Management Module, Cardholder/Reviewer Exams, Card Applications
Allocation Module
Sales and Use Tax
General Accounting
FlexCard Administration has created a listserv to notify all program participants of developments in the FlexCard Program, to inform cardholders when their monthly statements are available at the U.S. Bank Access Online website and to provide periodic helpful hints and general information regarding the program, the Management and Allocation Modules and related services.
All FlexCard Program Department Administrators, Reviewers, Allocators and Cardholders are automatically enrolled in the FlexCard-L listserv at the time that they join the FlexCard Program.
If you have questions about the FlexCard listserv or wish to be added to it, send an email request to flexcard@purc.ucsb.edu.
| Commodity |
FC? |
If No, Correct Method |
Policy Reference |
Advertisements
(Newspaper, Magazine, Radio) |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
| Airfare |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process |
BUS G-28 |
| Alcohol (Ethyl) |
No |
Purchasing Department |
--- |
| Alcohol (Spirits) |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process (Exception Needed) |
BUS-79 |
| Animals |
No |
Purchasing Department (Vivarium Approval) |
--- |
Artwork
(Public / Reception Areas ONLY) |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Artwork
(Employees’ Work Space) |
NO |
NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES |
--- |
Athletic Supplies and Apparel |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Audio / Visual Equipment |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
| Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) |
No |
Purchasing Department (EH&S Approval) |
--- |
Awards |
Yes |
|
BUS G-41 |
Books |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Bottled Water |
Yes |
|
--- |
| Business Cards |
No |
Central Stores |
--- |
| Cable & Pay Television Services |
No |
Communication Services |
--- |
| Canopies – Rental |
No |
Furniture Services / Purchasing Department |
--- |
| Carpet Cleaning |
No |
Facilities Management |
--- |
| Carpets and Floor Coverings |
No |
Facilities Management |
--- |
| Cash Advances |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment process |
BUS G-28 |
| Catering Services |
No |
UCEN Dining Services / EH&S Catering Guidelines |
--- |
Cell Phones and Cellular Services |
Yes |
|
--- |
Charters
(Boat, Bus, Air, Limo, Shuttle, etc.) |
No |
Purchasing Department |
--- |
| Chemicals (Hazardous) |
No |
Purchasing Department (EH&S Approval) |
--- |
Chemicals (Non-Hazardous) |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Classroom Supplies |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Cleaning Supplies and Equipment |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
| Consultant Agreements |
No |
Contracts Office |
BUS-34 |
| Controlled Substances |
No |
Purchasing Department (EH&S Approval) |
--- |
Copiers |
Yes |
|
--- |
| Donations |
NO |
NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES |
--- |
eBay |
Yes |
"Buyer Beware" - refunds may be difficult |
--- |
Employment Services |
Yes |
|
--- |
| Entertainment |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process |
BUS-79 |
Equipment, Non-Inventorial |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Equipment, Inventorial |
Yes |
1. Only if paying a Purchase Order
2. PO number MUST be entered into Reference Number field in FlexCard Allocation Module |
--- |
| Extermination Services |
No |
Facilities Management |
--- |
Fabrication Items |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
| Facility Repairs or Renovations (Carpentry, Painting, Electrical, etc.) |
No |
Facilities Management |
--- |
| Firearms, Ammunition and Explosives |
No |
Purchasing Department |
--- |
Flowers (Bereavement, Recognition Gifts to Employees) |
Yes |
|
--- |
Flowers (Public / Reception Areas) |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
| Flowers (Employee’s Work Space) |
NO |
NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES |
--- |
| Food, Beverages and Snacks (Business Meetings, Receptions) |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process |
BUS-79 |
Furniture |
Yes |
|
--- |
| Gasoline (Travel-Related) |
--- |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process |
BUS G-28 |
| Goods, Services and Appliances for Employee Personal Use (Coffee, Coffee Pots, Refrigerators, Toaster, Microwaves, etc.) |
NO |
NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES |
--- |
| Hotels, Motels, Lodgings |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process |
BUS-79 |
| Insecticides, Pesticides, Fungicides, Herbicides |
No |
Facilities Management |
--- |
| Insurance |
No |
EH&S / Risk Management |
--- |
| Janitorial Services |
No |
Facilities Management |
--- |
| Lease of Equipment |
No |
Purchasing Department |
--- |
| Lease (Rental) of Office, Research Space |
No |
Contracts Office |
--- |
Lease (Rental) of Off-Site Storage Units |
Yes |
Rental Agreement Must First Be Approved and Signed by Contracts Office |
--- |
| Legal Services |
No |
EH&S / Risk Management |
--- |
| Meals |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process |
BUS G-28 |
Memberships, Professional |
Yes |
|
BUS G-43 |
| Moving Services (Household, Office & Industrial Removal) |
No |
Purchasing Department |
BUS-43 BUS G-13 |
Newspaper Delivery Service (Including Online) |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Non-Controlled Substances |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Office Supplies |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Pagers and Pager Services |
Yes |
|
--- |
| Parking Expenses Related to Business Travel |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process |
BUS G-28 |
Paypal |
Yes |
"Buyer Beware" - refunds may be difficult |
--- |
Periodicals and Publications |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
| Personal Services Agreements |
No |
Contracts Office |
--- |
Photographic Equipment, Processing and Supplies |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Plants
(Public / Reception Areas ONLY) |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Plants
(Employees’ Work Space) |
NO |
NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES |
--- |
| Playground Equipment |
No |
Purchasing Department |
--- |
| Postage Stamps |
No |
Mail Services |
--- |
| Precious Metals |
No |
Purchasing Department |
Bus 43, Part 3 |
Printers and Supplies |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Printing Services |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
| Propane Gas |
No |
Purchasing Department |
--- |
Publications |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Purchase Orders |
Yes |
The following conditions apply:
1. If payment total exceeds FlexCard per transaction limit, FlexCard Administration must approve a temporary limit increase
2. PO number MUST be entered into Reference Number field in FlexCard Allocation Module |
|
Purchases (Goods OR Services) Requiring You to SIGN a CONTRACT |
Yes |
The following conditions apply:
1. Contract must be completed and signed by the Contracts Office PRIOR TO PAYMENT
2. Payments must be in accordance with contract terms and conditions |
--- |
| Radioactive Materials |
No |
Purchasing Department (EH&S Approval) |
Bus 43, Part 3 |
Recognition Gifts (Including Gift Cards and Certificates) – EMPLOYEES, INCLUDING STUDENT WORKERS |
Yes |
|
BUS G-41 |
Recognition Gifts (Including Gift Cards and Certificates) – NON-EMPLOYEES |
Yes |
|
BUS G-42 |
| Registration Fees for Conferences / Seminars (With Travel Expenses) |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process |
BUS G-28 |
Registration Fees for Conferences / Seminars / Webinars (Without Travel Expenses) |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Reprints of Journal Articles |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Retirement Gifts (Including Gift Card and Certificates) |
Yes |
|
BUS G-41 |
| Security Services |
No |
Contracts Office |
--- |
Services - Low Risk, or when a UC or UCSB Agreement is in Place with Vendor |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
| Services, if UC Or UCSB Agreement Is NOT in Place with Vendor |
No |
Purchasing or Contracts Office |
--- |
| Storage Containers, On-Site |
No |
Purchasing Department |
--- |
Storage, Off-Site Rental Units |
Yes |
Rental Agreement Must First Be Approved and Signed by Contracts Office |
--- |
Subscriptions |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
Sympathy Gifts (Employees and Non-Employees) |
Yes |
|
BUS G-41 BUS G-42 |
Teaching supplies |
Yes |
--- |
|
| Tickets, Entertainment or Business-Related Functions |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process |
BUS G-41 BUS-79 |
| Travel Expenses |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process |
BUS G-28 |
UCSB Bookstore |
Yes |
--- |
--- |
| Upholstery Cleaning |
No |
Purchasing Department |
--- |
Vehicle Rental
(Business Travel, Field Trips) |
No |
Corporate Card Travel / Entertainment Process (Approved Strategic Sourcing Vendors Only) |
BUS-79 |
| Waste Management Services |
No |
Facilities Management |
--- |
| Water Treatment Services |
No |
Facilities Management |
--- |
| Web Site Design Services |
No |
Contracts Office |
--- |
| Window Coverings |
No |
Purchasing Department |
--- |
Knowing whether a commodity is taxable or non-taxable can be important when determining whether or not to remove use tax that has been added to an out-of-state FlexCard transaction.
The following table includes the most common commodities that would be encountered as part of FlexCard transactions, divided into broad categories.
Generally, FlexCard purchases are of things, which are taxable – this category appears at the top of the table. Shipping and handling appear at the bottom of the table, since they generally appear at the bottom of an invoice. In between are several broad categories often paid on FlexCard, listed alphabetically.
If there are other categories that you would like to see added to the table, please let us know and we will make additions as appropriate.
Please remember that this table is only a general guideline and that there may be exceptions to its division between taxable and non-taxable commodities, depending upon the circumstances of any particular purchase. If you are unsure or have questions concerning a particular transaction, always feel free to contact us at flexcard@purc.ucsb.edu or by calling us. If we cannot answer your question, we will refer you to a tax expert in Accounting Services & Controls.
COMMODITY |
TAXABLE |
NON-TAXABLE |
COMMENTS |
Tangible Personal Property ("Things") |
X |
|
Exception: Federal-Title Inventorial (>$5,000) Assets |
Gift Cards |
|
X |
|
Labor - Installation |
|
X |
|
Labor - Repair |
|
X |
|
Labor - Fabrication |
X |
|
|
Labor - Assembly |
X |
|
|
Maintenance Contracts - Mandatory |
X |
|
|
Maintenance Contracts - Optional |
|
X |
IF listed and priced separately on invoice. |
Printed Sales Messages (Catalogs, Letters, Circulars, Brochures, Pamphlets) |
|
X |
Non-taxable, if ALL following conditions are met:
1. primary purpose is advertising
2. printed by special order of the University
3. mailed/delivered by the seller via USPS or common carrier
4. received at no cost to the participant |
Printing Services |
X |
|
All printing of non-advertising materials. |
Purchases for Resale |
|
X |
Only applies when the University buys tangible personal property which it in turn resells to another entity (for example: the Bookstore does not pay sales tax on merchandise when it buys it from the supplier, because the Bookstore collects the sales tax at the time it sells the item to an individual or department.)
University buyer must present the seller with a Resale Certificate in order to have tax waived. |
Services |
|
X |
|
Delivery/Courier Services |
|
X |
|
Employment Services |
|
X |
|
Software - Boxed |
X |
|
100% taxable, including license fees, site licensing and other end user fees; also, any mandatory maintenance contracts or consulting services.
Optional maintenance contracts - 50% taxable. |
Software - Downloaded |
|
X |
Including any mandatory or optional maintenance contracts. |
Software - Custom |
|
X |
Including any mandatory or optional maintenance contracts, and any separately stated modification charges.
Boxed software is non-taxable IF THE CUSTOMIZATION INCREASES THE STANDARD COST BY 50% OR MORE. |
Subscriptions |
|
X |
|
Warranties - Mandatory |
X |
|
|
Warranties - Optional |
|
X |
IF listed and priced separately on invoice. |
Shipping |
|
X |
|
Handling |
X |
|
|
Shipping/Handling |
X |
|
If shipping is not broken out as a separate amount, the entire charge is taxable. |
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