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Confusion about whether ATVs qualify as an agriculture exemption to the state sales tax is prompting a lot of calls to Ohio Farm Bureau's legal staff.

ATVs are exempt from state sales tax if they are used more than 51 percent for agriculture, said Nan Still, director of OFBF's agriculture law information. But sometimes what appears to be an agricultural use isn't in the eyes of the state tax department. For example, Still said a farmer argued unsuccessfully last year that his ATV was exempt from the tax because he used it on his land to help raise trees. Because the tax division's definition of agriculture does not list timber as a crop, the department made the farmer pay the sales tax.

Removing rocks from a field also may sound like an agricultural use, but that's not the case, according to the tax department. The department says that to be exempt from the sales tax, an ATV would have to be "used to cultivate or stimulate the growth of crops or flowers which are to be sold."

"Anything that goes into pre-planting is not going to make it," Still said. "They're interpreting the definition of agricultural use very narrowly."

Whenever you buy an ATV and mark that it is exempt from the sales tax, there's a good chance the tax department is going to send you a form asking how you are using the vehicle. The form has a long list of possible uses, and you are asked to rate the percent you use the ATV for each category. You don't necessarily have to put a percent by every item, Still said.

Part of the problem is that you can't ask the tax department for help with the form. Failure to turn in the form means you will have to pay the sales tax, Still said.

Occasionally, farmers have sued over the state sales tax and won in court. An example was a farmer who was successful with his argument that his refrigeration truck should be exempt because it was used only to move eggs to market, Still said.

If you have general questions about the agriculture exemption to the sales tax, contact Still at 614-246-8257 or Larry Gearhardt, director of OFBF's local affairs, at 614-246-8256.