R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-21-1: Sales subject to duty.

All sales by auction are made by an auctioneer and are subject to a duty to the state, except the following:

(1) Sales made pursuant to any judgment, sentence, decree, order, or rule of any court or judicial officer of the state or of any court of the United States having jurisdiction within the state;

(2) Sales made by virtue of any writ, execution, warrant of distress, or order of law, or the property of any city or town, sales of property held by executors, administrators, or guardians of estates lying or being within the state;

(3) Sales of pews, or choice of pews in houses of public worship; and

(4) Sales of goods exhibited at any fair held by the Rhode Island society for the encouragement of domestic industry, or by the Aquidneck agricultural society, and which may be sold by auction during the continuance of the fair.