When were Kansas retail herbicide sales and application services exempt from sales tax?

Plain-English summary

Kansas treated a herbicide purchase as exempt when the herbicide was applied to:

• Crops or cropland.
• Pasture grass.
• Rangeland grass used to graze commercial livestock.

The Department concluded that the herbicide was consumed in producing crops or livestock under K.S.A. 79-3606(n). The service of applying the qualifying herbicide was exempt for the same reason.

A retail herbicide sale for any other use remained taxable.

What this means for you

The exemption depended on the herbicide's actual agricultural use. A seller needed support that the product was being consumed in crop or commercial-livestock production rather than used for another purpose.

Common questions

Q: Was every farm-supply herbicide sale exempt?
A: No. The notice limits the exemption to the listed crop, pasture, and commercial-livestock uses.

Q: Was the application charge exempt too?
A: Yes, when the herbicide itself was applied for a qualifying production use.

Citations and references

• K.S.A. 79-3603(a) — retail sales tax.
• K.S.A. 79-3606(n) — property consumed in production or taxable services.

Subject

Herbicides

Source

• Landing page: Kansas Department of Revenue Policy Information Library
• Original document: Notice 91-01

Original ruling text

Notice
Notice Number: 91-01
Tax Type: Kansas Retailers’ Sales Tax
Brief Description: Herbicides
Keywords:
Effective Date: 07/01/1991

Body:
NOTICE #91-1

TO: All County Noxious Weed Departments, Coops, Farm Suppliers, etc.

FROM: KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

RE: Retail sales of herbicides.

The Kansas Department of Revenue has been asked whether the retail sales of weed herbicides to farmers and ranchers, would be
subject to the Kansas retailers' sales tax.

K.S.A. 79-3603(a) imposes a sales tax; "at the rate of 4.25% upon the gross receipts received from the sale of tangible personal
property at retail within this state." Therefore, unless specifically exempt, all sales of tangible personal property at retail in this state
are subject to the Kansas retailers' sales tax.

K.S.A. 79-3606(n) exempts from sales tax; "all sales of tangible personal property which is consumed in the production,
manufacture, processing, mining, drilling, refining or compounding of tangible personal property, the providing of services or the
irrigation of crops for ultimate sale at retail within or without the state of Kansas; and any purchaser of such property may obtain
from the director of taxation and furnish to the supplier an exemption certificate number for tangible personal property for
consumption in such production, manufacture, processing, mining, drilling, refining, compounding, irrigation and in providing such
services."

The Director of Taxation has determined that retail sales of weed herbicides which are sprayed or applied to crops, crop land, pasture
grass and/or range land grass used for grazing commercial livestock, are exempt from sales tax pursuant to K.S.A. 79-3606(n).
Additionally, the service of applying such weed herbicides is also exempt pursuant to K.S.A. 79-3606(n). These sales and services
are deemed to be consumed in the production of crops or livestock.

Retail sales of any type of herbicide used in any other manner than that described above are subject to sales tax.

Additional questions regarding this notice should be directed to the Kansas Department of Revenue, Tax Policy Group, Docking
State Office Building, Topeka, Kansas 66625-0001 or call (913) 296-5476.

Dated: July, 1991

Date Composed: 10/02/1997 Date Modified: 10/10/2001

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