Ezel / Tax Rulings / CA

Was processed and inspected fluke liver exempt when sold as trout feed?

Short answer Yes. California exempted properly processed and inspected fluke liver used to feed trout because trout ordinarily constitute human food.
State
CA
Ruling
Annotation 110.0720
Tax type
Sales and Use Tax
Issued
1953-08-13
Issued by
California State Board of Equalization
Requested by
A trout operator asking whether processed fluke liver bought as trout feed was taxable
Topics
processing inspections exemptions
Source
View Original PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1953. Ask about yours and see what current California tax law says, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1953
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 August 13, 1953, published by CDTFA as support for a sales and use tax annotation. It assumes parasite-infected liver was sufficiently processed, inspected, and sold for use as trout feed. Another taxpayer should not treat it as binding and should check current fluke-liver, animal-byproduct, processing, inspection, trout-feed, food-fish, 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

Properly processed and inspected fluke liver was exempt when sold as trout feed. The infected liver was unsuitable for human food in its original condition, but packing companies processed it until suitable for feeding trout and had it inspected before sale.

Because trout ordinarily constituted human food, their qualifying feed was exempt under Ruling 47 as then cited.

Citations and references

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

Source

Original ruling text

110.0720

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

August 13, 1953

Mr. C--- I. M--T--- H--G---, California
Your letter of August 6
Dear Mr. M---:
You inquire whether the sales tax should apply to sales to you of “fluke” liver which you use as feed for your trout. As indicated in Sales and Use Tax Ruling 47 (copy enclosed), the tax does not apply to sales of feed for any form of animal life of a kind the products of which ordinarily constitute food for human consumption. We understand that “fluke” liver is liver that has become infected with a particular parasite and is, therefore, unsuitable as a food for human consumption. We further understand, however, that before packing companies sell fluke liver they process it sufficiently to render it suitable as a feed for trout and that it must be inspected prior to being sold by the packing company. Since trout are a form of animal life ordinarily constituting food for human consumption, the sale to you of properly inspected fluke liver, which you will use in feeding the trout, is exempt under the provisions of Ruling 47. We are enclosing an additional copy of this letter which you may wish to present to
[packing company].
Very truly yours,

W. W. Mangels
Assistant Counsel

WWM:ja
cc:

--- --- - Auditing

What does the law say today, for your facts?

This ruling is from 1953. Ezel checks current California tax law against your situation and cites the authority it relies on.

Opens in Ezel Pro.

  • Checks the law as it stands today, not only this page
  • Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
  • Chat, drafting and research in one workspace