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True or false: Using an ATV to haul feed to your cattle or to inspect the animals qualifies for the vehicle to be exempt from state sales tax.

If you answered true, you're only partly right. According to the state tax department, using an ATV to check up on your cattle does not qualify as an agriculture exemption to the sales tax. Hauling feed to the animals is, though.

What the tax department considers a legitimate agricultural use of ATVs is confusing, and OFBF has fielded several calls recently from members who bought ATVs. The vehicles are exempt from state sales taxes if they are used more than 50 percent for agriculture, said Larry Gearhardt, OFBF's director of local affairs.

The confusion usually doesn't set in until after you buy an ATV. After you buy the vehicle at a dealership and mark that it's exempt from state sales taxes, the tax department sends a form asking how you are using the ATV. The form has a long list of possible uses You are asked to rate the percent you use the ATV for each category. Some of the uses listed are exempt and others are not. It is not necessary to list a percent by every item. The act of cultivating the soil is critical to the exemption; inspecting things is not allowed.

"Keep in mind that the tax department has an extremely narrow definition of agriculture for sales tax purposes," Gearhardt said. "Members need to be extra cautious in determining and predicting how they will use the ATV."

Part of the problem is that you can't ask the tax department for help with the form, and not turning in the form means you will have to pay the sales tax.

The tax department's definition of agriculture is "the cultivation of soil for the purpose of producing vegetables and fruits and includes gardening or horticulture, together with the raising and feeding of cattle for sale as a business."

To avoid confusion in the future, Ohio Farm Bureau is looking to change the definition of "agriculture" for sales tax purposes to make it more consistent with other areas of the law.

If you have general questions about the agriculture exemption to the sales tax, contact Gearhardt at 614-246-8256.