Sales Tax Audit Toledo Ohio food and catering

Sales Tax Audit Toledo Ohio food and catering
Our most common sales tax audit pertains to grocery stores, convenience stores, and gas stations. Food and alcohol are high volume sales that are common and bring in sales tax dollars for the state.
“Food” means substances, whether in liquid, concentrated, solid, frozen, dried, or dehydrated form, that are sold for ingestion or chewing by humans and are consumed for their taste or nutritional value. “Food” does not include alcoholic beverages, dietary supplements, soft drinks, or tobacco. soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, dietary supplements, and tobacco. Beverages that do qualify as food include milk or milk products, soy, rice, or similar milk substitutes, or items that contain greater than 50-percent vegetable or fruit juice by volume.
Now, things start changing when you enter the realm of catering.
You are required to collect and remit sales tax on all sales including rentals, except for sales of food for consumption off the premises where sold. For example, if you are catering a wedding at your facility, you would be required to collect and remit sales tax on the sale of the food and beverages and on the rental of chairs, tables, dishware, stemware, silverware, napkins, tablecloths, silk flowers etc. If you are catering a wedding at a facility arranged for by the wedding party (not your facility or a facility arranged for by you), you would be required to collect and remit tax on sales of all beverages (soda, beer, wine, mixed drinks, etc.) and on all rental items, but you would not be required to collect tax on the sale of food as the food is consumed off the premises where sold.
You would be entitled to claim exemption on the purchase of all items that are purchased for “resale” (food, beverages and/or rental items). If you are licensed to conduct a food service operation pursuant to section 3732.03 of the Ohio Revised Code, you are entitled to claim exemption on the purchase of items primarily used directly in preparing and preserving food for human consumption for sale (not including items used to display food for selection by the consumer), and to clean items used to prepare or preserve food for human consumption for sale.
Sales Tax Audit Toledo Ohio food and catering