LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — On January 1, 2023, Kentuckians with multiple properties will face an additional sales tax on their utility bills because of Kentucky House Bill 8.
For the past month, utility companies like Kentucky Utilities have been asking residents to submit a "Declaration of Domicile for Purchase of Residential Utilities". Utility companies are referring members to the Department of Revenue for further clarification.
View the 51A380 Tax Exemption Form here:
Daniel Lowry with Kentucky Utilities says, "If they think they meet the parameters and need to take steps to get more information about the sales tax and criteria, reach out to the Kentucky Department of Revenue and get those experts to help."
LEX 18 did reach out to the Department of Revenue and the response we got referred us to online resources that answer frequently asked questions about House Bill 8.
These residents want to know, how that bill will impact them, given their special circumstances.
Georgetown resident, Alan Bryan, says, "I understand this is geared toward business and, or landlords, but I didn’t see where it had family or personal situations or options for exemptions. I couldn’t find any language in the KRS."
Bryan has a mother who lives with dementia. He is her power of attorney. He explains that for years he's had her utility accounts in his name - and now he's wondering what others in similar situations will do this January.
Another Winchester resident, Wade Shimfessel, has multiple properties that need utilities for farming. He is only living on one of the properties and wants to know how the others will be taxed.
He says, "I mean 6% sales tax adds up after a great deal of time and being a part-time farmer so to say, that hits hard. You’re already struggling to pay $5 a gallon for diesel fuel and the market's just not as strong as it was."
Again, utility companies like Kentucky Utilities say they understand that there will be many cases like these that will come up. They continue to encourage customers to get in touch with the DOR.
“The Department of Revenue does have some information online that hopefully can help folks, so they could use that. And they can search about this residential sales tax."
For more information from the Kentucky Department of Revenue, you can check out the website here.
