Does Kansas use tax apply to promotional materials a printer is obligated to deliver to a Kansas address?

Plain-English summary

The question concerned promotional materials produced by a printer and where the Kansas use tax attaches. The Department explained that use tax is levied for the privilege of using, storing, or compounding within Kansas any article of tangible personal property, and is collected at 4.9% of the consideration paid by the consumer.

Applying that rule, the Department ruled that the client's company is obligated to remit use tax to Kansas on all promotional materials when the printer is obligated to deliver those materials to an address within Kansas. In other words, the delivery point controls: if the printer must deliver the materials to a Kansas address, the tax follows.

What this means for you

If you buy printed promotional materials — brochures, catalogs, mailers — and the printer is obligated to deliver them to a Kansas address, you owe Kansas use tax on those materials at the 4.9% state rate (local tax may also apply).

• The key fact is the delivery obligation: materials the printer must deliver to a Kansas location are subject to Kansas use tax.
• This applies even when the printing is done out of state — use tax reaches property that is used, stored, or compounded in Kansas.
• Businesses buying promotional print work should track where the printer is required to deliver, because that determines the Kansas tax exposure.

Common questions

Do I owe Kansas tax on promotional materials printed out of state?
If the printer is obligated to deliver the materials to a Kansas address, yes — the Department ruled that Kansas use tax is owed on those materials.

What is the rate?
The ruling states use tax is collected at 4.9% of the consideration paid (the state rate at the time; local use tax may also apply).

What determines whether the tax applies?
The delivery obligation. Use tax attaches when the printer is obligated to deliver the promotional materials to an address within Kansas.

Can other businesses rely on this ruling?
Not directly. A private letter ruling binds the Department only for the taxpayer and facts it was issued to. Treat it as guidance and confirm your own situation.

Citations and references

• The ruling describes Kansas compensating (use) tax — imposed on the privilege of using, storing, or compounding tangible personal property in Kansas at 4.9% of the consideration paid — but does not quote a specific numbered statute section.

Source

• Original ruling (DOCX): https://www.ksrevenue.gov/pildocs/rulings/P-1998-37.docx
• Kansas Policy Information Library: https://www.ksrevenue.gov/prpil.html

Original ruling text

Private Letter Ruling

Body:

Office of Policy & Research

April 22, 1998

TTTTTTTTTTT
TTTTTTTTTTT
TTTTTTTTTTT
TTTTTTTTTTT

Dear Mr. TTTTTTT:

We wish to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 13, 1998, regarding the application of Kansas Retailers’ Sales tax.

Use tax is levied for the privilege of using, storing, or compounding within this state any article of tangible personal property. Such tax shall be collected in an amount equal to the consideration paid by the consumer multiplied by the rate of 4.9%.

Please be advised that your client’s company would be obligated to remit use tax to the state of Kansas on all promotional materials, when the printer is obligated to deliver said materials to an address within this state.

If I may be of further assistance, please contact me at your earliest convenience at (785) 296-7776.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas P. Browne, Jr.
Tax Specialist

TPB

Date Composed: 04/27/1998 Date Modified: 10/10/2001

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