Sales Tax
Northwestern University is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization for research and education. Therefore, no sales tax should be charged on business-related purchases. The cardholder should inform the vendor of the tax-exempt number for Northwestern at the time of purchase (it is printed on the bottom of the card).
It is the responsibility of cardholders to ensure that no sales tax is charged on their purchases. If sales tax was charged, the cardholder should immediately contact the vendor to have the sales tax reversed.
If sales tax is paid, the employee may need to reimburse the University (unless the vendor will credit the sales tax) since Northwestern is a tax-exempt organization. A special exemption may be requested from the employee’s Dean or Department Head, in cases where it can be clearly demonstrated that the purchase and payment of tax was unavoidable or an emergency. This should be rare.
Additional information regarding sales tax can be found in the Purchasing and Payment policy.