Services subject to tax — Lawn care and landscaping

(a)(1) Any person engaged in the business of providing lawn care of nonresidential property or landscaping services of both residential and nonresidential property is required to collect and remit sales tax on the gross receipts derived from these services.

(2) The business is required to obtain a sales tax permit.

(3) All materials that remain in or on the customer’s property should be purchased tax exempt as a sale for resale.

(4) Examples are:

(A) Fertilizer;

(B) Weed killer;

(C) Grass seed;

(D) Sod;

(E) Plants;

(F) Trees; or

(G) Shrubs.

(5) Materials used or consumed by the business may not be purchased exempt.

(6) Examples are gasoline, oil, cleaning materials, uniforms, tools, mowers, or other equipment used or consumed by the business.
(b)(1) The business will collect state and local sales tax on the total consideration for landscaping services or nonresidential lawn care, whether provided as part of a general contract for building construction or as a separate agreement with the landowner.

(2) The business will collect the tax from the party with whom it contracts for the service, including general contractors, on the total contract cost including the cost of plant materials.

(3) A business that has its own nursery is not required to report tax on plant material withdrawn from stock, but will collect tax on the sale of the material to its customers.

# (c) Definitions

(c) Definitions. As used in this section:
(1)(A) “Landscaping” means the installation, preservation, or enhancement of ground covering by planting:

(i) Trees;

(ii) Bushes;

(iii) Shrubbery;

(iv) Grass;

(v) Flowers; and

(vi) Other types of decorative plants.

(B) “Landscaping” does not include:

(i) Site preparation;

(ii) Cutting and filling;

(iii) Leveling;

(iv) Tree trimming or tree removal; or

(v) Clearing a site of bushes and trees.

(C) “Landscaping” does include sodding, seeding, and planting, as well as installing items such as:

(i) Landscape timbers;

(ii) Edging;

(iii) Planters; or

(iv) Similar items.

(D) Landscaping performed on highway easements and right-of-ways is taxable.

(E) Landscaping is taxable whether it is done for decorative purposes or nondecorative purposes such as erosion or sediment control;
(2)(A) “Lawn care” means the maintenance, preservation, or enhancement of ground covering of nonresidential property and does not include planting:

(i) Trees;

(ii) Bushes;

(iii) Shrubbery;

(iv) Grass;

(v) Flowers; and

(vi) Other types of decorative plants.

(B) “Lawn care” includes the following:

(i) Mowing or raking the yard;

(ii) Chemical spraying;

(iii) Fertilizing;

(iv) Weed control or weed-eating;

(v) Maintaining the ground cover in beds by adding additional rock, gravel, tree bark, or other material used to provide ground cover in beds or in other places in the area to be maintained; and

(vi) General lawn maintenance.

(C) Tree trimming or tree removal is not lawn care; and
(3)(A) “Residential” means a single-family residence used solely as the principal place of residence of the owner or occupant.

(B) Apartment buildings, condominiums, and duplexes are nonresidential property for purposes of this exemption.

(C) A single-family dwelling leased to the occupant is residential property for purposes of this exemption.