Were sealed, refrigerated meals sold through a weekly plan exempt when customers reheated them later?

Plain-English summary

Florida exempted pre-assembled meals sold through a weekly meal plan because they were food products not sold for immediate consumption.

The meals were prepared and sealed at a separate non-seating facility, labeled for each customer, refrigerated, and delivered or picked up in insulated bags with ice packs and reheating instructions. They generally required heating and did not include eating utensils.

Some customers picked up the original sealed meals at a second facility that had seating, but no meal-plan transaction occurred there and the taxpayer kept separate payment systems and sales records. Those facts preserved the exempt treatment.

What this means for you

Meal-prep businesses

Packaging, refrigeration, reheating instructions, lack of utensils, and the customer's expected consumption timing can distinguish exempt food from taxable immediate-consumption meals.

Businesses with multiple facilities

Keep separate records when exempt meal-plan sales use a pickup point at a restaurant or other taxable food-service location.

Common questions

Were the weekly meals taxable? No.

Did pickup at the seating facility change the result? No, because the meals stayed sealed and the sales were separately recorded.

Were the meals intended for immediate consumption? No.

Citations and references

• Fla. Stat. Sec. 212.08(1)
• Fla. Stat. Sec. 212.08(1)(d)2.
• Fla. Admin. Code R. 12A-1.0115(2)(d)

Source

• Landing page: Florida Tax Law Library
• Advisement: TAA 20A-001

Original ruling text

QUESTION: Whether sales of pre-assembled meals (not sold for immediate
consumption) as part of a weekly meal plan are subject to sales tax.
ANSWER: Since the pre-assembled meals are not sold for immediate consumption, and
Taxpayer is not operating as a restaurant, the meals are exempt from sales tax as a food
product.

February 12, 2020

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Technical Assistance Advisement (TAA)
TAA #: 20A-001
Taxpayer Name: XXXXXXXXXX
FEIN Number: XXXXXXXXXX
Sales & Use Tax – Restaurants, Bakeries, Caterers
Section 212.08, Florida Statutes (F.S.)
Rule 12A-1.011, and 12A-1.0115, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.)

Dear Mr. XXXXXXXXXX:
This is in response to your letter dated October 9, 2019, requesting this Department’s
issuance of a Technical Assistance Advisement (“TAA”) pursuant to s. 213.22, F.S., and
Chapter 12-11, Florida Administrative Code (Fla. Admin. Code) regarding the taxability
of pre-assembled meals. Your request has been carefully examined, and the
Department finds it to be in compliance with the requisite criteria set forth in Chapter 1211, Fla. Admin. Code. This response to your request constitutes a TAA and is issued to
you under the authority of s. 213.22, F.S.
As provided in s. 213.22(1), F.S., a technical assistance advisement may be issued to a
taxpayer who requests an advisement relating to the exemptions in s. 212.08(1) or (2),
F.S., at any time. “Technical assistance advisements shall have no precedential value

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February 12, 2020
Florida Department of Revenue
Page 2

except to the taxpayer who requests the advisement and then only for the specific
transaction addressed in the technical assistance advisement, unless specifically stated
otherwise in the advisement.”
REQUESTED RULING
Whether sales of pre-assembled meals, packaged in a sealed container and delivered
to customers in a refrigerated bag or picked up by the customer, are subject to sales
tax.

FACTS
As provided in your letter, Taxpayer operates two facilities at separate locations. One
facility is a kitchen processing center (Facility One) where meals and snacks are
prepared and packaged, and the other is a facility licensed as a permanent food service
with seating (Facility Two). Facility One is licensed as a non-seating permanent food
service and does not provide seating or other accommodations that would allow
customers to consume food on the premises.
Taxpayer sells various individually packaged meals as part of a weekly meal plan. The
pre-assembled meals are prepared and packaged at Facility One. Each meal or snack
is prepared and individually packaged with a label displaying the customer’s name.
Once the items are packaged, they either remain at Facility One for pickup by the
customer or are delivered to the customer’s home, or delivered to Facility Two for
customer pickup. The meals and snacks are provided to the customer in an insulated
bag with ice packs and reheating instructions. Each insulated bag contains the meals
and snacks for two to three days of that week’s meal plan. The meals require
refrigeration, do not include eating utensils, are intended for the customer to heat prior
to eating, and are not sold for immediate consumption. The snacks, which may be
added to any meal plan, are merely smaller portions of the meals offered, and most of
the snacks are intended for the customer to heat prior to heating.
Regarding the meal pickup from Facility Two, Taxpayer states:
While customer[’]s may pick up their meals from the second facility, no
transactions occur within the facility, the sales records are maintained and
recorded on a separate payment system, and the meals are prepared offsite and provided to customer’s in the original container. Further,
Taxpayer’s sales records are maintained and recorded separately for each
facility by utilizing two separate payment systems. A customer may sign
up for a meal plan at a kiosk located in the second facility. The kiosk is
connected to Taxpayer’s website with the meal plan offerings and sales
records from the kiosk are maintained and recorded in the payment
system used for the meal plan sales.

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February 12, 2020
Florida Department of Revenue
Page 3

In addition to the charge for the meal plan, Taxpayer also charges a delivery fee that
can be waived if the customer chooses to pick up its meals at either of Taxpayer’s
facilities.
LAW
Pursuant to Section 212.05(1)(a), F.S., sales tax is imposed at the rate of 6 percent of
the sales price of each item or article of tangible personal property when sold at retail in
this state. As provided in Section 212.08(1), F.S., there are exempted from sales tax,
food products for human consumption. The term "food products" means edible
commodities, whether processed, cooked, raw, canned, or in any other form, which are
generally regarded as food and include coffee and coffee products and natural fruit and
vegetable juices.
The exemption does not apply to food cooked or prepared on or off the seller’s
premises and sold for immediate consumption,1 to meals for consumption on or off the
seller’s premises, or to food products cooked, prepared, or sold in or by restaurants,
lunch counters, cafeterias, hotels, taverns, or other like places of business. In
determining whether an item is sold for immediate consumption, there shall be
considered the customary consumption practices prevailing at the selling facility.
Section 212.08(1)(d)2., F.S.
As provided in Rule 12A-1.0115(2)(d), F.A.C., restaurants, lunch counters, cafeterias,
hotels, taverns, or other like places of business that also maintain a separate
department that includes groceries are not required to collect tax on tax-exempt sales of
food products, as provided in Rule 12A-1.011, F.A.C., when separate records are
maintained for the separate department; however, food products that are sold as
prepared food through a separate department are subject to tax.
CONCLUSION
Since the pre-assembled meals are prepared at Facility One separate from Facility Two,
are not sold for immediate consumption, and Taxpayer maintains a separate accounting
from the sales made at Facility Two, the pre-assemble meals are exempt from sales tax
as a food product.
This response constitutes a Technical Assistance Advisement under Section 213.22,
Fla. Stat., which is binding on the Department only under the facts and circumstances
described in the request for this advice, as specified in Section 213.22, Fla. Stat. Our
response is predicated on those facts and the specific situation summarized above.
You are advised that subsequent statutory or administrative rule changes, or judicial
1

The exemption for food products does apply to food products prepared off the premises and sold in the
original sealed container. See s. 212.08(1)(c)9., F.S.

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February 12, 2020
Florida Department of Revenue
Page 4

interpretations of the statutes or rules, upon which this advice is based, may subject
similar future transactions to a different treatment than expressed in this response.
You are further advised that this response, your request and related backup documents
are public records under Chapter 119, Fla. Stat., and are subject to disclosure to the
public under the conditions of Section 213.22, Fla. Stat. Confidential information must
be deleted before public disclosure. In an effort to protect confidentiality, we request
you provide the undersigned with an edited copy of your request for Technical
Assistance Advisement, the backup material and this response, deleting names,
addresses and any other details which might lead to identification of the taxpayer. Your
response should be received by the Department within 10 days of the date of this letter.
If you have any further questions with regard to this matter and wish to discuss them,
you may contact me directly at (850) 717-7202.
Sincerely,

Richard R. Parsons
Richard R. Parsons
Tax Law Specialist
Technical Assistance & Dispute Resolution
(850) 717-7202

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