Were hypodermic needles and syringes exempt medicines after California's 1983 law change?

Plain-English summary

California legal staff said intravenous sets, syringes, and needles generally did not qualify as exempt medicines under the cited rule. A statutory amendment effective January 1, 1983 created a narrower result for insulin syringes.

Under the memorandum, an insulin syringe qualified when a registered pharmacist furnished it to a person for diabetes treatment as directed by a physician. The document proposed amending the existing annotation to reflect that change in law.

Common questions

Were intravenous sets, syringes, and needles generally exempt?

No.

Which syringes did the memorandum identify as exempt?

Insulin syringes furnished by a registered pharmacist to a person for diabetes treatment as directed by a physician.

Did the 1984 memorandum create the rule itself?

No. It described a 1982 enactment effective January 1, 1983 and proposed updating the older annotation.

Citations and references

• California Revenue and Taxation Code section 6365 — general rule cited for nonexempt intravenous sets, syringes, and needles
• California Revenue and Taxation Code section 6369(e) — insulin-syringe amendment described in the memorandum
• AB 3195 (1982), Chapter 1589 — legislation identified as making the amendment

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/annotations-menu.htm
• Annotation page: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/vol2/suta/425-0000-all.html
• Original supporting opinion: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/annotations/425-0420.pdf

Original ruling text

State of California

Board of Equalization

Memorandum

To:

Mr. D. J. Hennessy

From:

Charles J. Graziano

Subject:

Annotation 425.0420

425.0420

Date:

April 10, 1984

Pursuant to your request, I have prepared the attached draft of DTLG Annotation 425.0420 for your approval. Generally, intravenous sets, syringes, and needles do not qualify as exempt medicines under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 6365. Effective January 1, 1983, however, Section 6369(e) was amended [AB 3195, Ch. 1589, Stats. 1982] to provide that insulin syringes qualify as exempt prescription medicines when furnished by a registered pharmacist to a person for the treatment of diabetes as directed by a physician. Therefore, Annotation 425.0420 should be amended to reflect this change in law.

CJG:ba