- Dead people in Ohio get a tax break because applying makeup in a mortuary is tax-free, while applying makeup in a beauty salon is subject to sales tax.
- In Kentucky, stud fees for breeding a stallion to a mare is subject to sales tax. Taxes collected are distributed into three funds administered by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority.
- In Connecticut, the sale of a pumpkin in its “natural grown state” is exempt from sales tax because it is considered a food product. However, if the pumpkin is sold after being painted, its “primary purpose” becomes decoration and is subject to sales tax.
- On a similar note, in Pennsylvania pumpkins which are used for food are exempt, while pumpkins which are to be used for decoration are taxable.
- In Washington, crushed, shaved or cubed ice is not taxable, but blocks of ice are.
- Antacids are exempt in Connecticut, but are taxable once one crosses the border into Massachusetts.
- In California, fresh fruit is exempt from sales tax, but when purchased through a vending machine is taxable on 33 percent of the price.
- In Massachusetts a clothing item costing up to $175 is exempt from sales tax. However, if the price exceeds $175, the increment over that amount will be subject to the 6.25% state sales tax.
- In New York, fees charged to board a racehorse (feeding, grooming, walking, riding) are exempt from sales tax – provided the horse is in fact a racehorse being trained by the taxpayer to compete in a race meet conducted pursuant to the racing, pari-mutuel waging and breeding law, or similar law of another state. If the horse being boarded is not a racehorse, then the fees for boarding get hit with the New York sales tax.
- In Alabama, the state government imposes a 10-cent tax on the purchase of a deck of playing cards that contains no more than 54 cards.
- In the United Kingdom, gingerbread men with two chocolate dots for eyes are zero-rated, but if they have other chocolate decorations (such as a chocolate bow tie for example) they will be standard-rated at 20%.
- Slovakia has a National VAT lottery under which consumers over the age of 18 who purchase goods at selected retailers are entered into a state lottery. Receipts can be converted into lottery entries via internet or text message. Each validly registered receipt has two chances to win up to € 10,000.00, and the Slovak income tax does not apply to the winnings. The lottery aims to encourage customers to ask for receipts which is expected to reduce VAT evasion.
- Spain has issued a consumption tax on sunlight in order to protect their government owned monopoly on energy. People who collect sunlight for energy (solar panels and such) without paying tax will be fined up to € 30m.
- Based on a recent letter ruling in New Jersey, the taxpayer’s charges for dog sitting services (aka doggie day-care) that take place at the client’s home are considered an exempt personal service transaction. However, the taxpayer must charge tax when such services occur at the taxpayer’s facility because the taxpayer is charging for the storage/safekeeping of the dog.
- A South Carolina Administrative Law Court judge upheld a sales and use tax assessment against a business that rents portable toilets after finding that the true object of the transactions was the rental of the toilets and not the service of disposing human waste.
