Ezel / Tax Rulings / CA

When was feed for ornamental or pet-type birds taxable or exempt?

Short answer Feed for personal pet birds was taxable, but feed for breeding birds or birds held for regular-course sale was exempt under the cited rule.
State
CA
Ruling
Annotation 110.0500
Tax type
Sales and Use Tax
Issued
1954-05-19
Issued by
California State Board of Equalization
Requested by
A bird-feed seller asking about food and seed sold for ornamental and pet birds
Topics
regular course of business
Source
View Original PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1954. Ask about yours and see what current California tax law says, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1954
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 May 19, 1954, published by CDTFA as support for a sales and use tax annotation. The official annotation metadata gives May 10, but the supporting letter itself is dated May 19, which controls this page. Another taxpayer should not treat it as binding and should check current bird-feed, pet-bird, breeding-bird, bird-retailer, offspring, regular-course-of-business, 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

Food and seed sold for personal ornamental or pet birds were taxable. The result changed when the birds or their offspring were business inventory rather than pets.

Feed sold to bird breeders was exempt because the breeders sold the offspring. Feed for birds held by breeders or retailers for sale in the regular course of business was also exempt; Ruling 47 treated the whole animal and its offspring as products of animal life.

Citations and references

  • California State Board of Equalization Ruling 47 (as cited)

Source

Original ruling text

110.0500

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

May 19, 1954

Your letter of April 20
Account No. -- - X-XXXXX
Mr. R--- J. C--C--- B--- F--XXXX --- --- ----- --- XX, California Dear Mr. C---: You inquire concerning the application of sales tax to sales of food and seeds for ornamental and pet type birds. As indicated in Ruling 47 (copy enclosed), tax does not apply to sales of feed for any form of animal life of a kind the products of which are to be sold in the regular course of business. Birds would be a form of animal life and the term “the products” includes the whole animal as well as the offspring of the animal. Accordingly, tax applies to sales of feed to persons who will feed it to birds which they have as pets. Tax does not apply to sales of feed to breeders of birds because they are in the business of selling the offspring of the birds which consume the feed. Tax does not apply to sales of feed to breeders or retailers when it is fed to birds which are being held for sale in the regular course of business. Very truly yours,

Bill Holden
Assistant Counsel
BH:ja
Enclosures
cc:

--- – Auditing

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