Ezel / Tax Rulings / CA

Could freestanding cardboard standees and hanging cardboard mobiles used in businesses qualify as printed sales messages?

Short answer Yes. California treated both as functionally equivalent to posters when printed for the principal purpose of advertising or promoting goods or services.
State
CA
Ruling
Annotation 432.0130
Tax type
Sales and Use Tax
Issued
1996-06-26
Issued by
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration
Requested by
An internal request to annotate Board and Business Taxes Committee decisions
Topics
printed sales messages posters
Source
View Original PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1996. Ask about yours and see what current California tax law says, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1996
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 is a June 26, 1996 California State Board of Equalization Senior Staff Counsel memorandum recording a Board appeals decision and June 25, 1996 Business Taxes Committee direction. CDTFA publishes it as support for a sales and use tax annotation. It addresses physical-form and principal-purpose classification, not every delivery or special-order element of exemption. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice.
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

California recorded that freestanding cardboard advertising displays, commonly called standees, were functionally equivalent to posters and qualified as printed sales messages when placed at retailers to advertise products.

The Business Taxes Committee reached the same result for hanging mobile cardboard advertisements made from cardboard, dowels, and string and commonly suspended from business ceilings.

The suggested annotation limited the conclusion to standees and mobiles printed for the principal purpose of advertising or promoting goods or services.

What this means for you

Display producers and tax professionals

Physical depth or hanging hardware did not prevent these cardboard displays from being treated like posters. Still verify promotional purpose and every other statutory exemption condition separately.

Common questions

Q: Did freestanding cardboard standees qualify as printed sales messages?

A: Yes, when principally promotional.

Q: Did hanging cardboard mobiles qualify?

A: Yes, on the same poster-equivalence rationale.

Q: Did the memorandum decide delivery and special-order requirements?

A: No. It addressed classification of the items and their principal purpose.

Source

Original ruling text

State of California

Memorandum
To :

Mr. Glenn A. Bystrom,
Deputy Director
Sales and Use Tax Department
MIC:43

From :

Ronald L. Dick
Senior Staff Counsel

Subject:

Printed Sales Messages

Board of Equalization
Legal Division-MIC: 82
Telephone: 445-6450

432.0130
Date: June 26, 1996

At a recent sales tax appeals hearing, the Board decided that freestanding cardboard printed matter (commonly known as “standees”) which are placed at retailers’ places of business to advertise products qualify as printed sales messages, since the items are functionally equivalent to posters. At the Board’s June 25, 1996 Business Taxes Committee meeting, the Committee decided that hanging mobile cardboard advertisements (the “mobiles” made of cardboard, dowels, and string which generally are hung from ceilings by a string) are also functionally equivalent to posters and qualify as printed sales messages. In accordance with the Committee’s direction, please annotate this opinion. We suggest the following wording: Freestanding cardboard printed matter (sometimes known as “standees”) and hanging mobile cardboard printed matter commonly placed in businesses and printed for the principal purpose of advertising or promoting goods or services qualify as printed sales messages.

RLD:sr
cc: Mr. Robert Nunes - MIC:40

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