Ezel / Tax Rulings / CA

Were Estee Dietetic Assorted Cookies taxable dietary supplements?

Short answer No. California reversed its earlier advice and exempted the cookies because ordinary cookie form was not among section 6359's listed supplement forms.
State
CA
Ruling
Annotation 245.1155
Tax type
Sales and Use Tax
Issued
1972-10-17
Issued by
California State Board of Equalization
Requested by
Internal Marysville compliance inquiry concerning Estee Dietetic Assorted Cookies
Topics
dietary supplements food exemption
Source
View Original PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1972. Ask about yours and see what current California tax law says, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1972
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 October 17, 1972 memorandum expressly reversed an October 10 letter that had taxed Estee Dietetic Assorted Cookies. The PDF references but does not reproduce that letter, the October 12 telephone conversation, or complete product evidence. The current annotation says it was amended in 2017 but supplies no amendment details or underlying record. The PDF reports no implementation, later sale, audit, assessment, refund claim, appeal, or other agency outcome. The revised result depended on ordinary cookie form rather than a listed liquid, powder, granule, tablet, capsule, lozenge, or pill form. Current product form, labeling, documentation, and law control.
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

On October 10, 1972, Board staff had decided that Estee Dietetic Assorted Cookies were taxable dietary supplements.

One week later, counsel reconsidered section 6359. Its supplement language listed preparations in liquid, powdered, granular, tablet, capsule, lozenge, and pill form.

Ordinary cookie form was not on that list. The Board therefore reversed the earlier opinion and classified the dietetic cookies as exempt food products.

The memorandum instructed staff to disregard the October 10 advice. The official annotation later records a 2017 amendment, but the supporting opinion remains dated October 17, 1972.

Common questions

Did the “dietetic” description make the cookies taxable?

No. The revised opinion focused on ordinary cookie form.

Was there an earlier opposite ruling?

Yes. The memorandum expressly withdrew the October 10, 1972 taxable opinion.

What forms did section 6359 list?

Liquid, powdered, granular, tablet, capsule, lozenge, and pill forms.

Citations and references

  • California Revenue and Taxation Code section 6359 (as cited)
  • Headquarters Legal Counsel's October 10, 1972 letter concluding that the cookies were taxable dietary supplements — withdrawn letter referenced but not reproduced in the official PDF
  • October 12, 1972 telephone conversation informing Marysville Compliance of the reconsideration — conversation referenced without a transcript or other record
  • Current Legal Digest entry for Food Products — Exempt — Dietetic Cookies, dated October 17, 1972 — reproduced in the official PDF
  • Official Annotation 245.1155's 2017 amendment notation — amendment details and underlying record not supplied on the annotation page or in the official PDF
  • Estee Dietetic Assorted Cookies product evidence — ordinary cookie form and result supplied; complete packaging, labels, ingredients, formula, samples, tests, invoices, and sales records not reproduced in the official PDF
  • Possible implementation of the revised advice, later sale, audit, assessment, refund claim, appeal, or other agency action — no follow-up or final outcome supplied in the official PDF

Source

Original ruling text

State of California

Board of Equalization

Memorandum
To:

Marysville – Compliance (COE)

From:

Headquarters – Legal Counsel (DJH)

Subject:

[E] Dietetic Assorted Cookies

245.1155
Date:

October 17, 1972

This is in regard to our letter to you of October 10, 1972 in which we decided that [E] Dietetic Assorted Cookies are dietary supplements that retail sales of which are subject to sales tax. As I informed you in our telephone conversation of October 12, we have reconsidered that language in Section 6359 reading “…preparations in liquid, powdered, granular, tablet, capsule, lozenge, and pill form …” We now believe that such language does not include products in ordinary cookie form. Therefore, the dietetic cookies in question are “food products” the retail sales of which are not subject to sales tax. Please disregard the opinion expressed in our October 10 letter.

DJH:dih
Cc:

G. Rigby
L. Clarke
R. Nunes
J.D.Dotson

CURRENT LEGAL DIGEST
Food Products – Exempt – Dietetic Cookies
Retail sales of [E] Dietetic Assorted Cookies are not subject to sales tax. Such cookies are not dietary supplements since they are not “…preparations in liquid, powdered, granular, tablet, capsule, lozenge, and pill form….” (Section 6359) DJH:dih 10-17-72 (Marysville District – Compliance Supervisor (COE)

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