Quoting from the COA convention guidelines under duties of the Finance
Committee...

"Determine local and state regulations regarding sales taxes, licenses and
permits including permit to hold the raffle.  Verify with the State Tax
officials that the auction is a one day event and see if an exemption can
be granted for it and for the silent auction.  (Silent auction can also be
scheduled to run over a 24 hour period if necessary.)

Provide the following information in advance to the Auction and Bourse
Committees:

        A. Will COA have to collect and pay sales tax on auction sales?
        B. Will COA and shell clubs have to collect and pay sales tax on club
sales?
C. Will out of state dealers have to register, collect, and pay sales tax
on bourse sales? (And will instate dealers have to collect sales tax if out
of state dealers pay no tax?) NOTE: Florida has new regulations regarding
sales tax.

Obtain tax form and tax information for dealers. "


The convention guidelines are constantly in a state of revision and will
need to be revised again given the new 501(c)(3) status attained by COA.
As Treasurer for the COA 2000 convention I now know substantially more
about the Texas tax code than I even thought existed.  Tax permit forms and
tax return forms have been obtained and made available to the Bourse
chairperson to be included in the letter to the dealers.  Hopefully, we
have all of our bases covered for this year.  But Paul is correct... every
year is an adventure!

Steven Coker
Texas

COA 2000 - A Journey to the Stars

----------
> From: Monfils, Paul <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: A Question
> Date: Monday, March 20, 2000 10:51 AM
>
> I would agree with Dave Green that the responsibility for meeting legal
> obligations regarding the crossing of international borders would have to
> rest with those persons who are engaged in international trade.  While it
> would be convenient to have a ready-made handout available explaining the
> applicable laws and regulations, keeping such an information sheet
current
> would be a neverending task.  And, I assume the current regulations are
> available via the internet?
> There is a related concern though, which could affect both domestic and
> foreign dealers attending COA conventions.  The conventions are held in a
> variety of locations, and each state or city may have its own regulations
> concerning retail sales.  Here in Rhode Island you can't sell balloons at
a
> parade, or hotdogs at the park without a vendor's permit.  A permit is
also
> required to run a flea market, an auction, a yard sale, or various other
> kinds of revenue-generating activities.  Private yard sales and garage
sales
> are run all over the place with no permits, and no problems.  But failure
to
> acquire the necessary permit for a public event can result in
confiscation
> of your inventory, and possible fines as well.  Such permits can be
acquired
> for a year, for a week, or for a single day, depending on your intent.
> Managers of large-scale, ongoing flea markets obtain blanket permits
which
> cover all the dealers who sell on their property on a given day, and are
> also required to have liability insurance - and presumably pass along the
> costs in the per table fee charged to individual dealers.  SO - my
question
> is - Does COA investigate state and local ordinances, as they pertain to
> silent auctions, voice auctions, and dealer bourses, as a routine part of
> pre-conference preparations?  Does COA obtain any required permits or
> licences?  And can dealers assume that what they are doing at the
convention
> is legal from the viewpoint of the state and city in which they are doing
> it, and that they can sell their wares without risk of confiscation
and/or
> fines by local authorities?
> Regards,
> Paul M.