Did section 6363.6 exempt hospital meals served to bona fide outpatients and day-care patients?

Plain-English summary

An unidentified request to Board official K. W. Lauritzen asked about section 6363.6 shortly after its October 1, 1968 effective date. The supporting letter describes that section as covering meals for patients or inmates of hospitals and certain other institutions.

The hospital-meal exemption applied to meals served to bona fide outpatients and day-care patients while they were in the hospital.

The short letter did not define bona fide patient status or extend its conclusion beyond hospital meals served to those patients on site.

The PDF supplies no request, statute or definitions, patient-status evidence, meal record, audit, appeal, or later outcome.

Common questions

Did the patient have to be admitted overnight?

No. The letter expressly included outpatients and day-care patients.

Did it cover meals eaten outside the hospital?

The letter addressed only meals served while the patient was in the hospital.

Citations and references

• California Revenue and Taxation Code section 6363.6 — described as effective October 1, 1968 and exempting meals served to patients or inmates of hospitals and certain other institutions; complete text, institution definitions, patient definitions, exceptions, legislative history, and later history not supplied
• September 19, 1968 unidentified letter to Board official K. W. Lauritzen asking about bona fide hospital outpatients and day-care patients — request, requester identity and role, hospital qualification, patient-status criteria, meal records, location evidence, invoices, and tax records not reproduced in the official PDF
• October 18, 1968 Tax Counsel T. P. Putnam response applying the exemption to meals served to bona fide outpatients and day-care patients while in the hospital — no requester reply, hospital transaction, return, audit, assessment, refund claim, appeal, or later outcome supplied
• Official Annotation 300.0080's section 6363.6, hospital, bona fide outpatient and day-care patient, on-site meal, and October 18, 1968 rules — annotation omits the September 19 request and K. W. Lauritzen provenance, October 1 effective date, patients-or-inmates and other-institutions context, absent definitions and transaction records, later outcome, and reliance status and supplies no additional proceeding record

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/annotations-menu.htm
• Annotation page: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/vol2/suta/300-0000-all.html
• Original supporting opinion: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/annotations/300-0080.pdf

Original ruling text

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

300.0080

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

October 18, 1968

Gentlemen:
This is in reply to your letter of September 19, 1968 addressed to Mr. K. W. Lauritzen. Section 6363.6 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, effective October 1, 1968 provides a sales and use tax exemption with respect to meals served to patients or inmates of hospitals and certain other institutions. It is our opinion that the exemption applies with respect to meals served to hospitals to bona fide out patients and day care patients while they are in the hospital. Very truly yours,

T. P. Putnam
Tax Counsel

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