Did label-cutting dies and rubber flexographic plates qualify for Florida's printing exemption?

Subject

Printing Supplies Exemption

Plain-English summary

The printer's label-cutting dies and rubber flexographic plates qualified for Florida's printing-supplies exemption. The Department read "engraving" broadly enough to include cutting designs into pressure-sensitive material, not only metal or wood.

It also treated lithography as capable of using substances other than stone. Rubber flexographic plates therefore qualified as lithographic plates when used in the same fashion to take impressions for printing.

What this means for you

The exemption turned on the ordinary meaning and production use of the tools, along with the printer's qualifying industry classification—not merely the material from which a die or plate was made.

Common questions

Q: Did dies cutting label patterns qualify? Yes.

Q: Could a rubber plate be a lithographic plate? Yes, when used consistently with lithography.

Q: Did the ruling cover every die or plate use? No; it addressed the stated printing process and qualifying business.

Citations and references

• Fla. Stat. § 212.05 — sales and use tax
• Fla. Stat. § 212.08(7)(aaa) — film and printing supplies exemption
• Pederson v. Green, 105 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1958)
• Fla. Stat. § 213.22 — Technical Assistance Advisements

Source

• Landing page: Florida Tax Law Library
• Advisement: TAA 00A-059

Original ruling text

SUMMARY

QUESTION 1: Do "dyes" used by Taxpayer to cut patterns in
pressure sensitive materials qualify as "dyes used for
embossing and engraving" for purposes of the exemption
provided under s. 212.08(7)(aaa), F.S.?

ANSWER 1 - Based on Facts Below: Yes. The art of
"engraving" is not strictly limited to the art of forming
designs on metal plates or blocks of wood. Therefore
"dyes" used by Taxpayer for forming designs on pressure
sensitive materials qualify for the exemption provided for
"dyes used for embossing and engraving" under s.
212.08(7)(aaa), F.S.

QUESTION 2: Do flexographic plates used by Taxpayer qualify
as "lithographic plates" for purposes of the exemption
provided under s. 212.08(7)(aaa), F.S.?

ANSWER 2 - Based on Facts Below: Yes. "Lithography"
includes the use of substances "other than stone" for
taking impressions. Therefore, flexographic plates qualify
for the exemption provided for "lithographic plates" under
s. 212.08(7)(aaa), F.S., when otherwise used for purposes
consistent with "lithography."

Oct 24, 2000

Re: Technical Assistance Advisement 00A-059
Sales and Use Tax - Printing Supplies Exemption
Sections: 212.05; 212.08(7)(aaa), F.S.
XXX ("Taxpayer")
FEI# XX

Dear :

This is in response to your request, dated September 12, 2000,
received October 3, 2000, for the Department's issuance of a

Technical Assistance Advisement ("TAA") concerning the above
referenced party and matter. Your letter has been carefully
examined and the Department finds it to be in compliance with
the requisite criteria set forth in Chapter 12-11, F.A.C. This
response to your request constitutes a TAA and is issued to you
under the authority of section 213.22, F.S.

Facts

In your request, you refer to Florida Tax Information
Publication 99(A)01-06, which addresses an exemption for film
and other printing supplies used by businesses in certain
industries. The exemption is provided under s. 212.08(7)(aaa),
F.S. According to your letter, you use dyes to cut patterns in
pressure sensitive material to create labels. Your letter also
indicates that you use flexographic plates that are made of
rubber.

Requested Advisement

I. Whether dyes used by Taxpayer to cut patterns in pressure
sensitive material qualify as "dyes used for embossing and
engraving" for purposes of the exemption provided under s.
212.08(7)(aaa), F.S.?

II. Whether flexographic plates used by Taxpayer qualify as
"lithographic plates" for purposes of the exemption provided
under s. 212.08(7)(aaa), F.S.?

Applicable Law

Section 212.05, F.S., provides in pertinent part:

It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that
every person is exercising a taxable privilege who engages
in the business of selling tangible personal property at
retail in this state, including the business of making mail
order sales, or who rents or furnishes any of the things or
services taxable under this chapter, or who stores for use
or consumption in this state any item or article of
tangible personal property as defined herein and who leases

or rents such property within the state.

(1) For the exercise of such privilege, a tax is levied on
each taxable transaction or incident, which tax is due and
payable as follows:

(a) 1.a. At the rate of 6 percent of the sales price of
each item or article of tangible personal property when
sold at retail in this state, computed on each taxable sale
for the purpose of remitting the amount of tax due the
state, and including each and every retail sale.

Section 212.08(7)(aaa), F.S., provides in pertinent part:

(aaa) Film and other printing supplies. -- Also exempt are
the following materials purchased, produced, or created by
businesses classified under SIC Industry Numbers 275, 276,
277, 278, or 279 for use in producing graphic matter for
sale: film, photographic paper, dyes used for embossing and
engraving, artwork, typography, lithographic plates, and
negatives.... (Emphasis Supplied)

Discussion

Effective July 1, 1999, HB 643 exempted certain preparatory
materials used by businesses included under the following
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes:

• 275

Commercial Printing

• 276

Manifold Business Forms

• 277

Greeting Cards

• 278

Blankbooks and Bookbinding

• 279

Printing Trade Services.

Your business SIC Industry Number is 2759, which falls within
SIC Industry Group Number 275. The preparatory materials
exempted under the law were "film, photographic paper, dyes used
for embossing and engraving, artwork, typography, lithographic
plates, and negatives." See s. 212.08(7)(aaa), F.S.

Section 212.08(7)(aaa), F.S., does not provide definitions for

the preparatory materials it exempts. Because these terms are
given no gloss or definition, they must be used in their common
sense meaning. Pederson v. Green, 105 So. 2d 1, 4 (Fla. 1958).
The following definitions are taken from The Random House
Dictionary of the English Language, unabridged edition (1971)
[hereinafter Random House]. Random House defines "dyes" as
"coloring material or matter." It also defines "dyes" as
"liquid[s] containing coloring matter, for imparting a
particular hue to cloth, paper, etc." "Embossing" is defined as
metalworking to "raise a design on (a blank) with dies of
similar pattern, one the negative of the other." Random House
defines "engraving" as the "art of forming designs by cutting,
corrosion by acids, a photographic process, etc., on the surface
of metal plates, blocks of wood, or the like, for the purpose of
taking of impressions or prints of the design so formed."

The Random House definition of "engraving" is not strictly
limited to the art of forming designs on metal plates or blocks
of wood. The use of the words "or the like," indicates that the
definition contemplates the use of materials other than wood or
metal for forming or cutting designs. Therefore, dyes used by
Taxpayer to cut patterns in pressure sensitive material would
qualify as "dyes used for embossing and engraving" for purposes
of the exemption provided under s. 212.08(7)(aaa), F.S.?

The word "lithographic" is an adjective form of the word
"lithography." "Lithography" is defined as the process of
"producing a picture, writing, or the like, on a flat, specially
prepared stone, with some greasy or oily substance, and of
taking impressions from this as in ordinary printing." Random
House also defines "lithography" as a "similar process in which
a substance other than stone, [such] as aluminum or zinc, is
used." Random House defines "plates" as "flat or curved
sheet[s] of metal, plastic, glass, or similar hard material[s],
on which... picture[s] or text [are]... engraved, molded,
photographically developed, or drawn." Random House further
states that "plates" are "inked as in a press, for printing
impressions on other surfaces."

The Random House definition of "lithography" includes the use of
substances "other than stone" for taking impressions.

Therefore, the use of a plate formed of rubber for purposes
otherwise consistent with "lithography" qualifies for the
exemption provided for "lithographic plates" under s.
212.08(7)(aaa), F.S.

Response

I. "Dyes" used by your company for cutting patterns are
analogous to "dyes used for embossing and engraving," and are
therefore exempt under s. 212.08(7)(aaa), F.S.

II. Flexographic plates also qualify for the exemption provided
under s. 212.08(7)(aaa), F.S., provided they are used in the
same fashion as a "lithographic plate."

This response constitutes a Technical Assistance Advisement
under section 213.22, F.S., which is binding on the Department
only under the facts and circumstances described in the request
for this advice, as specified in section 213.22, F.S. Our
response is predicated upon those facts and the specific
situation summarized above. You are advised that subsequent
statutory or administrative rule changes or judicial
interpretations of the statutes or rules upon which this advice
is based may subject similar future transactions to a different
treatment from that which is expressed in this response.

You are further advised that this response, your request, and
related backup documents are public records under Chapter 119,
F.S., and are subject to disclosure to the public under the
conditions of section 213.22, F.S. Confidential information
must be deleted before public disclosure. In an effort to
protect confidentiality, we request that you provide the
undersigned with an edited copy of your request for Technical
Assistance Advisement, the backup material and this response,
deleting names, addresses, and any other details that might lead
to identification of the taxpayer. Your response should be
received by the Department within 15 days of the date of this
letter.

Sincerely,

Case A. Bodiford
Attorney
Control # 42619
Enclosure