the tax.

 

[88steve]

Hi i went through the same last year was going to get the vc montpelier but thankfully did my homework and went with a jotul .let me know if you want to know who i used im in 11755 .

 

[wellbuilt home]

Its a funny thing, If i install a stove i cant charge Sales tax . If i clean a flue its a service I must charge Sales tax . If i do a repair i charge sales tax .
The thing is i still pay sales tax on the stove and all supplies . I just don't get to mark up the tax at the end and charge extra for it . But you guys pay the tax in the end . John

 

[moosetrek]

All that $ goes somewhere and comes out somewhere, what really matters is what you pay for the stove, and how you feel about the purchase during and after. It's so easy to get caught up in $25 difference in price and forget that when the sale's done, that $25 difference will linger a lot shorter than the experience of buying it. And there's a cost to your time shopping, comparing, crunching numbers, and generally getting to a conclusion.

 

[rhetoric]

And before you going thinking Patterson and the great state of ny are generous by not charging you sales tax, recognize that they will reassess your home's value because of the "capital improvement" and "adjust" your property taxes accordingly. Did I say modest taxes? I didn't. Good.