Was piano tuning a taxable repair service under Louisiana sales and use tax law?

Plain-English summary

Piano tuning was a taxable repair service because it restored the instrument to proper pitch, temperament, and intended sound. The Department rejected treating tuning as a mere enhancement and said replacement of physical parts was not required for repair taxability.

The tuner had to collect sales tax on the entire repair charge, including separately stated service, materials, overhead, and profit.

What piano tuning did

The tuner adjusted each string's tension to change pitch, set the instrument to a standard such as concert pitch with A at 440 hertz, and established the twelve-note equal-temperament pattern governing the piano's tuning.

Damaged or worn parts could also be repaired, but the tax result did not depend on parts replacement.

Louisiana's taxable-repair rule

La. R.S. 47:301(14)(g)(i)(aa) taxed repairs to tangible personal property. The examples in the statute did not limit the rule to only the listed property, and LAC 61:I.4301.C included both repair and routine servicing of all kinds of tangible personal property.

Because “repair” was not statutorily defined, the ruling reviewed Louisiana cases distinguishing restoration from cleaning or enhancement.

Why tuning was restorative

In McNamara v. Stauffer Chemical, chemical treatment restoring spent acid to a usable state was a repair. The court used a broad definition covering mending, remedying, restoring, or renovating property to a sound condition.

By contrast, Intracoastal Pipe Service held that cleaning pipe without fixing or changing it was not repair, and South Central Bell v. Barthelemy held that software support and enhancement of already operable software was not repair.

Stowe-Woodward Company v. Lincoln Parish School Board treated restoring covers on manufacturing rolls as taxable repair because the work returned the rolls to proper intended function.

Piano tuning fit the restorative cases. A piano's primary purpose was producing desired sound, and tuning fixed the instrument so it performed as intended.

Taxable base and materials

The tuner collected tax on the gross repair charge. Separately stating services, materials, overhead, or profit did not remove those amounts from the taxable base.

La. R.S. 47:306(B)(3) allowed the tuner, when remitting tax, to deduct state advance sales taxes previously paid on materials sold and furnished to the customer as part of the repair.

What this means for you

Piano tuners

Treat tuning as taxable repair work under this ruling, not as a nontaxable artistic or adjustment service. Include the full customer charge in the tax base.

Instrument repair businesses

Restoring property to its intended function can be taxable even without replacing a part. Compare the work with mere cleaning or optional enhancement.

Customers

Separately itemized labor or tuning charges remained taxable under the ruling.

Common questions

Q: Was piano tuning taxable?

A: Yes.

Q: Did the tuner have to replace a part?

A: No. Restoring proper sound was enough.

Q: Could separately stated labor be excluded?

A: No. The gross repair charge included service, materials, overhead, and profit.

Q: Could the tuner recover advance tax paid on repair materials?

A: The ruling allowed a deduction for qualifying state advance sales tax under La. R.S. 47:306(B)(3).

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 47:301(14)(g)(i)(aa) — taxable repairs to tangible personal property
• La. R.S. 47:306(B)(3) — deduction for advance sales tax on furnished materials
• LAC 61:I.4301.C — repair and routine servicing regulation
• Parish of Jefferson v. Ekco-Glaco, 280 So. 2d 629 (La. App. 4th Cir. 1973) — repair examples not limiting
• McNamara v. Stauffer Chemical, 506 So. 2d 1252 — restorative-services analysis
• Intracoastal Pipe Service v. Assumption Parish Sales and Use Tax Department, 558 So. 2d 1296 — cleaning distinguished from repair
• South Central Bell v. Barthelemy, 643 So. 2d 1240 (La. 1994) — software enhancement distinguished from repair
• Stowe-Woodward Company v. Lincoln Parish School Board, 821 So. 2d 694 — restoration to intended function
• LAC 61:III.101.C — Revenue Ruling authority and reliance statement

Source

• Landing page: Louisiana Department of Revenue Policies
• Original PDF: LA Revenue Ruling 06-019

Original ruling text

Revenue Ruling
No. 06- 019
November 27, 2006
Sales and Use Tax
The Sales Tax Treatment of Piano Tuning
The purpose of this revenue ruling is to clarify the sales tax treatment of piano tuning.
Issue
Is the service of tuning a piano a taxable repair subject to Louisiana sales tax?
Facts
A Louisiana corporation is engaged in the service of piano tuning. Tuning involves
changing the pitch of each string by increasing or decreasing the tension of that string.
Tuning occurs by selecting the combination of pitches for the notes of the instrument
that, according to the taste and experience of the artist, allow the piano to sound its best
for its use. The process of tuning is a multi-stage process. The tuner begins by setting the
instrument to the pitch to which it is to be tuned. “Concert pitch” is accepted as the pitch
to which all musical instruments are tuned. In this case, the “A” note should be set to 440
hertz.
The tuner then performs the setting of the “temperament,” the twelve-note pattern that
governs the entire tuning of the piano. It is based on a mathematical formula dictating
that all the notes in the twelve-note pattern be evenly spaced apart from each other. This
“scale” has been worked out by musicians through the years, and has come to be known
as “equal temperament.” The tuner will adjust the tension of each string to perfect pitch.
The tuner may also repair any damaged parts of the piano if those parts are worn or
broken.
Law
Louisiana taxes sales of certain enumerated services. One of the enumerated taxable services is
the “furnishing of repairs to tangible personal property, including but not restricted to the repair
and servicing of automobiles and other vehicles, electrical and mechanical appliances and
equipment, watches, jewelry, refrigerators, radios, shoes, and office appliances and equipment,”
pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. §47:301(14)(g)(i)(aa). The illustration of repair services following the
language “the furnishing of repairs to tangible personal property” does not restrict or limit
taxable repair services to only those listed in the statute and applicable ordinances.1 The term
“repair” is not defined. The regulation on repairs to tangible personal property, LAC
61:I.4301.C. Sales of Services, (i), adds that “both repair and routine servicing of all kinds of
tangible personal property are included as taxable services.”

1

Parish of Jefferson v. Ekco-Glaco, 280 so.2d 629 (La. App. 4th Cir. 1973).

Revenue Ruling No. 06-019
Page 2 of 3

Louisiana case law has a series of cases addressing the extent to which servicing of tangible
personal property rises to the level of a taxable “repair.” The first case addressing the definition
of “repair” was McNamara v. Stauffer Chemical, 506 So. 2d. 1252. In Stauffer Chemical, the
chemical treatment process of regenerating or restoring spent sulfuric acid was found to be a
repair service because the process restored the acid to a sound and usable state.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals looked to the definition of “repair” in Black’s Law
Dictionary, which defined it as follows: “[t]o mend, remedy, restore, renovate. To restore to a
sound or good state after decay, injury, dilapidation, or partial destruction.” In addition, the court
cited the commentary following the definition which stated: “[t]he word ‘repair’ contemplates an
existing structure or thing which has become imperfect, and means to supply in the original
existing structure that which is lost or destroyed, and thereby restore it to the condition in which
it originally existed, or as near as may be.”
In its ruling, the court reasoned, “it is our opinion it was well within the purpose and objective of
the legislature for the word ‘repair’ to be given a general and liberal meaning, and not to be
construed in a highly limited sense, and that such word clearly encompasses the ‘restoration of
tangible personal property’ in a process, or service which ‘restores’ the thing (spent sulfuric acid)
to the condition in which it originally existed (usable sulfuric acid).”
In Intracoastal Pipe Service v. Assumption Parish Sales and Use Tax Dept., 558 So.2d 1296,
1990 La. App. LEXIS 358, 108 Oil & Gas Rep. 388, oilfield pipe cleaning was found not to
constitute a taxable repair service under La. Rev. Stat. § 47: 301(14) (g) (i) or the parish
ordinance, which tracked the language of the state statute. The testimony was undisputed that the
cleaning services in question did not “fix” anything broken, or change in any way the substance
of the tubing. The court looked to the common usage of the term repair as “to restore by
replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken,” and held that the popular use of the
word repair did not include the cleaning processes performed by the taxpayer.
In South Central Bell v. Barthelemy, 94-0499(La. 10/17/94), 643 So.2d 1240, maintenance
services consisting of technical support, updating, enhancing, and reformatting software were not
found to be “repair services” for tax purposes. In that case, the Supreme Court reasoned that the
services provided were not to “fix” broken software but to enhance already operable software
and make it perform as efficiently as possible.
In Stowe-Woodward Company v. Lincoln Parish School Board, 821 So.2d 694, the Second
Circuit Court of Appeal held that the recovering of large metal rolls used in the manufacturing of
paper was a taxable repair. Although the rolls could be used without the covers, use of the
uncovered rolls would be impracticable in most applications as the rolls would not function
properly or as designed. The Court distinguished the case from South Central Bell, supra, in that
re-covering was more than a mere enhancement as it actually restores the roll to a good or sound
condition or state allowing it to perform its intended function in the process for which it is used.

Revenue Ruling No. 06-019
Page 3 of 3

Analysis
Tuning services are performed in order to “restore” the piano to the correct pitch and
temperament as determined either by the standards of the piano owner or the tuner. In all of the
cases on point, courts have adopted the view that “restorative” services are properly taxable as
repairs. Tuning is more than a “mere enhancement” to the piano because the primary purpose
one has a piano is to produce a desired sound. If an owner did not wish to maintain the desired
sound quality of the piano, he would not have the piano tuned. Tuning is actually “fixing” the
piano so that it performs as intended. It is not necessary that parts actually be replaced for the
tuning to be a taxable repair, although any situation in which the replacement of parts is
necessary also constitutes a taxable repair.
With taxable repair services of this nature, the tuner must collect sales tax on the gross amount
charged for the repair service, including separately stated amounts for services, materials,
overhead, and profit. The customer is required to pay the tax to the tuner who should then report
the sale of the repair service on his sales tax return. When remitting the tax, the tuner is
authorized by La. Rev. Stat. §47:306(B)(3) to deduct the state advance sales taxes that he paid on
materials sold to and furnished to customers as part of the repair service.
Ruling
Piano tuning is a taxable repair since tuning is necessary to restore a piano to proper working
order.

Cynthia Bridges
Secretary
By: Leslie C. Strahan
Attorney
Policy Services Division

A Revenue Ruling is written to provide guidance to the public and to Department of Revenue employees.
It is issued under Section 61:III.101.C of the Louisiana Administrative Code to apply principles of law to a
specific set of facts. A Revenue Ruling does not have the force and effect of law and is not binding on the
public. It is a statement of the department's position and is binding on the department until superseded or
modified by a subsequent change in statute, regulation, declaratory ruling, or court decision.