Purchases of clay targets

Recreational clubs that provide shooting activities must pay retail sales tax or use tax on purchases of clay targets.

The tax is due whether the shooting activity is included in a club member fee or sold separately, even if the clay targets are itemized on the invoice.

Clubs are required to pay sales or use tax because they are considered the consumer of the items purchased for use in providing the recreational shooting activities.

Paying sales tax versus use tax

For sellers

If a seller is registered to do business in Washington, they must collect retail sales tax from the buyer – and the buyer must pay it to the seller.

For buyers

If the seller doesn’t collect the sales tax, that failure does not relieve the buyer from either:

• Paying sales tax to the seller if requested later.
• Reporting and paying use tax directly to the Department of Revenue for goods used in Washington.

If the seller of clay targets does not collect sales tax, the buyer must report use tax on the full value of the items, including shipping and delivery charges.

Use tax rates are the same as sales tax rates. The tax rate depends on where the clay targets are used in Washington.

Use our Tax Rate Lookup Tool to find tax rates and location codes for any location in Washington.

Using a reseller permit

If a business has been issued a reseller permit, the business is responsible for ensuring that the permit is used properly. The reseller permit can only be used to buy items that will be resold in the regular course of business without intervening use.

A reseller permit cannot be used to purchase clay targets used for providing recreational shooting activities. Anyone found using a permit incorrectly will owe the tax due and a 50% penalty – even if there was no fraud intended.

Examples

The examples provided below are for general guidance only. The tax results of other situations must be determined separately after review of all the facts and circumstances.

Example 1

XYZ Targets sells clay pigeon targets to Recreational Gun Club (RGC) which provides shooting activities to members who pay a monthly fee. XYZ Targets collects sales tax from RGC on its purchases of clay targets because RGC is considered the consumer of the items purchased for use in providing the recreational shooting activities.

Example 2

Targets Inc. sells clay targets to ABC Gun Club for use in providing recreational shooting activities. Customers of ABC Gun Club pay a stand-alone fee for the shooting activities. The purchase of the targets is subject to sales tax or use tax.

Targets Inc. did not collect sales tax from ABC Gun Club on the purchase of clay targets. Although sales tax was not collected, ABC Gun Club must report use tax on the full value of the clay targets, including shipping and delivery charges. The club is not exempt from sales tax because it is not reselling the clay targets; rather, they are selling the customers the shooting experience.