Ezel / Tax Rulings / CA

Were sheep sold to educational institutions for research exempt from California sales tax?

Short answer Yes. The sheep remained exempt food animals despite their research use, but retail sales of serum and red cells were taxable.
State
CA
Ruling
Annotation 110.0060
Tax type
Sales and Use Tax
Issued
1970-03-05
Issued by
California State Board of Equalization
Requested by
A seller asking whether sheep and related biological materials sold to educational institutions for research were taxable
Topics
educational institution food animals exemptions
Source
View Original PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1970. Ask about yours and see what current California tax law says, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1970
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 tax-counsel letter dated March 5, 1970, published by CDTFA as support for a sales and use tax annotation. It addresses a particular sheep breed, research sales, serum, and red cells under Regulation 1587 as then cited. Another taxpayer should not treat it as binding and should check current research-animal, food-animal, serum, blood-cell, educational-institution, 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

Sheep of a breed used for food remained exempt when sold to educational institutions for research. The letter treated the animal's ordinary food-producing kind—not the purchaser's research purpose—as controlling under Regulation 1587(a).

Retail sales of non-food animals such as cats, dogs, and horses did not qualify. Sales of serum and red cells were also taxable because counsel did not regard them as the qualifying form of animal life described in the regulation and found no other exemption.

Citations and references

  • California Sales and Use Tax Regulation 1587(a) (as cited)

Source

Original ruling text

110.0060

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
1020 N STREET, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
(P.O. BOX 942879, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 94279-0001)

March 5, 1970

--- --- ----- --- ----- --- --Gentlemen:
This is to confirm our advice to you of March 3 that sales tax does not apply to sales of any form of animal live (as for example sheep) of a kind the products of which ordinarily constitute food for human consumption even though the sales are made to educational institutions for research purposes. The exemption would not apply to retail sales of any form of animal life, such as cats, dogs or horses, the products of which do not ordinarily constitute food for human consumption.
[See paragraph (a) of Regulation 1587 “Animal Life and Feed”, copy enclosed.] Since the particular breed of sheep sold by you is used for food purposes, the exemption applies to your sales. Retail sales of serum and red cells are subject to tax since these items are not regarded as a form of animal life of the kind described in Regulation 1587, nor are they otherwise exempt under the Sales and Use Tax Law. Very truly yours,

Gary J. Jugum
Assistant Tax Counsel

GJJL:ab

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