Ezel / Tax Rulings / CA

Were heat-seal product labels and instruction leaflets attached to product containers exempt?

Short answer Yes, if sold with the packaged product and the instructions benefited the ultimate consumer rather than the customer attaching them.
State
CA
Ruling
Annotation 195.1900
Tax type
Sales and Use Tax
Issued
1953-08-10
Issued by
California State Board of Equalization
Requested by
Redacted label and leaflet seller
Topics
ultimate consumer resale exemption sales tax exemption
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 August 10, 1953 opinion responds to a July 8 letter referred from the Board's San Bernardino office; the source supplies neither the request year, separate letter, nor referral record. The enclosed Ruling 49 copy and listed San Bernardino Auditing transmittal are also unpublished. The opinion concerns heat-seal labels affixed to cellophane sold with the enclosed product and instruction leaflets attached to product containers. The leaflet result is expressly conditional on benefit to the ultimate consumer rather than the customer attaching it. Actual content, attachment, purchaser use, later authority, and current law control. Another taxpayer should not treat it as binding. 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

California treated heat-seal labels affixed to cellophane and sold with the enclosed product as exempt label sales under historical Ruling 49.

Instruction leaflets attached by the purchaser to product containers were also exempt when the instructions benefited the ultimate consumer rather than the purchaser who attached them.

Common questions

Did every instruction leaflet qualify?

No. The instructions had to serve the ultimate consumer rather than the purchaser's own purposes.

Did the heat-seal label have to travel with the product?

Yes. The stated treatment involved labels affixed to cellophane and sold with the enclosed product.

Citations and references

  • Sales and Use Tax Ruling 49, Labels paragraphs A and B — historical container and label rule applied; copy listed as enclosed but not included in the official PDF
  • Requester's July 8 letter to the Board's San Bernardino office — heat-seal-label and instruction-leaflet question described; year, separate letter, and referral record not supplied in the official PDF
  • Copy to San Bernardino Auditing — copy recipient listed; no separate transmittal record supplied in the official PDF

Source

Original ruling text

195.1900

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
August 10, 1953
X--------------Attention:

X------------

Gentlemen:
Your letter of July 8 addressed to our San Bernardino office has been referred to this office for reply. We are enclosing a copy of Sales and Use Tax Ruling 49, containers and Labels. It is our opinion that your sale of heat seal labels to be affixed to cellophane and sold with the product enclosed is exempt as the sale of a label under either paragraph A or B of “Labels”, Ruling 49. Your sale of leaflets of instructions which your customer attaches to the containers of his products is likewise exempt provided the instructions are for the benefit of the ultimate consumer rather than of your customer who attaches the instructions to the containers of his products. Yours very truly, E. H. Stetson Tax Counsel

EHS:ja
Cc:

San Bernardino – Auditing

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