Ezel / Tax Rulings / CA

When were charges for heat-treating metal taxable, exempt for resale, or nontaxable repair?

Short answer Heat-treating consumer-owned metal was taxable processing. Work on property intended for resale was not taxable, and heat-treating used tools to repair them was nontaxable repair.
State
CA
Ruling
Annotation 435.0920
Tax type
Sales and Use Tax
Issued
1952-03-18
Issued by
California State Board of Equalization
Requested by
A metal-treatment business asking about charges for heat-treating consumer, resale, and used property
Topics
new property used property fabrication labor repair labor resale exemption
Source
View Original PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1952. Ask about yours and see what current California tax law says, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1952
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 California State Board of Equalization tax-counsel letter dated March 18, 1952, published by CDTFA as support for a sales and use tax annotation. It distinguishes consumer use, processing for resale, and repair or reconditioning of used tools and equipment. Another taxpayer should not treat it as binding and should check current metal, heat-treatment, fabrication, repair, resale, exemption-documentation, and sales-and-use-tax rules. 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

Heat-treating metal was fabrication or processing under section 6006(b), as cited. Charges were taxable when the customer consumed the treated property.

The charges were not taxable when the customer intended to sell the property without using it. Heat-treating used tools or equipment to repair or recondition them was also nontaxable repair labor.

Citations and references

  • California Revenue and Taxation Code section 6006(b) (as cited)

Source

Original ruling text

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

435.0920

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

March 18, 1952
X---------------------

Attention:

X------------------

Gentlemen:
This is in reply to your letter of February 5 in which you request information concerning the application of the sales tax to charges for "heat treating" pieces of metal. You are advised that the fabricating or processing of tangible personal property for a consideration for consumers who furnish the materials used in the fabricating or processing is a sale for sales tax purposes, pursuant to the express provisions of Section 6006 (b) of the Sales and Use Tax Law. In our opinion, heat treating is fabrication or processing within the meaning of the law. Accordingly, charges for heat treating are subject to the sales tax if you are the consumer of the property heat treated but not if you intend to sell the property without making any use of it. In the case of repairing or reconditioning used property, however, sales tax does not apply to charges for repair or reconditioning labor. Hence, charges for heat treating used tools or equipment in order to repair or recondition them are not subject to the sales tax. Yours very truly

E. H. Stetson
Tax Counsel
NBH:ja

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