rulings of the tax commissioner -- 11-175

8/3/2019 Rulings of the Tax Commissioner -- 11-175

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Rulings of the Tax CommissionerDocument Number: 11-175

Tax Type: Retail Sales and Use Tax

Brief Description: Grading and packaging of fresh shell eggs.

Topics: Agricultural; Manufacturing Exemption

Date Issued: 10/13/2011

October 13, 2011

Re: 58.1-1821 Application: Retail Sales and Use Tax

Dear *****:

This will reply to your letter in which you seek correction of an assessment issued to***** (the "Taxpayer"), for the period January 2008 through December 2010. I

apologize for the delay in responding to your letter.

FACTS

The Taxpayer's main operation is the grading and packaging of fresh shell eggs. The

Taxpayer has an automated process that takes the eggs from the hen houses and

runs them through a grading machine where the eggs are cleaned, graded andpacked for sale to retail and wholesale businesses for resale. In addition, the

Taxpayer processes eggs from contract growers.

An audit by the Department resulted in an assessment of use tax on certain expense

and fixed asset purchases made during the audit period. The Taxpayer contests the

tax assessed on a plastic egg tray washer, a honey wagon and pit fans. The

Taxpayer believes they sales tax exemption for processing applies to the purchase of

such equipment.

DETERMINATION

Manufacturing Exemption

Virginia Code 58.1-609.3 2 iii provides an exemption from the retail sales and use

tax for "machinery or tools or repair parts therefor or replacements thereof, fuel

power, energy, or supplies, used directly in processing, manufacturing, refining,


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mining or converting products for sale or resale . . . ." [Emphasis added.] Virginia

Code 58.1-602 defines the term "used directly" to mean "those activities which are

an integral partof the production of a product, including all steps of an integrated

manufacturing ormining process, but not including ancillary activities such as genera

maintenance and administration." Title 23 of the Virginia Administrative Code 10-210-

920 B 2 interprets the above statutes and states the following:

Items of tangible personal property which are used directly inmanufacturing and processing are machinery, tools and repair parts

therefor, fuel, power, energy, or supplies which are indispensable to the

actual production of products for sale and which are used as an immediate

part of such production process. Convenient or facilitative items, such as

fuel storage tanks, platforms, structural steel, grating, equipment supports,

special flooring, etc., or items which are essential to the operation of a

business but not an immediate part of actual production, are not used

directly in manufacturing or processing even though such items may bedirectly attached to exempt production machinery. [Emphasis added].

This section further provides that "integrated manufacturing includes the production

line of a plant . . . starting with the handling and storage of raw materials at the plant

site and continuing through the last step of production where products are finished . .

. and conveyed to a warehouse at the plant site . . . ."

In Commonwealth of Virginia v. Community Motor Bus Co., 214 Va. 155, 198 S.E.2d

619 (1973), the Virginia Supreme Court held that the use of the word "directly" in the

statute is intended to narrow the scope of the exemption. An exemption, therefore,

applies only when an item is indispensable to actual production and is primarily used

or consumed immediately in the actual production of products.

Keeping these statutory and regulatory provisions in mind, I will address the

contested issues raised in the Taxpayer's appeal.

Plastic Egg Tray Washer

The contract growers use reusable plastic flats to transport eggs from the farm to the

Taxpayer's processing facility. At the facility, the plastic flats run across a loader that

takes the eggs from the flat and puts them on a grading machine. The empty plastic

flats are placed in the egg tray washer for cleaning and disinfecting before they are

reused. The Taxpayer maintains that the plastic flats must be cleaned and

disinfected to ensure there are no disease contamination issues between farms. As

such, the Taxpayer contends that the plastic egg tray washer is essential to the


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process of grading eggs and qualifies for the processing exemption.

The plastic egg tray washer is used in a general maintenance activity to clean and

disinfect the plastic flats used to transport eggs from the contract farms and hen

houses to the processing facility. Therefore, the plastic egg tray washer is not used

directly in the manufacturing process and is taxable.

Honey Wagon

The cleaning of the eggs during the grading process produces a large amount of

waste water that is captured in underground tanks. The honey wagon is a trailer with

a 1200 gallon tank that is used to collect the wastewater from the underground tanks

and spreads it on the Taxpayer's farm land as fertilizer. The Taxpayer claims that the

honey wagon is an essential part of the grading process because it could not

process eggs without disposing of the waste water from the process. Therefore, the

Taxpayer maintains that the honey wagon is exempt of the tax.

While the honey wagon may be essential to the Taxpayer's processing operation; it is

not an integral or immediate part of the production process of the eggs. Rather, the

honey wagon is used to dispose of waste liquid collected from the chicken coops

where the chickens are housed. Based on the processing exemption statute and

regulation, I find that the honey wagon does not qualify for the industrial processing

exemption.

Pit Fans

The pit fans are located in pits under the chicken houses and are used to dry the

droppings created by the birds. Once the chicken manure is dry, it is scooped out

and sold to local farmers as fertilizer. The Taxpayer believes the handling of the

manure, which is a by-product of the laying process, is an essential part of getting

the product to market. Therefore, the Taxpayer believes that the pit fans are exempt

of the tax.

I cannot agree that the pit fans qualify for the industrial processing exemption. The pitfans are not used at the plant site, nor are they used directly in the industrial

processing of eggs for sale. Rather, the pit fans are used by the Taxpayer to dry

chicken manure that is expended during the egg laying process. While the pit fans

are essential to the operation of the business, they do not qualify for the industrial

processing exemption.

Agricultural Exemption


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Virginia Code 58.1-609.2 1 provides an exemption for:

Commercial feeds; seeds; plants; fertilizers; liming materials; breeding and

other livestock; semen; breeding fees; baby chicks; turkey poults; rabbits;

quail; llamas; bees; agricultural chemicals; fuel for drying or curing crops;

baler twine; containers for fruit and vegetables; farm machinery; medicines

and drugs sold to a veterinarian provided they are used or consumed

directly in the care, medication, and treatment of agricultural productionanimals or for resale to a farmer for direct use in producing an agricultural

product for market; tangible personal property, except for structural

construction materials to be affixed to real property owned or leased by a

farmer, necessary for use in agricultural production for market and sold to

or purchased by a farmer or contractor; and agricultural supplies provided

the same are sold to and purchased by farmers for use in agricultural

production, which also includes beekeeping and fish, quail, rabbit and

worm farming for market.

The intent of the above statute is to provide a sales and use tax exemption to a

farmer who produces an agricultural product to be sold on the open market.

Agriculture generally involves the cultivation of soil, production of crops, and raising

of livestock. Although the Taxpayer does not cite the agricultural exemption, it has

application to the pit fan purchases.

The Taxpayer's egg laying operation qualifies as an operation that produces an

agricultural product for market. The pit fans appear to be a part of that operation.

Because the waste must be removed from the chicken houses for purposes of

sanitation and the health of the chickens, the pit fans are part of the drying of the

waste for subsequent removal. Accordingly, I find that the pit fans are eligible for the

agricultural exemption.

CONCLUSION

The assessment is correct as issued with the exception of the portion related to the

pit fans. I have authorized the removal of these fans from the Department's

assessment. I will allow for payment of the balance of the assessment, excluding the

pit fans, totaling *****. This amount must be paid within 30 days from the date of this

letter to avoid the accrual of additional interest and the assessment of a 20%

amnesty penalty on amnesty-eligible periods (taxable periods ending on or before

May 31, 2009). Payment should be sent to: Virginia Department of Taxation, Appeals

and Rulings Division, P. O. Box 27203, Richmond, Virginia 23261-7203, Attention:


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*****.

The Code of Virginia sections, regulation and other reference documents cited are

available on-line at www.tax.virginia.gov in the Tax Policy Library section of the

Department's web site. If you have any questions about this determination, you may

contact ***** at *****.

Sincerely,

Craig M. Burns

Tax Commissioner

AR/1-4719429192.T

rulings of the tax commissioner -- 11-175

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