Ezel / Tax Rulings / CA

Was monkey chow exempt when it was used to feed laboratory monkeys?

Short answer No. California said monkeys were not qualifying food animals, and their laboratory use did not change the feed-exemption test.
State
CA
Ruling
Annotation 110.1020
Tax type
Sales and Use Tax
Issued
1965-12-07
Issued by
California State Board of Equalization
Requested by
A seller asking about monkey chow used to feed laboratory monkeys
Topics
animal feed food animals
Source
View Original PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1965. Ask about yours and see what current California tax law says, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1965
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 December 7, 1965, published by CDTFA as support for a sales and use tax annotation. It applies the food-animal feed test then described and says laboratory use does not affect that classification. Another taxpayer should not treat it as binding and should check current monkey-chow, laboratory-animal, food-animal, animal-feed, 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

Monkey chow used to feed laboratory monkeys was taxable. The letter said the feed exemption applied only to feed for a kind of animal whose products ordinarily constitute food for human consumption.

Using the monkeys for laboratory purposes did not change that test. Because monkeys did not qualify under the stated food-animal standard, their feed was not exempt.

Citations and references

  • No specific statute or regulation was cited in the published letter.

Source

Original ruling text

110.1020

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

December 7, 1965

--- --- ----- --- -----, --- XXXXX

Gentlemen:
Thank you for your letter of November 24, 1965.
The exemption for animal feed applies only to the sale of feed for the form of animal life of a kind that the products of which ordinarily constitute food for human consumption. The fact that the animals in question would be used for laboratory purposes would have no effect on the exemption. Therefore, it is our opinion that the monkey chow used to feed monkeys would not be exempt from the sales tax. If we can be of any further service, please do not hesitate to contact us. Very truly yours,

Lawrence W. Rideout
Associate Tax Counsel

LWR:md

[lb]

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