Tax 11.15(1)(c)5. 5. “Fragile,” “Handle with Care,” or other shipping labels.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)6. 6. Paper food dividers used to separate food sections in a container for transfer to a customer.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)7. 7. Paper bags purchased by grocery stores, bakeries, or other retailers and used by their customers in carrying out their purchases.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)8. 8. Feed bags purchased by feed dealers who use the bags to transfer merchandise sold to their customers.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)9. 9. Bale ties sold to a hay owner and used to deliver hay to the owner’s customers.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)10. 10. Ice used by a commercial fisher inside a box of fish to preserve the fish during shipment to market.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)11. 11. LPG tanks used to transfer fuel to customers which are replaced each time the fuel is exhausted.

Tax 11.15(1)(c)12. 12. Packaging and shipping materials for use in packing, packaging, or shipping meat or meat products, regardless of whether these items are used to transfer merchandise to customers.

Tax 11.15 Note Note: See Tax 11.12 for information on farmer’s container exemption.

Tax 11.15(2) (2) Property not exempt under s. 77.54 (6) (am) 2., Stats. Sales of the following items are not within this exemption:

Tax 11.15(2)(a) (a) Wrapping equipment such as paper holders, tape dispensers, staplers, and string holders.

Tax 11.15(2)(b) (b) Coat hangers used on display racks in stores.

Tax 11.15(2)(c) (c) Shopping carts or baskets and similar equipment.

Tax 11.15(2)(d) (d) Computer produced gummed label mailing lists used to address envelopes. However, labels for envelopes used to transfer tangible personal property or items or property under s. 77.52 (1) (b) or (c), Stats., to customers are exempt.

Tax 11.15(2)(e) (e) Containers or other packaging and shipping materials used merely for storage or to transfer merchandise owned by a person from one location to another, such as bakery delivery carts and containers used in delivering bakery products to retailers, where the carts are not transferred by the bakery to the retailer.

Tax 11.15 Note Examples: 1) Wholesaler A’s truck driver delivers bakery products to Grocery Store B. The truck driver brings the bakery products into Grocery Store B on a cart, puts the bakery products from the cart onto Grocery Store B’s shelves and returns the cart to the truck and provides Grocery Store B with an invoice for the bakery products. The cart is not transferred to Grocery Store B (the bakery retailer), and is not an exempt container.

Tax 11.15 Note 2) Wholesaler C’s truck driver delivers bread to Grocery Store D. The truck driver brings the bread into Grocery Store D on a cart, and leaves the bread on the cart at Grocery Store D. The truck driver picks up the cart that was left with the last delivery. The truck driver provides Grocery Store D with an invoice for the bread. Grocery Store D’s employees stock its shelves as needed with the bread from the cart. The cart is transferred to Grocery Store D (the bakery retailer), and is an exempt container.

Tax 11.15(2)(f) (f) Lumber or other material used for bracing, blocking, skidding, or shoring items while in transit that is not transferred to the customer of the shipped items; and cardboard and paper used to line box cars.

Tax 11.15(2)(g) (g) Price tags and advertising matter used in connection with the sale of tangible personal property or items, property, or goods under s. 77.52 (1) (b), (c), or (d), Stats., including counter display cards used for advertising and display purposes.

Tax 11.15(2)(h) (h) Tanks on trucks used to deliver merchandise to customers.

Tax 11.15(2)(i) (i) Corrugated boxes and other containers and related packing materials purchased by movers for use in transporting a customer’s goods.

Tax 11.15(2)(j) (j) Bags, boxes, hangers, and other containers transferred to customers by laundries, dry cleaners, and other persons providing services.

Tax 11.15 Note Note: In a decision dated November 23, 1979 in the case of Leicht Transfer & Storage Co., Inc. vs. Wisconsin Department of Revenue the Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission held that corrugated boxes and related packing materials used by Leicht to transport a customer’s property from one location to another do not come within the exemption in s. 77.54 (6) (b), 2011 Stats. This decision was affirmed by the Dane County Circuit Court on May 19, 1980, by the Court of Appeals, District IV on May 26, 1981.

Tax 11.15(3) (3) Deposits on returnable containers.

Tax 11.15(3)(a) (a) Returnable container deposits received by a retailer at the time of the retail sale of tangible personal property or items or property under s. 77.52 (1) (b) or (c), Stats., such as soft drink bottles, beer bottles and containers, and refunds of the deposits may be excluded from the computation of the taxable sales price if they are excluded from the sales price on the retailer’s books of account.

Tax 11.15(3)(b) (b) If a retailer’s books of account include container deposits in the sales price and if refunds of the deposits are deducted from the sales price, the retailer shall use this method of reporting the taxable sales price on a sales tax return. Under this method, the sales price from the deposit is subject to the tax and the tax may be collected from the customer. However, when the deposit is refunded to the customer, the applicable sales tax shall also be refunded to the customer.

Tax 11.15(4) (4) Disposable items used by restaurants.

Tax 11.15(4)(a) (a) The sales price from sales to restaurants, cafeterias, caterers, nursing homes, or vending machine operators of disposable items, including paper and plastic cups, plates, butter chips, hamburger and frankfurter baskets or buckets, utensils, straws, placemats, napkins, doggie bags, wrapping materials, and toothpicks, transferred to customers for a valuable consideration by these persons as part of the sale of food, food products, and beverages to customers are not subject to the tax.

Tax 11.15(4)(b) (b) The sales price from the sale of disposable products to a restaurant that are transferred with candy, soft drinks, dietary supplements, and prepared foods furnished for no consideration by the restaurant to the restaurant’s own employees during the employee’s work hours is not subject to the tax.