Thank you both. I will contact our state tax.
I was wondering how to 'count' the days of those book fairs. THis is great info.
Thanks again!!

In Texas, a 501(c)(3) can easily get exemption from state sales tax. But what that means here is that the org gets to choose two fundraisers per year to be exempt from sales tax. (It's actually 2 DAYS, but for a something like a catalog sale lasting 2 weeks, you count the day all the money is due as the "day".) On everything else that's taxable, we pay sales tax.

That's the side of collecting and remitting taxes on things you SELL. The flip side is not paying sales tax on things you PURCHASE.

It'd definitely worth pursuing, but you have to find out the rules/benefits for your specific state.

501c3 status is a federal designation. It means you are exempt from federal income taxes.

Depending on the state, you might be exempt from state income taxes and state sales tax.

For example, in Arkansas, our PTO is exempt from state income tax, but not state sales tax.

We are in the process of filing for 501c3 status. While talking with state tax dept I was told that I still had to pay sales tax for book fairs, pto sales, etc. Is this true? should I cancell vendors licnese? If I still have to pay taxes on these why have 501c3 status?
I am rather confused.