Sales/excise Tax Division Instructional Bulletin No. 12 Page 7
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12A "classified permit" establishes the percentages of sales of taxable and exempt commodities
made by a retailer during a typical test period. A retailer who has been authorized to do so by the
State Tax Assessor may use the percentage of exempt sales established by the classified permit in
lieu of maintaining an actual breakdown of sales of taxable and nontaxable commodities.
Classified permits are ordinarily issued only to retailers whose cash registers lack the capacity to
accurately separate taxable and nontaxable sales.
Any grocer who wishes to use a classified permit must apply to Maine Revenue Services for
authorization to do so. Classified permits are not transferable upon the sale of a business. The
new owner of a business must obtain a new classified permit even if the former owner had a
classified permit. For further information regarding classified permits, the grocer should refer to
Rule 313.
6. COUPONS.
a. Manufacturers' Coupons. When a customer presents a coupon issued by the
manufacturer or producer of a certain item in full or partial payment of the sale price of that
item, the value of the coupon allowed against the price of the item is a part of the taxable sale
price of the item. If the item is subject to tax, the tax must be computed based on the entire
selling price of that item including the value of the coupon.
EXAMPLE 1: A customer purchases a bag of dog food that ordinarily sells for $3.99.
When paying for the dog food, the customer presents a coupon issued by the manufacturer of
the dog food, good for fifty cents off the price of a bag of that company's dog food. The
customer is charged $3.49 plus the 50¢ coupon. The tax on this sale is twenty-two cents
( 5.5% of $3.99).
b. Store Coupons. When a discount is allowed by the seller and actually taken by the
purchaser, the amount of the discount is not included in the sale price of the item. In this
situation, it makes no difference whether the customer is required to present a coupon issued
by the seller in order to claim the discount.
EXAMPLE 2: A certain store includes in its newspaper advertisement a coupon good for
10% off the price of a package of light bulbs. The light bulbs are priced at $2.99 per package.
A customer presents the store coupon when buying a package of the light bulbs and is charged
$2.69. The tax due from that customer is fifteen cents (5.5% of $2.69). A second customer
purchases the same package of light bulbs but does not present the coupon and is charged the
regular price of $2.99. The tax due from that customer is sixteen cents (5.5% of $2.99).
7. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
The information in this bulletin addresses some of the more common questions regarding the
Sales and Use Tax Law faced by your business. It is not intended to be all-inclusive. Requests
for information on specific situations should be in writing, should contain full information as to
the transaction in question and should be directed to the:
Page 7
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