Meals Tax when Harvard is the seller
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Meals tax: a type of sales tax levied on prepared meals and certain other food items. In Massachusetts, sales of meals to students by college dining facilities are generally exempt.
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Harvard's Tax Reporting Department is responsible for answering any questions related to meals tax and for preparing and filing monthly meals tax returns.
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Harvard units that sell prepared food are expected to know and understand the general laws related to such sales, including licensing and tax requirements. The Massachusetts Guide to Sales Tax on Meals lays out the requirements in a clear and user friendly fashion.
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Harvard units that sell prepared food are also expected to know and understand Harvard's policy, "Tax Compliance for External Income-Generating Activities in the U.S."
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Tax-Exempt Meals
The following meal sales at Harvard are exempt from meals tax:
- Sales to Harvard students presenting a valid University ID purchasing meals in Harvard-operated dining facilities
- Sales from vending machines where each individual item costs less than $3.50
- Sales of meals to other 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations, with proper documentation
- Sales of meals directly to the federal or Massachusetts governments, with proper documentation
- Sales of beverages in unopened containers of 26 fluid ounces or more
- Meals that require significant further preparation in order to make them edible. For example:
- If a convenience store sells hot slices of pizza to go, the sale of the pizza slices is taxable, but
- If the same store sells frozen pizzas that customers take home to cook then the sale is not taxable because the pizza requires significant additional preparation
Please contact Harvard's Tax Reporting Department with any questions.