Which listed Kodak photographic chemicals were manufacturing aids, and which were treated as incorporated into the finished product?

Plain-English summary

Board staff asked Eastman-Kodak whether eleven listed photographic chemicals functioned as manufacturing aids or became incorporated into the finished product sold. The memorandum relayed Kodak's classifications.

Five products were classified as manufacturing aids: catalog numbers 847-5386, 106-5853, 132-2916, 848-5153, and 193-9248. Those entries included specified bleach, bleach-regenerator, bleach-replenisher, developer-starter, and developer-replenisher products.

Six products were classified as incorporated into the final product: catalog numbers 162-1689, 810-6049, 105-4311, 825-425, 173-6677, and 841-4393. The original table below supplies the exact product names and process descriptions.

The classification mattered because manufacturing aids were not bought for resale, while chemicals incorporated into the product sold could receive resale treatment under the annotation's framework.

Live annotation and source posture

The current live annotation converts the memorandum's two groups into products that may not or may be purchased for resale and preserves the September 25, 1989 date. It omits all eleven catalog numbers and one entire incorporated-product row: catalog 810-6049, Kodak Ektacolor RA Developer Replenisher for Process RA-R or RA-4NP. It therefore lists only five incorporated products even though the supporting letter lists six.

The live page also calls the first manufacturing aid Kodak Ektacolor Bleach-Fax and Replenisher; the official PDF visibly prints Bleach-Fix. This page follows the complete supporting source and records, rather than silently adopts, the live typo. The source itself visibly contains Error! Bookmark not defined. after the Santa Rosa addressee, another publication artifact preserved below.

The memorandum does not itself state the resale consequence in its product-group headings; it says the five chemicals are manufacturing aids and the six are incorporated into the final product. The live annotation supplies the no-resale/resale formulation. Neither source supplies the legal rule, chemical composition, incorporation test or reasoning connecting each product to its group.

The supporting PDF supplies no Santa Rosa chemical list, date or context; Eastman-Kodak reply, author, date or analysis; chemical formulas or quantities; catalog version evidence; product samples; manufacturing process; finished product; incorporation tests; purchases; invoices; resale certificates; identified taxpayer transactions; audit; assessment; petition; refund; or later outcome. It identifies a redacted Kodak Corporate Tax Department CPA as a possible contact and asks staff to copy Legal on later correspondence, but no follow-up appears.

CDTFA's Annotated Legal Opinions collection says memoranda are summarized as annotations and that statutory law controls whenever a statute and annotation conflict. The official two-page PDF has a native text layer and no embedded raster image, so no OCR was required. Its nonfatal PDF configuration warning did not change extraction: both fresh direct PDF downloads, both live-page downloads and both default extractions were byte-identical within their pairs. The original-text section remains byte-identical to its committed version and the fresh extraction after removal of only the extractor's terminal newline and form feed; the catalog rows and source defects were also checked visually.

What this means for you

Use the exact catalog number and product description, not a shortened product family name. Confirm the current formulation and actual process evidence before claiming incorporation or resale treatment: the source classifications rest on missing Kodak correspondence and the live page drops one product and every catalog number.

Common questions

Q: How many products did the source classify?

A: Eleven: five manufacturing aids and six products incorporated into the final product.

Q: Which source product is missing from the live annotation?

A: Catalog 810-6049, Kodak Ektacolor RA Developer Replenisher for Process RA-R or RA-4NP.

Q: Does the official source say Bleach-Fax?

A: No. The PDF visibly says Bleach-Fix; Bleach-Fax appears on the live page.

Q: Did the memorandum explain the chemistry behind the classifications?

A: No. It only relayed Eastman-Kodak's conclusions, and the underlying reply is absent.

Q: Can the list be applied to a reformulated product with the same family name?

A: This source does not support that. It is catalog-specific and contains no formulation history.

Citations and references

• Santa Rosa Auditing chemical list — described but absent
• Eastman-Kodak classification reply — summarized but absent, without date, author or analysis
• Eleven catalog-numbered products — reproduced in the memorandum; live page omits the numbers and catalog 810-6049
• Product chemistry, processes, purchases, certificates, taxpayer transactions, legal authority and outcomes — absent

Verbatim support

From the official September 25, 1989 Tax Counsel memorandum:

As you know, we referred your list of photographic chemicals to Eastman-Kodak Company for a determination of whether the chemicals are used as manufacturing aids or incorporated into the final product to be sold.

We recently received a reply from Eastman-Kodak with the following conclusions:

The following chemicals are purchased to be used as manufacturing aids:

The following chemicals are purchased to be incorporated into the final product to be sold:

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: CDTFA Annotated Legal Opinions
• Live annotation: Annotation 420.0595
• Original supporting opinion: 420.0595 PDF

Original ruling text

State of California

Board of Equalization
Legal Division

Memorandum

420.0595

To

: Santa Rosa Auditing (RLR)Error! Bookmark not defined.

From

: Ronald L. Dick
Tax Counsel

Date :

September 25, 1989

Subject : Photographic Chemical

As you know, we referred your list of photographic chemicals to Eastman-Kodak Company for a determination of whether the chemicals are used as manufacturing aids or incorporated into the final product to be sold. We recently received a reply from Eastman-Kodak with the following conclusions: The following chemicals are purchased to be used as manufacturing aids:

Catalog No.

Description
Per Catalog

847-5386

Kodak Ektacolor Bleach-Fix & Replenisher
for Process RA-4 or RA-4NP

106-5853

Flexicolor Bleach II
Regenerator

132-2916

Flexicolor Bleach II
NR Replenisher

848-5153

Flexicolor Developer
Starter LORR

193-9248

Dektomatic Developer
Replenisher Concentrate

The following chemicals are purchased to be incorporated into the final product to be sold: 162-1689

Kodak Ektacolor Stabilizer & Replenisher
for Process RA-4 or RA-4NP

810-6049

Kodak Ektacolor RA Developer
Replenisher for Process RA-R or RA-4NP

Santa Rosa Auditing (RLR)

-2-

105-4311

Dektomatic Fix &
Replenisher

825-425

Dektomatic Fix
Developer Replenisher

173-6677

Kodak Flexicolor ML
Stabilizer & Replenisher

841-4393

Flexicolor Developer
Replenisher LORR

September 25, 1989
420.0595

If you have any further questions regarding the products, you may wish to contact Mr. M--- S. C---, CPA in the Corporate Tax Department of Eastman-Kodak Company, Rochester, New York 14650, telephone (716) XXX-XXXX. In such case, please send us a copy of your letter and the reply you receive.

RLD:sr