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Were cattle teat dips and udder washes used to prevent and control mastitis exempt from California sales tax?

Short answer Yes. Teat dips and udder washes applied to cows to prevent and control mastitis were exempt drugs or medicines under section 6358(e).
State
CA
Ruling
Annotation 110.0035
Tax type
Sales and Use Tax
Issued
1997-11-19
Issued by
California State Board of Equalization
Requested by
A dairy-service business clarifying that its cattle teat dips and udder washes prevent and control mastitis
Topics
cattle drugs medicines disease prevention agricultural exemption
Source
View Original PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1997. Ask about yours and see what current California tax law says, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1997
Subsequent statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later rulings may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, rate, or position mentioned here.
Disclaimer: This is a California State Board of Equalization senior-tax-counsel letter dated November 19, 1997, published by CDTFA as support for a sales and use tax annotation. It expressly revises an earlier opinion after the business clarified that the products were applied to cows to prevent and control mastitis, so the stated purpose is essential to the result. Another taxpayer should not treat it as binding and should check current animal-drug, veterinary, mastitis-prevention, product-use, agricultural-exemption, and sales-and-use-tax rules. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice.
About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official state tax ruling. The original ruling (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source for any reliance.
View original ruling (PDF)

Plain-English summary

Sales of cattle teat dips and udder washes were exempt as drugs or medicines under section 6358(e) when the products were applied to cows to prevent and control mastitis.

That clarified disease-prevention purpose caused counsel to revise the office's earlier September 24, 1997 opinion.

Citations and references

  • California Revenue and Taxation Code section 6358(e) (as cited)

Source

Original ruling text

110.0035

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

JOHAN KLEHS
First District, Hayward

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
450 N STREET, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
(PO BOX 942879, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 94279-0082)
TELEPHONE (916) 324-3828
FAX (916) 323-3387

DEAN F. ANDAL
Second District, Stockton
ERNEST J. DRONENBURG, JR.
Third District, San Diego
KATHLEEN CONNELL
Controller, Sacramento
_______
JOHN CHIANG
Acting Member
Fourth District, Los Angeles

November 19, 1997

_______
E. L. SORENSEN, JR.
Executive Director

Mr. J--- D--S--- J--- D--- Service
XXXXX --- Road
---, CA XXXXX
RE:

SR -- XX-XXXXXX
Teat Dips and Washes

Dear Mr. D---:
I am answering your letter to me dated October 7, 1997, in which you clarified that the teat dips and udder washes that were the subject of our previous correspondence are applied to cows for the prevention and control of mastitis. Hence, we revise our previous opinion expressed in our letter to you dated September 24, 1997, and conclude that dips and washes sold for that purpose are “drugs or medicines” the sales of which are exempt from tax under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 6358(e). Sincerely,

John L. Waid
Senior Tax Counsel
JLW:sr
cc:

--- District Administrator - --

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