There is hereby levied an excise tax of 3% upon the gross proceeds or gross receipts derived from all sales taxable under the State Sales Tax Code, including, but not exclusive of, the following:
(A) Tangible personal property;
(B) Natural or artificial gas, electricity, ice, steam, or any other utility or public service except water and those specifically exempt by this subchapter;
(C) Transportation for hire of persons by common carriers, including railroads, both steam and electric, motor transportation companies, taxicab companies, Pullman car companies, airlines, and all other means of transportation for hire;
(D) Service by telephone and telegraph companies to subscribers or users, including transmission of messages, whether local or long distance. This shall include all services and rental charges having any connection with transmission of any message;
(E) Printing or printed matter of all types, kinds, and characters and the service of printing or over-printing, including the copying of information by mimeograph or multigraph, or by otherwise duplicating written or printed matter in any manner, or the production of microfiche containing information on magnetic tapes furnished by customers;
(F) Service of furnishing rooms by hotel, apartment hotel, public rooming house, motel, public lodging house, or tourist camps;
(G) Service of furnishing storage or parking privileges by auto hotels and parking lots;
(H) Selling, renting, or otherwise furnishing computer hardware or software or coding sheets, cards, or magnetic tapes on which prewritten programs have been coded, punched, or otherwise recorded;
(I) Food, confections, and all drinks sold or dispensed by hotels, restaurants, or other dispensers, and sold for immediate consumption upon the premises, or delivered or carried away from the premises for consumption elsewhere;
(J) Advertising of all kinds, types, and character, including any and all devices used for advertising purposes and the servicing of any advertising devices, except those specifically exempt by this subchapter;
(K) Dues or fees to clubs, including free or complimentary dues or fees which shall have the value equivalent to the charge that would have otherwise been made, including any fees paid for the use of facilities or services rendered at a health spa or club, or any similar facility or business;
(L) Sales of tickets, fees, or other charges made for admission to or voluntary contributions made to places of amusement, sports entertainment, exhibition, display, or other recreational events or activities, including free or complimentary admissions which shall have the value equivalent to the charge that would have otherwise been made;
(M) Charges made for the privilege of entering or engaging in any kind of activity when no admission is charged spectators, such as tennis, racquet ball, or handball courts;
(N) Charges made for the privilege of using items for amusement, sports, entertainment, or recreational activity, such as trampolines or golf carts;
(O) The rental of equipment for amusement, sports, entertainment, or other recreational activities, such as bowling shoes, skates, golf carts, or other sports and athletic equipment;
(P) The gross receipts from sales through any vending machine without any deduction for rental to locate the vending machine on the premises of a person who is not the owner, or any other deductions therefrom;
(Q) Gross receipts or gross proceeds from the rental or lease of tangible personal property, including rental or lease of personal property when the rental or lease agreement requires the vendor to launder, clean, repair, or otherwise service the rented or leased property on a regular basis, without any deduction for the cost of the service rendered. Provided if the rental or lease charge is based on the retail value of the property at the time of making the rental or lease agreement, and the expected life of the property and the rental or lease charge is separately stated from the service cost in the statement, bill, or invoice delivered to the consumer, the cost of services rendered shall be deducted from the gross receipts or gross proceeds;
(R) Any licensing agreement, rental, lease, or other device or instrument whereby rights to possess or exhibit motion pictures or filmed performances, or rights to receive images, pictures, or performances for telecast by any method are transferred. Provided, persons regularly engaged in the business of exhibiting motion pictures for which the sale of tickets or admissions is taxed under this subchapter shall not be deemed to be consumers or users in respect to the licensing or exhibiting of copyrighted motion picture features, shorts, cartoons, and scenes from copyrighted features, and the sale or licensing of such films shall not be considered a sale within the purview of this subchapter;
(S) (1) Flowers, plants, shrubs, trees, and other floral items, whether or not the same was produced by the vendor, sold by persons engaged in florist or nursery business in this state, including all orders taken by a state business for delivery in another state.
(2) Provided, all orders taken outside the state for delivery within the state shall not be subject to the tax levied by this subchapter.
(T) Tangible personal property sold to persons, peddlers, solicitors, or other salespersons for resale where there is likelihood that the state will lose tax revenue due to the difficulty of enforcing this subchapter because of:
(1) The operation of the business;
(2) The nature of the business;
(3) The turnover of independent contractors;
(4) The lack of place of business in which to display a permit or keep records;
(5) Lack of adequate records;
(6) The persons are minors or transients;
(7) The persons are engaged in service businesses; or
(8) Any other reasonable reason.
(U) Any taxable services and tangible personal property, including materials, supplies, and equipment, sold to contractors for the purpose of developing and improving real estate, even though such real estate is intended for resale as real property, are hereby declared to be sales to consumers or users and taxable; and
(V) Any taxable services and tangible personal property sold to persons who are primarily engaged in selling their services, such as repair people, are hereby declared to be sales to consumers or users and taxable.
(Prior Code, § 7-206)