Should pumpkins be taxed as food or decoration?

As we’ll see, a pumpkin is not necessarily a pumpkin is not always a pumpkin.

UNPREPARED FOOD

Take that cute, round sugar pumpkin sold in your grocery store: that’ll be sold and taxed as unprepared food. (Sugar pumpkins are great for pie making!) Don’t feel up to making your own pie from Charlie Brown’s pumpkin patch? A frozen pumpkin pie will be also be taxed as unprepared food.

PREPARED FOOD

Taxability differs, however, for a piece of pumpkin pie intended for eating on the premises — that’ll be taxed as prepared food.

DECORATION (GENERAL)

What if that same lil’ sugar pumpkin is painted?

Does it have googly eyes, hair, or a painted silly smile? Now it’s a decoration. Same with those bumpy, pimply, blobby, goony-balloon-y gourds — decorations. The Great Pumpkin outside the grocery store or farm stand is for carving or display. Also decoration. (They are awful for pie making.)

The little sugar pumpkin for baking is taxed as food. What if that same lil’ sugar pumpkin is painted? Does it have googly eyes, hair, or a painted silly smile? Now it’s a decoration.

SIMPLE SOLUTIONS

But, hey, don’t let all these spooky Halloween sales tax rules scare you.

TaxCloud instantly and accurately calculates the correct tax for any item sold in any jurisdiction in any state — just select the appropriate Taxability Information Code (TIC) and we’ll do the rest.

Here are some possible pumpkin TIC classifications.

• 40030: Food and Food Ingredients (e.g., pumpkins grown for eating; frozen pumpkin pie; canned pumpkin)
• 41020: Bulk Food (e.g., pumpkins grown for eating, ​​​​​​sold by weight)
• 90012: Unprepared Food (e.g., pumpkins grown for eating, intended to be eaten at home)
• 41000: Prepared food (e.g., pumpkin pie by the slice, sold with utensils to be eaten on the premises)
• 00000: General Goods (e.g., pumpkins of any kind sold as decoration)

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TaxCloud:
Patrick Riley
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priley@taxcloud.com