Consignment sales

What is a consignment sale?

A consignment sale is when the actual owner of goods (the consignor) enters into an agreement with another person (consignee) to sell those goods as an agent for the actual owner. Some wineries sell art or craft work, etc. on behalf of the artist or creator. The winery must collect sales tax on consignment sales.

Reporting instructions for winery selling in the name of the owner:

When an unregistered person consigns goods to a winery for sale, the winery will:

• Report the sales under the Retailing B&O and Retail Sales tax classifications.
• Take a Consignment Sales deduction from the Retailing B&O tax classification.
• Report the amount received as commissions and any other fees under the Service and Other Activities B&O tax classification.

When a registered person consigns goods to a winery for sale, the consignee (winery) may choose either of the following:

• Report consignment sales the same as they would for unregistered persons.
• Turn over the retail sales tax to the consignor to be reported on its excise tax return and only report their commissions and any other fees under the Service and Other Activities B&O tax classification.

Note: Wineries are advised to submit the sales tax directly to the department since they are not relieved of liability if the consignor does not submit it.

Reporting instruction for winery selling in own name:

When a winery sells the goods of an artist or creator in its own name, the sales are retail sales and the winery must pay the Retailing B&O tax, and collect and submit the retail sales tax.