How did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 93-8 tax basic horse and stock trailers compared with trailers containing a camper package?

Plain-English summary

South Carolina Revenue Ruling 93-8 applied the ordinary historical 5% sales or use tax to basic horse and stock trailers, trailers with only a tack or dressing room, and gooseneck trailers without a camper package. These trailers could be pulled by vehicles other than truck tractors, so they did not qualify for the truck-tractor trailer cap.

A horse or stock trailer qualified as a recreational vehicle only when it was primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, or travel purposes. A full camper package could include sleeping facilities, a kitchen, shower, tanks, and electrical hookup. A qualifying camper-package trailer was taxed at the lesser of 5% or the then-applicable $300 maximum.

Common questions

Q: Did a tack room or dressing room trigger the maximum tax? No. Those trailers remained subject to the full historical rate.

Q: Did every gooseneck trailer qualify? No. A gooseneck without a camper package was fully taxed.

Q: What feature controlled recreational-vehicle treatment? The trailer had to be primarily designed to serve as temporary living quarters for recreation, camping, or travel.

Citations and references

• S.C. Code Ann. § 12-36-2110 (1992 Supp.) — historical maximum tax
• S.C. Code Ann. §§ 12-36-910(A) and 12-36-1310(A) (1992 Supp.) — sales and use tax
• S.C. Code Ann. § 12-36-100 (1992 Supp.) — sale and purchase
• South Carolina Private Letter Ruling 89-10 and Commission Decision 88-192 — authorities discussed in the ruling

Subject

Sales of Horse Trailers and Stock Trailers

Source

• Landing page: https://dor.sc.gov/advisory-opinion-search
• Original PDF: https://dor.sc.gov/sites/dor/files/policies/RR93-8.pdf

Original ruling text

SC REVENUE RULING #93-8

SUBJECT:

Sales of Horse Trailers and Stock Trailers
(Sales and Use Tax)

TAX ANALYST:

Deana West

EFFECTIVE DATE: Applies to all periods open under statute.
SUPERSEDES:

All previous documents and any oral directives in conflict herewith.

REFERENCE:

S.C. Code Ann. Section 12-36-2110 (Supp. 1992)

AUTHORITY:

S.C. Code Ann. Section 12-4-320 (Supp. 1992)
SC Revenue Procedure #87-3

SCOPE:

A Revenue Ruling is the Commission's official interpretation of how tax law
is to be applied to a specific set of facts. A Revenue Ruling is public
information and remains a permanent document until superseded by a
Regulation or is rescinded by a subsequent Revenue Ruling.

Question:
What amount of sales and use tax should be imposed upon sales of horse trailers and stock trailers?
Facts:
Questions have arisen concerning the application of sales tax and use tax on sales of horse trailers
and stock trailers.
Horse and stock trailers can be purchased with a variety of options. Examples of the types of horse
and stock trailers available include:
1.
2.
3.
4.

basic trailers with no options (see exhibit 1),
trailers with a tack room and/or dressing room (see exhibit 2),
gooseneck trailers without a camper package (see exhibit 3),
trailers with a camper package (see exhibit 4).

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The full camper packages can be custom built and include such options as a shower, vanity, holding
tank, water tank, electrical hook-up, kitchen and beds.
The purpose of this document is to address the imposition of the 5% State sales and use tax or the
$300.00 maximum tax on sales of horse trailers and stock trailers.
Discussion:
Code Section 12-36-910(A) imposes a sales tax and reads, in part:
A sales tax, equal to five percent of the gross proceeds of sales is imposed upon every person
engaged or continuing within this State in the business of selling tangible personal property
at retail.
Code Section 12-36-1310(A) imposes a use tax and reads, in part:
A use tax is imposed on the storage, use, or other consumption in this State of tangible
personal property purchased at retail for storage, use, or other consumption in this State, at
the rate of five percent of the sales price of the property, regardless of whether the retailer is
or is not engaged in business in this State.
Therefore, for the sales or use taxes to apply there must be a retail sale or purchase of tangible
personal property.
Code Section 12-36-100 defines the terms "sale" and "purchase", in part, as:
...any transfer, exchange, or barter, conditional or otherwise, of tangible personal property
for a consideration...
Based on the above, the sales tax and use tax are transactional taxes imposed upon the privilege of
the business of selling at retail, or using, storing, or consuming tangible personal property in South
Carolina.
Code Section 12-36-2110(A), however, provides an exception to the five percent State tax rate. This
section establishes a maximum tax on the sale, use, storage, or consumption of certain items and
reads, in part:
The maximum tax imposed by this chapter is three hundred dollars for each sale...of each:

(5) trailer or semitrailer, pulled by a truck tractor...
(6) recreational vehicle, including tent campers, travel trailer, park model, park trailer, motor
home, and fifth wheel...

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In summary, Code Section 12-36-2110(A) establishes a maximum tax on trailers and semitrailers
capable of being pulled only by a truck tractor and also establishes a maximum tax on recreational
vehicles. See Private Letter Ruling #89-10 concerning sales of horse/cattle trailers and semitrailers
subject to the $300 cap.
Since a horse trailer or stock trailer is capable of being pulled by vehicles other than a truck tractor,
the maximum tax provided under Code Section 12-36-2110(A)(5) is not available for horse trailers
and stock trailers.
We must now consider whether horse trailers and stock trailers are recreational vehicles that are
subject to the $300.00 maximum tax under Code Section 12-36-2110(A)(6).
A definition of "recreational vehicles" in not provided in Title 12 of the South Carolina Code of
Laws. However, it is an accepted practice in South Carolina to resort to the dictionary to determine
the literal meaning of words used in statutes. For cases where this has been done, see Hay v. South
Carolina Tax Commission, 273 S.C. 269, 255 SE 2d 837 (1979); Etiwan Fertilizer Co. v. South
Carolina Tax Commission, 217 S.C. 484, 60 SE 2d 682 (1950).
The American Heritage Dictionary defines recreational vehicle as:
a vehicle, as a camper or a motor home, used for traveling and recreational activities
The American Heritage Dictionary defines camper as:
(a.) a compact, vanlike vehicle resembling an automobile-and-trailer combination, designed
to serve as a dwelling and used for camping or on long motor trips (b.) a portable shelter
resembling the top part of a trailer, made to be mounted on a pickup truck to form such a
vehicle
Furthermore, the following quote from 73 AmJur 2d, Statutes, Section 213, provides additional
guidance in the interpretation of statutory terms:
...the meaning of particular terms in a statute may be ascertained by reference to words
associated with them in the statute. It is also a familiar policy in the construction of a statute
to take into consideration the meaning naturally attaching to them from the context, and to
adopt that sense of the words which best harmonizes with the context. Thus, although words
and sentences, or parts of sentences, have no very definite signification in their ordinary use,
if a particular meaning and application appears from their use or connection in the statute,
that meaning and application must be accepted as proper and controlling.
In reviewing Code Section 12-36-2110(A)(6), the legislature did not specifically list horse trailers or
stock trailers as one of the items included in the term recreational vehicle. In looking at the items
listed - tent campers, travel trailers, park model, park trailer, motor home and fifth wheel - these
terms, as used in the recreational vehicle industry, indicate items that have sleeping accommodations
and are designed to serve as temporary living quarters.

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Finally, Commission Decision #88-192 provides guidance in determining what amount of sales and
use tax should be imposed on sales of horse trailers and stock trailers. In this decision, the
Commission considered whether pick-up trucks sold to military personnel were "automobiles" and
therefore exempt from sales tax. At the time of this decision, the statute provided that only sales of
"automobiles and motor bikes" to military personnel were exempt from the sales tax. The
Commission concluded that "a truck is primarily designed for carrying loads and not passengers and
thus is not within the plain meaning of the statute".
Based upon the above discussion, a recreational vehicle is one that is designed to serve as temporary
living quarters for recreational, camping or travel purposes. Accordingly, a horse trailer or stock
trailer qualifies as a recreational vehicle if it is primarily designed to serve as temporary living
quarters for recreational, camping or travel purposes.
Conclusion:
The proper State sales or use tax to be imposed upon sales of horse trailers and stock trailers are as
follows:

1. Basic trailers with no options are subject to tax at the rate of 5% of the gross proceeds from the
   sale. (See exhibit 1)
2. Trailers with a tack room and/or dressing room are subject to tax at the rate of 5% of the gross
   proceeds from the sale. (See exhibit 2)
3. Gooseneck trailers without a camper package are subject to tax at the rate of 5% of the gross
   proceeds from the sale. (See exhibit 3)
4. Trailers with a camper package are subject to tax at the lesser of 5% of the gross proceeds from
   the sale or $300. (See exhibit 4)
   SOUTH CAROLINA TAX COMMISSION

s/A. Crawford Clarkson Jr.
A. Crawford Clarkson, Jr., Chairman

s/T. R. McConnell
T. R. McConnell, Commissioner

s/James M. Waddell Jr.
James M. Waddell, Jr., Commissioner
Columbia, South Carolina
April 28
, 1993

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