Grants a sales and compensating use tax exemption for goods under $2 sold for fundraising organized by school-based volunteer organizations.
Summary
S02142 would amend New York’s Tax Law to create a sales and compensating use tax exemption for very low-cost items sold as part of fundraising by school-based volunteer organizations. The exemption applies to items sold for less than two dollars when the sale is sponsored or promoted by a parent-teacher association, student organization, booster club, or similar school-based association that supports K-12 educational or extracurricular activities.
The bill is narrowly drawn to cover fundraising sales where no third-party vendor is collecting sales or use tax through the transaction. In practical terms, it would relieve certain school-related fundraising activities from sales tax collection requirements, reducing administrative burden for volunteer groups and making small fundraising sales slightly more efficient for schools and parent organizations.
Impact
If enacted, the bill would add a new exemption to section 1115 of the Tax Law, removing sales and compensating use tax from qualifying sub-$2 items sold by school-based volunteer organizations. The change would affect school PTAs, booster clubs, student groups, and similar associations involved in fundraising for K-12 educational or extracurricular programs, while leaving taxable sales outside the bill’s narrow criteria unchanged. It would also limit the exemption to transactions without a third-party vendor acting as the tax collector.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee debate or votes, the measure appears to be a targeted, low-profile tax relief proposal aimed at supporting school fundraising efforts. The framing suggests a generally favorable policy intent toward volunteer-led school organizations and small-dollar fundraising. No opposing or supporting testimony is available in the provided record, so there is no documented public sentiment beyond the bill’s sponsor-driven purpose.
Contention
The main potential point of contention is the scope of the exemption: it is limited to items under two dollars and only when sold by qualifying school-based organizations without a third-party vendor collecting tax. Questions could arise about whether the threshold is too narrow, how “similar school-based association” would be interpreted, and whether the exemption creates uneven treatment between school fundraisers and other charitable or community fundraising activities. No specific objections or supporters are identified in the available materials.