Are receipts from coin-operated machines that measure and print a person's height and weight subject to Florida sales tax?

Plain-English summary

The Florida Department of Revenue concluded that the receipts from the company's coin-operated height-and-weight machines were not subject to sales tax. The machines printed a customer's height and weight, which the Department treated as health-awareness information and a personal service rather than entertainment or amusement.

The machines also were not vending machines under the cited definition because they did not dispense food or beverages. Although each machine supplied a paper printout, the Department called that printout an inconsequential element of tangible personal property within an exempt personal-service transaction.

The exemption applied to the customer receipts, not to the operator's own purchases. Because the company owned the machines rather than leasing them to the host locations, its purchases of the machines, repairs, parts, and printout paper remained taxable.

What this means for you

Operators of measurement and health-information machines

A coin slot does not by itself make a machine taxable as an amusement or vending machine. Under this advisement, the decisive point was what the machine provided: health information as a personal service, with only an incidental paper printout.

Businesses hosting the machines

The ruling addressed receipts earned by the machine owner and stated that the owner was not leasing the machines to the location owners. It did not decide the tax treatment of a different leasing or revenue-sharing arrangement.

Accountants and tax professionals

Keep the two sides of the transaction separate. The service receipts were exempt under section 212.08(7)(v)1., but the operator's inputs—the machines, repairs, parts, and paper—were taxable. The conclusion also depended on the machines providing information rather than amusement or food and beverage items.

Common questions

Q: Are the coins collected from the height-and-weight machines taxable? A: No. On the facts presented, the Department treated the receipts as payment for an exempt personal service.

Q: Why were the machines not coin-operated amusement machines? A: They supplied height and weight information for health awareness. The Department said that was not entertainment or amusement.

Q: Why were they not vending machines? A: The cited vending-machine definition covered machines dispensing food or beverages. These machines dispensed only health information and an incidental paper printout.

Q: Does the exemption make the equipment and supplies tax-free? A: No. The Department expressly said the company's purchases of the machines, repairs, parts, and printout paper were taxable.

Q: Can another operator rely on this TAA? A: Not automatically. The advisement states that it binds the Department only under the facts and circumstances described in the request, and later legal changes or court interpretations may produce a different result.

Citations and references

• Fla. Stat. § 212.02(24) (coin-operated amusement machine)
• Fla. Stat. § 212.0515(1)(a) (vending machine)
• Fla. Stat. § 212.08(7)(v)1. (professional, insurance, or personal-service transactions with inconsequential sales elements)
• Fla. Stat. § 213.22 and Fla. Admin. Code ch. 12-11 (technical assistance advisements)
• Fla. Stat. ch. 119 (public records)

Source

• Landing page: Florida Tax Law Library
• Advisement: TAA 96A-063

Original ruling text

Dec 20, 1996

Re: Technical Assistance Advisement 96(A)-063 Weight and Height Machines XXXX( Company) s. 212.08(7)(v), F.S. FEI# XXXX

Dear :

This response is to your petition dated November 15, 1996, requesting the Department's issuance of a Technical Assistance Advisement (TAA) pursuant to s. 213.22, F.S., and Ch. 12-11, F.A.C., regarding the referenced matter. Your letter and supporting documents provided the following pertinent information.

FACTS PRESENTED

The Company operates coin-operated machines that measure height and weight within businesses located in multiple Florida counties. These machines provide a printout of a person's height and weight. You have provided illustrations of the machines and a copy of a printout for our review. You have asked for a determination of the taxability of the receipts removed from these machines.

DISCUSSION AND LAW

Section 212.02(24), F.S., provides the following definition:

"Coin-operated" amusement machine means any machine operated by coin, slug, token, coupon, or similar device for the purposes of entertainment or amusement. The term includes, but is not limited to, coin-operated pinball machines, music machines, juke boxes, mechanical games, video games, arcade games, billiard tables, moving picture viewers, shooting galleries, and all other similar

amusement devices.

The machines you have described are coin-operated and provide a printout of a person's height and weight. The provision of height and weight is health awareness information, and is not entertainment or amusement. Therefore, the machines do not fall within the definition of a coin-operated amusement machine.

Section 212.0515(1)(a) provides the following definition:

"Vending machine" means a machine operated by coin, currency, credit card, slug, token, coupon, or similar device, which dispenses food or beverage items.

The machines described are operated by coin, but they solely provide health information which is a personal service, and the item dispensed is a printout of the person's height and weight which is an inconsequential element of tangible personal property.

Section 212.08(7)(v)1., F.S. provides:

Also exempted are professional, insurance, or personal service transactions that involve sales as inconsequential elements for which no separate charges are made.

Therefore, based upon the information provided, the machines described are neither amusement machines nor vending machines. The machines provide a service that is exempt pursuant to the above referenced statute.

In conclusion, the receipts generated by the height and weight machines would not be taxable. Since your company is the owner of the machines and is not currently leasing them to the location owners, the purchase of the machines, repairs, parts, and paper used to provide the printout would be taxable.

This response constitutes a technical assistance advisement under s. 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 s. 213.22, F.S. Our response is

predicated on 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 than expressed in this response.

You are further advised that this response and your request are public records under Chapter 119, F.S., which are subject to disclosure to the public under the conditions of s. 213.22, F.S. Your name, address, and any other details which might lead to identification of the taxpayer must be deleted by the department before disclosure. In an effort to protect confidential information, we request you notify the undersigned in writing within 15 days of any deletions you wish made to the request or this response.

Sincerely,

Edith Sapp
Tax Law Specialist
Tax Policy and Dispute Resolution

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