Missouri provides contrasting outcomes in application of sales tax on concrete for foundations. The Missouri Department of Revenue’s Letter Ruling 7780 concludes that a taxpayer’s purchase of ready mixed and rebar used to construct wind turbine tower foundations qualifies for the sales tax exemption covering machinery and equipment used in manufacturing. Production of electricity for sale has been determined to be a qualifying manufacturing activity, the ruling notes, and the sales tax exemption at issue, Section 144.030.2(6) RSMo, applies to machinery and equipment plus “materials and supplies solely required for installation or construction of such machinery and equipment.” Because the wind turbine cannot function properly without a foundation, the Department concluded the turbine tower foundation concrete and rebar purchase qualified for the sales tax exemption.
Read MoreDay: May 1, 2017
Fire fatalities invite lawmaker scrutiny of combustible building materials
Maryland General Assembly members are responding to the fire-related deaths of 15 residents since late last year with legislation aimed at tightening building codes statewide.
Read MoreTrump campaign manager keynotes NRMCA-NSSGA session
Corey Lewandowski, who spearheaded much of the first year of Donald Trump’s 17-month White House campaign, stressed the new administration’s commitment to economic growth and job creation during a keynote address to a joint National Ready Mixed Concrete Association–National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association session last month in Las Vegas.
Read MoreCampaign measures gains, losses tied to water, wastewater system investments
A new report finds that closing the nation’s water infrastructure investment gap would create 1.3 million jobs and generate $220 billion in economic activity. “The Economic Benefits of Investing in Water Infrastructure” was commissioned by the Value of Water Campaign, through which the Water Environment Federation (WEF) in Alexandria, Va., and allied interests seek to advance positive solutions to pressing supply, conveyance and treatment system challenges.
Read MoreCement producers affirm capacity for increased infrastructure activity
U.S. cement manufacturers have ample production capacity to meet demand from infrastructure revitalization efforts the Trump Administration and Congress are contemplating, a Portland Cement Association analysis finds. The industry is operating at roughly 79 percent of capacity, estimated at 108 million metric tons per year; coupled with terminal storage and transfer capabilities, PCA estimates, it is capable of supplying more than 150 million metric tons annually.
Read MoreInvestors have designs on admixtures
Acquisitions and related corporate maneuvers in the domestic and global admixture, construction chemical and companion materials business parallel the 2015-16 realignment of major North American cement, aggregate and ready mixed concrete producers noted here in January (“Mergers, acquisitions, musical chairs define back-to-back watershed years”). Consider more than two years of activity just beyond the sphere of North American market leader BASF Construction Chemicals:
Read More