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Ezel / Tax Rulings / VA
VA P.D. 13-154 Retail Sales and Use Tax 2013-08-06

Did cold deli trays and party platters packaged with lids qualify for Virginia's reduced food-tax rate?

Short answer: Yes. Virginia Tax Bulletins 05-7 and 99-11 treated cold deli trays and party platters packaged in containers with lids or tops as food for home consumption, whether sold in single or multiple serving sizes. Because the franchise only prepared, packaged, sold, and optionally delivered the food and did not provide catering services, the historical 2.5% reduced rate applied and the assessment was abated in full.

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This page answers the general question as of 2013. Ezel answers yours, under current Virginia tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 2013
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 Virginia Tax Commissioner determination on one retailer's November 2009-July 2012 sales of prepackaged deli trays and party platters. The official page metadata lists August 5, while the ruling body is dated August 6; this page uses the document's own date. The 2.5% and 5% rates are historical, and current food-tax rates or catering rules may differ. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice.
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.
View original ruling (PDF)

Plain-English summary

Virginia ruled that the retailer's lidded cold deli trays and party platters qualified for the historical reduced food-tax rate and abated the assessment in full. The products were ordered from a menu, packaged in containers with lids or tops, and either picked up or delivered.

The audit had treated them as catered food subject to the general 5% rate instead of the 2.5% reduced rate. Virginia Tax Bulletins 05-7 and 99-11 specifically treated cold deli trays and party platters packaged for home consumption as reduced-rate food in single or multiple serving sizes.

The retailer did not provide catering services. That fact, together with the packaging, controlled the result.

What this means for you

  • Product packaging and whether services accompany the food can change the tax rate.
  • Lidded cold trays sold for home consumption were treated differently from catered food in this historical ruling.
  • Pickup versus delivery did not change the result on the stated facts.
  • Confirm current food rates and Department guidance before applying the historical percentages.

Common questions

Q: Did calling the menu a catering menu make the food catered?
A: No. The retailer did not actually provide catering services.

Q: Did multiple-serving platters qualify?
A: Yes. The cited bulletins covered single and multiple serving sizes packaged for home consumption.

Q: What happened to the assessment?
A: It was abated in full.

Citations and references

  • Virginia Tax Bulletins 05-7 and 99-11.

Subject

Foods eligible for the reduced rate party platters packaged in containers affixed with lids or tops

Source

Original ruling text

August 6, 2013

Re: § 58.1-1821 Application: Retail Sales and Use Tax

Dear *:

This will reply to your letter in which you seek correction of the retail sales and use tax assessment issued to * (the "Taxpayer") for the period November 2009 through July 2012. I apologize for the delay in responding to your appeal.

FACTS

The Taxpayer is a retail food franchise that sells specialty meats. In addition, the Taxpayer sells cold deli trays and party platters for business and social events. The prepackaged cold deli trays and party platters are ordered from the Taxpayer's "catering" menu. The cold deli trays and party platters are packaged in containers affixed with lids or tops. Customers may pick up the orders or have the Taxpayer deliver the prepackaged food.

During the audit, the Taxpayer prepared, packaged and sold cold deli trays and party platters and charged the 2.5% reduced sales tax rate. The auditor treated the sale of the prepackaged cold deli trays and party platters as the sale of catered food subject to the 5% retail sales tax. The auditor held the Taxpayer liable for the difference between the reduced sales tax rate and the general sales tax rate. The Taxpayer disagrees with the assessment and cites Virginia Tax Bulletins (VTB) 05-7 (5/31/05) and 99-11 (10/1/99) to support its position.

DETERMINATION

VTB 05-7 and VTB 99-11 specifically provide that cold deli trays and party platters packaged in containers affixed with lids or tops are foods eligible for the reduced rate when sold in single or multiple serving sizes and packaged for home consumption.

Based upon the tax bulletins and the fact that the Taxpayer does not provide catering services, I find that the sales at issue qualify for the reduced sales tax rate. The assessment represents the tax and interest assessed on the contested deli trays and party platters. Accordingly, the assessment will be abated in full.

The tax bulletins cited are available on-line at www.tax.virginia.gov in the Laws, Rules and Decisions section of the Department's web site. If you have any questions

about this determination, you may contact * in the Department's Office of Tax Policy, Appeals and Rulings, at ***.

Sincerely,

Craig M. Burns

Tax Commissioner

AR/1-5221308733.T

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