Did a contractor erecting a California hospital consume the window materials incorporated into the building?
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This page answers the general question as of 1952. Ask about yours and see what current California tax law says, with citations.
Plain-English summary
A contractor erecting a California hospital was the consumer of window materials incorporated into the building. The contractor's purchases were therefore subject to either sales tax or use tax.
Which tax applied depended generally on whether the particular sale was exempt from sales tax because of its interstate character. The letter also assumed the out-of-state supplier had no California place of business and discussed its authority to collect use tax.
The published annotation extends the material treatment to leaded-glass church windows, but those church-window facts do not appear in the supporting letter's extracted text.
Common questions
Who consumed the hospital window materials?
The building contractor.
Did the letter decide whether sales tax or use tax applied to every purchase?
No. It said that depended on the transaction's interstate character.
Citations and references
- Former California Sales and Use Tax Ruling 55 — interstate character of a transaction as the general sales-tax-versus-use-tax determinant cited; a copy was identified as enclosed but is not reproduced in the official PDF
- Former California Sales and Use Tax Ruling 11 — construction-contractor treatment enclosed; not reproduced in the official PDF
- Former California Sales and Use Tax Rulings 73 through 77 — use-tax collection guidance enclosed; not reproduced in the official PDF
- January 22, 1952 requester letter — California hospital window materials and request for use-tax collection authority identified; not reproduced in the official PDF
- Application for a certificate of authority to collect use tax and pamphlet copy of the California Sales and Use Tax Law — identified as enclosed; not reproduced in the official PDF
Source
- Annotated Legal Opinions collection: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/annotations-menu.htm
- Annotation page: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/vol2/suta/190-0000-all.html
- Original supporting opinion: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/annotations/190-1880.pdf
Original ruling text
190.1880
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
February 21, 1952
L--- Corporation
P. O. Box XXXX
---, Florida
Attention:
Mr. B--- M---
Gentlemen:
In reply to your letter of January 22, we advise that a contractor erecting a hospital in California is regarded as the consumer of window materials incorporated into the building. Accordingly, his purchases of window materials are subject either to the sales tax or to the use tax. Whether the sales or sue tax applies to a particular transaction depends in general on whether the transaction is exempt from sales tax by reason of its interstate character, as is more fully explained in Sales and Use Tax Ruling 55, copy enclosed. As you requested, we enclose an application for a certificate of authority to collect use tax. We also enclose a pamphlet copy of the Sales and Use Tax Law, Ruling 11, and Rulings 73 through 77. We have assumed that you have no place of business in this State. If you have, you are required to collect the use tax, as explained in the enclosed ruling. Very truly yours,
E. H. Stetson
Tax Counsel
NBH:ja
cc:
Mr. F--- T. L---
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