The Arizona Transaction Privilege Tax exemption for forklifts used by manufacturers has been clarified and expanded as a result of a recent ruling received by the sales tax consultants at Agile Consulting Group. Transaction Privilege Tax or TPT is to Arizona what Sales and Use Tax is to most other U.S. states. Transaction Privilege Tax is levied on sales of most goods and some services in the state of Arizona. However, there is an exemption in place for the manufacturing industry.

In a prior post, Agile has discussed the Arizona sales tax exemption for manufacturing. The exemption is outlined in Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. §42-5061(B)(1) and includes a number of different categories of purchases commonly made by manufacturers. One area where the Statutes and the Arizona Department of Revenue’s guidance has been lacking relates to forklifts, which are arguably one the most universally used types of machinery and equipment across all types of manufacturing operations regardless of the product being produced. In fact, no prior rulings or guidance have been provided regarding how the Arizona Department of Revenue suggests that the manufacturing exemption applies to forklift purchases, leases, repairs, as well as the fuel used to power these units.

Agile requested clarification of the Arizona Transaction Privilege Tax exemption for forklifts used by manufacturers in a ruling submitted to the Arizona Department of Revenue in June 2023. Additionally, our sales tax consultants argued for favorable tax treatment of these forklifts across twelve different scenarios for forklifts in use at a plant for one of our longstanding Arizona manufacturing clients. In the response Agile received from the Arizona Department of Revenue’s Taxpayer Services Section representative, we received encouraging news for all Arizona manufacturers that use forklifts within their manufacturing process.

The key takeaways from the ruling Agile received about the Arizona Transaction Privilege Tax exemption for forklifts used by manufacturers are: