Are walk-in tubs, in-home wheelchair lifts, and modular ramps exempt from Georgia sales tax as medical or mobility equipment?

Plain-English summary

In-home wheelchair lifts and modular ramps qualified as mobility-enhancing equipment because they were designed for people without normal mobility and helped them move from place to place. Their sales were exempt when prescribed by a physician, and the seller needed records supporting each untaxed prescription sale.

Walk-in tubs were taxable. Once installed, they became real-property fixtures and no longer retained their identity as tangible equipment, so neither the durable-medical-equipment nor mobility-equipment exemption applied.

Common questions

Q: Was a prescription required for the lift or ramp exemption?

A: Yes. The seller had to document that a physician prescribed each item sold without tax.

Q: Did a lift built into a walk-in tub make the tub exempt?

A: No. The ruling treated walk-in tubs, including those described with or without lifts, as taxable real-property fixtures.

Citations and references

• O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(72) -- prescribed mobility-equipment exemption
• O.C.G.A. § 48-8-2(20) -- mobility-enhancing equipment
• O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(54) -- prescribed durable medical equipment and prosthetics
• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-12-2-.30(2)(c)(3) -- listed mobility equipment

Source

• Landing page: Georgia Sales & Use Tax Letter Rulings
• Original PDF: LR SUT-2015-09

Original ruling text

Date Issued:
June 19, 2015
Georgia Letter Ruling: LR SUT-2015-09
Topic: Medical

This letter is in response to your request for guidance on the application of Georgia sales and use tax to various
products sold by Taxpayer.

Facts as presented by Taxpayer
Taxpayer requests guidance on the taxability of the following items:
(a) walk-in bathroom tubs (with and without lifts);
(b) in home wheelchair mobility lifts (for transporting person and wheelchair up stairs); and
(c) modular ramps (not portable, but not permanently affixed).
All products are sold directly to consumers. A prescription by a licensed medical professional may be obtained but is
not required. Sales may be covered by Medicare or Medicaid. The products would be delivered to an in-state
warehouse and then delivered directly to the consumer either by Taxpayer’s representative or by common carrier.
Title passes at the point of delivery to the consumer.
Issue
Are the walk-in bathtubs, in home wheelchair mobility lifts, and modular ramps sold by Taxpayer subject to Georgia
sales and use tax?
Analysis
All retail purchases and sales of tangible personal property are taxable unless provided for otherwise.1 Tax is levied
and imposed upon the retail purchase, retail sale, rental, storage, use, or consumption of tangible personal property
and on services described in this article that occur in this state.2 "Retail sale" or a "sale at retail" means a sale, lease or
rental for any purpose other than for resale. 3 “Sale” means any transfer of title or possession, transfer of title and
possession, exchange, barter, lease, or rental, conditional or otherwise, in any manner or by any means of any kind of
tangible personal property for a consideration.4
Durable medical equipment and prosthetic devices that are sold pursuant to a prescription are exempt from sales and
use tax.5 “Durable medical equipment” means equipment including repair and replacement parts for the same, but
does not include mobility enhancing equipment, which:
(A) Can withstand repeated use;
(B) Is primarily and customarily used to serve a medical purpose;
(C) Generally is not useful to a person in the absence of illness or injury; and
(D) Is not worn in or on the body. 6

1

O.C.G.A. §§ 48-8-1 and 48-8-30(b).
O.C.G.A. § 48-8-30.
3
O.C.G.A. § 48-8-2(31).
4
O.C.G.A. § 48-8-2(33)(A).
5
O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(54).
6
O.C.G.A. § 48-8-2(15).
2

Date Issued: June 19, 2015
Georgia Letter Ruling: LR SUT-2015-09
Topic: Medical
Page 2 of 3

“Prosthetic device” means a replacement, corrective, or supportive device including repair and replacement parts for
the same worn on or in the body to:
(A) Artificially replace a missing portion of the body;
(B) Prevent or correct physical deformity or malfunction; or
(C) Support a weak or deformed portion of the body.
Sales of “mobility enhancing equipment” are exempt from Georgia sales and use tax if the item is prescribed by a
physician.7 "Mobility enhancing equipment" means equipment including repair and replacement parts to the same, but
does not include durable medical equipment, which:
(A) Is primarily and customarily used to provide or increase the ability to move from one place to another and
which is appropriate for use either in a home or a motor vehicle;
(B) Is not generally used by persons with normal mobility; and
(C) Does not include any motor vehicle or equipment on a motor vehicle normally provided by a motor vehicle
manufacturer.8
“Mobility enhancing equipment” includes lift chairs,9 patient lifts10, and ramps.11
Based on the definitions above, the Department considers the in home wheelchair mobility lifts, and modular ramps
sold by Taxpayer to fall within the definition of mobility enhancing equipment. These items are designed for and
intended to be used by individuals who do not have normal mobility, and more specifically, these items are primarily
and customarily used by people who do not have normal mobility to move from one place to another.
However, the walk-in bathtubs become fixtures to real property, and as such are not included within the scope of the
exemptions discussed above. The tubs are clearly not prosthetic devices. Thus, the potentially relevant exemptions are
the durable medical equipment exemption and the mobility enhancing equipment exemption. Both of these
exemptions use the term “equipment”, and the Department has historically interpreted this term as referring to
equipment that retains its identity as tangible personal property after installation.12 In this case, the walk-in tubs do
not retain their character/identity as tangible personal property, but instead become fixtures to the realty and, thus, are
not exempt from tax as durable medical equipment or mobility enhancing equipment.
Ruling
The wheelchair mobility lifts, and modular ramps are properly categorized as mobility enhancing equipment, and are
therefore exempt from Georgia sales when prescribed by a physician. In case of audit, Taxpayer should maintain
appropriate documentation to show that any items sold without tax were in fact prescribed by a physician. The walkin bathtubs are subject to tax as these items are considered fixtures, and not equipment; thus, they are not exempt as
durable medical equipment or mobility enhancing equipment.

7

O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(72).
O.C.G.A. § 48-8-2(20).
9
Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-12-2-.30(2)(c)(3)(vii).
10
Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-12-2-.30(2)(c)(3)(viii).
11
Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-12-2-.30(2)(c)(3)(xiii).
12
See GA: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-12-2-.62 (addressing manufacturing machinery and equipment and
providing that real property includes “fixtures”, and “equipment” excludes real property) and GA: Ga. Comp. R. &
Regs. r. 560-12-2-.03 (addressing agriculture exemptions and providing that real property includes “fixtures”, and
“machinery and equipment” excludes real property).
8

Date Issued: June 19, 2015
Georgia Letter Ruling: LR SUT-2015-09
Topic: Medical
Page 3 of 3

The opinions expressed in this ruling are based upon the information contained in your request and limited to the
specific transactions, facts, circumstances and taxpayer in question. Should the circumstances regarding the
transactions change, or differ materially from those represented, then this ruling may become invalid. In addition,
please be 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 tax treatment than that
expressed in this response.