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Ezel / Tax Rulings / CT
CT Ruling 90-63 Sales and Use Taxes 1990-08-15

Were farm stands and farmers' markets treated as sellers of taxable meals, and which products remained taxable?

Short answer: Traditional farm stands and farmers' markets were not sellers of meals under Bulletin No. 17, so farm-origin eggs, cider, seasonal fresh produce, honey, maple syrup, milk, and dairy products were not taxed. Seasonal flowers, horticultural and foliage plants, Christmas trees, and wreaths remained taxable tangible personal property. A stand selling a broad mix of non-farm food, meats, and common household goods could become a convenience store and therefore a seller of meals, based on its specific facts.

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This page answers the general question as of 1990. Ezel answers yours, under current Connecticut tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1990
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 an official Ruling of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS), typically issued to a specific taxpayer in response to that taxpayer's request and based on the specific facts presented and the Connecticut tax law in effect when it was issued. DRS may later declare a Ruling obsolete or supersede it by a subsequent Ruling, Policy Statement, or Announcement, so a taxpayer with different facts should not assume it still applies. Taxpayer-identifying details are redacted. Connecticut imposes its sales and use tax solely at the state level: there are no local or municipal sales taxes. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice. Consult a licensed Connecticut tax professional about your specific situation.
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 as a PDF) is the authoritative source for any reliance.
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Plain-English summary

Traditional farm stands, roadside stands, farm markets, and farmers' markets were not treated as "sellers of meals" under DRS Bulletin No. 17. Their sales of farm-origin eggs, cider, seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, honey, maple syrup, milk, and dairy products were not subject to sales tax.

The ruling separated those products from taxable tangible property such as seasonal flowers, horticultural and foliage plants, Christmas trees, and wreaths.

A farm stand could also cross into convenience-store status. Selling a broad variety of non-farm food, meats, and common household products would clearly support that classification, making the operation a seller of meals. DRS said it would examine each operation individually.

What this means for you

The product mix matters. A traditional agricultural stand received different treatment from a store using a farm setting to sell a general convenience-store assortment.

Common questions

Were eggs and fresh produce taxable meals? No under the ruling.

Were flowers and Christmas trees exempt? No. They were taxable tangible personal property.

When could a stand become a convenience store? When it expanded into non-farm foods, meats, and common household goods, subject to case-by-case review.

Citations and references

  • DRS Bulletin No. 17, "Taxability of Meals," applied by the ruling.

Source

Original ruling text

Ruling 90-63, Meals

Ruling 90-63

Meals

ISSUE:

Whether farm stands and farmers' markets are treated as "sellers of meals" under Bulletin No. 17 entitled "Taxability of Meals" and therefore, required to collect sales tax on their sales.

RULING:

Farm stands, roadside stands, farm markets and farmers' markets are not considered to be "sellers of meals" as set forth in Bulletin No. 17. As a result, the sale of farm originated products at such stands and markets, including eggs, cider, fresh fruits and vegetables in season, honey , maple syrup, and milk and dairy products are not subject to sales tax.

However, the sale of specialty items, such as seasonal flowers, horticultural plants, foliage plants and Christmas trees and wreaths are subject to sales tax because they are sales of tangible personal property.

When farm stands expand their operations to include a wide variety of products for sale to consumers, they would be operating as a "convenience store" and therefore, would be a seller of meals under Bulletin No. 17. While the Department would look at each operation on a case-by-case basis, the sale of non-farm originated food products, meats, and commonly-used household products would clearly establish an operation as a convenience store.

James F. Meehan

Commissioner

August 15, 1990

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