Do Kansas meat processors need an exemption certificate for custom slaughtering and processing?

Plain-English summary

Kansas Notice 25-01 (which replaces and supersedes Notice 24-12) covers the sales tax exemption for custom processing of animals for human consumption and a 2025 change that removes the paperwork.

• The exemption (K.S.A. 79-3606(rrrr), added in 2024). Effective for services on or after July 1, 2024, all sales of the services of slaughtering, butchering, custom cutting, dressing, processing and packaging of an animal for human consumption are exempt from sales tax when the animal is delivered or furnished by a customer who owns it and the meat or poultry is for that customer's own use or consumption.
• No exemption certificate needed (K.S.A. 79-3651(h), added by 2025 House Bill 2275). Starting July 1, 2024 (applied retroactively), a purchaser claiming this exemption does not have to give the seller an exemption certificate, and the seller does not have to receive or keep one. If the seller, in the ordinary course of business, believes the service qualifies, the seller is relieved from collecting and remitting the tax and does not bear the burden of proving the service is non-taxable. A purchaser who improperly claims the exemption remains liable for the unpaid tax.

K.S.A. 79-3651 as amended was effective upon publication in the Kansas Register on May 8, 2025, with new paragraph (h) applying retroactively to services on or after July 1, 2024.

What this means for you

Custom meat processors / butchers / lockers

• When you slaughter or process an animal that the customer owns and the meat is for the customer's own use, the service is exempt — and as of the 2025 change you do not need to collect an exemption certificate to honor it.
• You are protected: if you reasonably believe the service qualifies, you are relieved from collecting the tax and don't have to prove non-taxability.
• This does not cover processing animals the customer does not own, or meat destined for resale — those are outside paragraph (rrrr).

Customers (farmers, ranchers, individuals having their own animal processed)

• You don't have to fill out an exemption certificate for qualifying custom processing.
• But if you claim the exemption improperly (e.g., the animal isn't yours or the meat isn't for your own use), you remain liable for the tax.

Common questions

Q: Does this notice replace an earlier one?
A: Yes — Notice 25-01 replaces and supersedes Notice 24-12 on the same topic.

Q: Do I need an exemption certificate for custom animal processing?
A: No. As of the 2025 amendment (K.S.A. 79-3651(h)), no exemption certificate is required, retroactive to July 1, 2024.

Q: What has to be true for the exemption to apply?
A: The customer must own the animal, and the meat or poultry must be for that customer's own use or consumption.

Q: What if the exemption is claimed incorrectly?
A: The purchaser who improperly claims it remains liable for the unpaid sales tax.

Citations and references

• K.S.A. 79-3606(rrrr) (added 2024) — exempts custom slaughtering, butchering, cutting, dressing, processing, and packaging of a customer-owned animal for the customer's own consumption; effective for services on or after July 1, 2024.
• House Bill 2275 (2025), Section 4 — adds K.S.A. 79-3651(h).
• K.S.A. 79-3651(h) — no exemption certificate required; seller relieved from collecting/remitting and from the burden of proof if it believes the service qualifies; purchaser improperly claiming remains liable; retroactive to July 1, 2024.
• Effective date: K.S.A. 79-3651 as amended effective on publication in the Kansas Register, May 8, 2025.

Source

• Landing page: Kansas Department of Revenue Policy Information Library
• Original document: Notice 25-01

Original ruling text

Policy and Research
109 SW 9th Street Phone: 785-368-8222
PO Box 3506 Fax: 785-296-1279
Topeka KS 66601-3506 www.ksrevenue.gov
Mark A. Burghart, Secretary Laura Kelly, Governor

                                         NOTICE 25-01

         CUSTOM PROCESSING OF CERTAIN ANIMALS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

                                         (JUNE 5, 2025)

Notice 25-01, Custom Processing of Certain Animals for Human Consumption replaces and
supersedes Notice 24-12, Custom Processing of Certain Animals for Human Consumption

   K.S.A. 79-3606, which provides exemptions from sales tax, was amended during the 2024

Legislative Session to add paragraph (rrrr). This paragraph provides an exemption from sales tax
for the custom processing of certain animals for human consumption, effective for all sales of
services occurring on or after July 1, 2024. Specifically, K.S.A. 79-3606(rrrr), provides an
exemption from sales tax for:

         (rrrr) all sales of the services of slaughtering, butchering, custom cutting,
   dressing, processing and packaging of an animal for human consumption when the
   animal is delivered or furnished by a customer that owns the animal and such meat or
   poultry is for use or consumption by such customer;

    During the 2025 Legislative Session House Bill 2275 was passed and signed into law.

Section 4 of the Bill amends K.S.A. 79-3651, which addresses the use of sales tax exemption
certificates, to add new paragraph (h). This new paragraph provides that no exemption certificate
will be required to claim an exemption from sales tax for the custom processing of certain animals
for human consumption if the seller believes the service it is providing qualifies for exemption
from sales tax under K.S.A. 79-3606(rrrr). Specifically, K.S.A. 79-3651(h) provides:

          (h) On and after July 1, 2024, notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary in
   this section or any other provision of law, purchasers claiming an exemption pursuant
   to K.S.A. 79-3606(rrrr), and amendments thereto, shall not be required to provide an
   exemption certificate or form to the seller, and the seller shall not be required to receive
   and maintain a completed exemption certificate or form for such exempt transactions.
   If the seller in the ordinary course of business believes that the service qualifies for the
   exemption pursuant to K.S.A. 79-3606(rrrr), and amendments thereto, the seller shall
   be relieved from collecting and remitting the tax and shall not have the burden of
   proving that the service is not subject to tax pursuant to subsection (a). A purchaser
   improperly claiming the exemption shall remain liable for the nonpayment of tax.

   The provisions of K.S.A. 79-3651, as amended, were effective upon publication in the

Kansas register on May 8, 2025. The provisions of new paragraph (h) will be retroactive, in that
it applies to all sales of services occurring on or after July 1, 2024.

                               TAXPAYER ASSISTANCE

 Additional copies of this notice, forms or publications are available from our website,

www.ksrevenue.gov. If you have questions about this Notice, please contact:

                            Taxpayer Assistance Center
                           Kansas Department of Revenue
                           Scott Office Building, 1st Floor
                                  120 SE 10th Ave
                                   P. O. Box 3506
                              Topeka, KS 66601-3506
                                Phone: 785-368-8222
                                 Fax: 785-291-3614