Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8801L0869B13 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1988-01-29

Was Enrich Liquid Nutrition with Fiber a tax-exempt food product rather than an over-the-counter drug or vitamin formula?

Short answer: Yes. Texas classified Enrich Liquid Nutrition with Fiber as a food product, allowing grocery, drug, and department stores to sell it tax-free.

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This page answers the general question as of 1988. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1988
Subsequent statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later rulings may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, rate, or position mentioned here.
Disclaimer: This is a taxpayer-specific January 1988 Texas Comptroller letter based on the submitted label for Enrich Liquid Nutrition with Fiber. It does not include the usual fact-change caveat or cite a statute or rule. STAR's caption also names Ensure and Ensure Plus, but the operative body classifies only Enrich; this page does not extend the holding to caption-only products. Food, dietary-supplement, drug, vitamin, formulation, and retailer rules may have changed; verify the current product and law. STAR documents may no longer represent current policy even when not marked superseded. Manufacturer and taxpayer identities are redacted. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice.
About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official state tax ruling. The original ruling (linked on this page) is the authoritative source for any reliance.

Plain-English summary

After reviewing the submitted label, the Comptroller classified Enrich Liquid Nutrition with Fiber as a food product, not an over-the-counter drug or vitamin formula.

Grocery, drug, and department stores could sell that product tax-free.

What this means for you

The historical classification applied to the labeled Enrich product. The operative text does not classify Ensure or Ensure Plus despite STAR's caption.

Common questions

Was Enrich treated as food? Yes.

Could named retailers sell it tax-free? Yes—grocery, drug, and department stores.

Citations and references

The letter cites no numbered statute or rule.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

BOB BULLOCK
Comptroller January 29, 1988

Dear ***:

Thank you for your recent letter and label from Enrich Liquid Nutrition
with
Fiber manufactured by ***.

This is a food product rather than an over the counter drug or vitamin
formula. As we discussed a grocery, drug or department store would be
able
to sell this product tax free.

If you have any questions or need more information, please call our
toll-free
number 1-800-531-5441. The regular number is 512/463-4600. You may write
me
at the Tax Policy Division.

Sincerely,
Al Van Allen
Tax Policy Division

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