The short version
Sales tax comes up twice in a plant fundraiser, and the two are easy to confuse. The first is the tax on the wholesale invoice your organization receives from Van Wingerden. The second is the retail tax your supporters may owe on what they buy from you. Different rules govern each one, and only the second is your organization’s decision to make. This page explains both, and how the platform handles them.
- Van Wingerden charges sales tax on your wholesale invoice unless we have a valid reseller permit on file for your organization.
- Whether you collect retail sales tax from your supporters at checkout is your organization’s decision, not ours.
- If you turn collection on, the platform adds the tax at checkout, itemizes it in your reports, and returns it to you along with the rest of your proceeds.
- Reporting and paying that tax to your state is your organization’s responsibility. Van Wingerden does not file or remit it on your behalf.
1. Sales tax on your invoice from Van Wingerden
Van Wingerden sells the plants to your organization at wholesale. Your organization then sells them to your supporters. In Washington, a sale for resale is not taxed, but the seller has to be able to prove it was a sale for resale. The proof is a reseller permit.
If we have a copy of your current reseller permit on file, your invoice shows no sales tax. If we do not, Washington requires us to charge retail sales tax on the invoice, and we have no discretion about it. This is true regardless of your organization’s nonprofit status. Being a 501(c)(3) does not by itself exempt your purchases from sales tax in Washington.
Getting a reseller permit
Most organizations running a plant fundraiser qualify for one. The Washington Department of Revenue issues reseller permits at no charge, and a nonprofit that conducts only fundraising activities can apply for one directly rather than going through a full business registration. Details and the application are on the Department of Revenue’s reseller permits page.
Send a copy of your permit to emma@vanwingerden.com and we will mark your account and remove sales tax from your invoices going forward. Permits expire, so send us the new one when yours is renewed.
One condition comes attached. A reseller permit is for goods you genuinely resell. Plants your organization keeps, gives away, or uses itself are not covered, and the Department of Revenue applies a substantial penalty for misuse.
2. Retail sales tax on what your supporters pay
When a supporter buys a poinsettia from your campaign, that is a retail sale by your organization. Whether retail sales tax applies to it depends on your organization and how you are running the fundraiser. Your organization makes that determination. Van Wingerden cannot make it for you and does not attempt to.
Once you have made the determination, the platform follows it:
- You tell us to turn sales tax collection on, and give us the rate that applies.
- The platform adds the tax at checkout, shown as its own line so your supporters can see it.
- Every order report itemizes the tax collected separately from product totals.
- The tax collected is returned to your organization along with your proceeds, after the wholesale cost of the plants is deducted.
- Your organization reports and pays that tax to the state on your own return, under your own account.
The money is never held or filed by Van Wingerden. We collect it into your campaign and hand it back to you. The filing is yours.
Deciding whether you need to collect: Washington organizations
Washington exempts sales made at a qualifying fundraising activity. To qualify, your organization generally needs to be exempt under IRC section 501(c)(3), (4), or (10) or be an equivalent unincorporated organization, the proceeds have to further your stated purpose, and the activity cannot amount to operating a regular place of business.
That last condition is the one worth reading carefully. RCW 82.04.3651 excludes from the exemption “the operation of a regular place of business in which sales are made during regular hours.” An online store is not obviously a regular place of business, and it is not obviously exempt either. A campaign store that opens for a defined selling window and then closes looks like a fundraising activity. A store that stays live all year, taking orders continuously, starts to look like a business location. If your store will be open on an ongoing basis, ask the Department of Revenue before you decide.
Two rules of thumb that resolve most cases:
- If your organization is already registered with the Department of Revenue and files excise tax returns, you are very likely collecting sales tax on these sales. Ask whoever prepares those returns.
- If your organization has never registered, has no tax account, and runs one short fundraiser a year, the qualifying fundraising activity exemption is probably what applies to you. Confirm it rather than assuming it.
Useful resources: the Department of Revenue’s nonprofit organizations guide, the tax rate lookup tool, and the statute itself at RCW 82.04.3651. The Department also answers questions by phone, and a call before your campaign opens is far cheaper than a correction after it closes.
Organizations outside Washington
Everything above about how the platform works applies to you as well. What does not carry over is the legal analysis. Nonprofit sales tax treatment varies considerably from state to state, and some states that exempt nonprofit purchases still require tax on nonprofit sales, or the reverse. Check with your own state’s revenue department before you enable or disable collection.
What is taxed, and what is not
- Products. Plants and any other item your supporters purchase are what sales tax applies to, when you have collection turned on.
- Donations. A straight donation is not a purchase, and no sales tax is applied to it. If a supporter adds a donation to an order that also contains products, the tax is calculated on the products only.
- Delivery charges. In Washington, a delivery charge is part of the selling price and follows the product. If the product is taxable the delivery charge is taxable, and if the product is exempt so is the delivery charge.
- The rate. Washington sales tax is destination based, so the rate is set by where the buyer receives the plants, not by where your organization or Van Wingerden is located. If your supporters pick up at a single location, that address determines the rate.
Turning collection on or off
Sales tax collection is set per organization and can be changed before your campaign opens. [[CONFIRM THE EXACT PATH: Settings, then the sales tax setting, then enter the rate and save.]]
If you would rather we set it for you, contact us with your determination and the rate and we will configure it. We will ask you to confirm it in writing, so that what the platform is doing matches what your organization has decided.
Seeing what was collected
Your order and settlement reports break out sales tax as its own line, separate from product revenue and from donations. That figure is what you will need when you prepare your return. Download and keep a copy at the close of your campaign, along with your order detail, so your records match what you file.
Fundraisers already underway
Nothing here changes a campaign that is already running. If your fundraiser is open now, leave your current setting as it is and finish the season on it. If you believe your setting is wrong, contact us and we will work through it with you rather than changing it mid-campaign.
Questions
For anything about your campaign setup, your invoice, or getting a reseller permit on file, contact Emma James at emma@vanwingerden.com.
For whether your organization owes tax, contact your accountant or your state’s revenue department. We are glad to explain how the platform works and what our invoice reflects. We are not able to tell you what your organization’s tax obligations are.
This page is general information about how sales tax is handled in the Van Wingerden fundraiser program. It is not tax or legal advice, and it does not account for your organization’s particular circumstances. Rules change, and they differ by state and by locality. Please confirm your obligations with a qualified adviser or with your state’s revenue department. Last reviewed September 2026.