Was labor to attach finished leg braces to a patient's new shoes taxable fabrication?

Plain-English summary

A patient supplied new shoes, and the business furnished completed leg braces and attached them to the shoes.

California treated the brace as a finished product separate from the shoe. Attaching it was therefore nontaxable installation labor rather than taxable fabrication of a single shoe-and-brace product.

Common questions

Did the fact that the shoes were new make attachment taxable?

No.

What controlled the result?

The brace was treated as a separate finished product.

Did the source view the classification as obvious?

No. It expressly called the issue close.

Citations and references

The supporting memorandum does not cite a specific statute or regulation.

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/annotations-menu.htm
• Annotation page: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/vol2/suta/315-0000-all.html
• Original supporting opinion: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/annotations/315-0300.pdf

Original ruling text

State of California

Board of Equalization

Memorandum

To:

Santa Barbara – Auditing

From:

Headquarters – Sales Tax Counsel (BH)

315.0300
Sacramento
September 2, 1955

Account No. --- --- ---

This is in reply to your letter of May 18 and August 22.
A patient will bring a pair of new shoes to the taxpayer. The taxpayer furnishes leg braces and attaches them to the shoes. The taxpayer claims that the labor of attaching the braces to the shoes is exempt. This is a close question. Basically, the problem is whether the brace constitutes a finished product separate from the shoe, or whether there is simply a single finished product, namely, a shoe-with-brace. It is our opinion that a brace constitutes a separate finished product and that the labor of attaching the brace to the shoe is exempt installation labor rather than taxable fabrication labor.

Bill Holden

BH:tj