Ohio Predominant Use Study

Ohio Predominant Use Study for natural gas sales tax exemption
Call 844-767-0037 for an Ohio Predominant Use Study.

As of 10/02/19, the Ohio Department of taxation has confirmed Predominant Use Studies are not needed for the utility sales tax exemption since no sales taxes are collected on utilities.  The utility sales tax exemptions are automatic in Ohio with no filing required. Contact us with any questions.

See below to view the first six pages of Ohio 5703-9-21 Sales and use tax manufacturing code (as of 02/21/19) pertaining to the predominant use studies required for the electricity and natural gas sales tax exemptions in Ohio or contact us for a no-obligation consultation and quote.

(A) For purposes of this rule, all purchases of tangible personal property are taxable, except those in which the purpose of the consumer is to incorporate the thing transferred as a material or a part into tangible personal property to be produced for sale by manufacturing, assembling, processing, or refining or to use the thing transferred, as described in section 5739.011 of the Revised Code and this rule, primarily in a manufacturing operation to produce tangible personal property for sale.

This means that a person who buys tangible personal property and will make it a part or constituent of something that he is being manufacturingmanufactured for sale, or buys something that is used in a manufacturing operation, does not have to pay sales or use tax on the thing purchased.

Tangible personal property purchased by a manufacturer as a component or constituent of a product to be manufactured for sale is excepted from sales and use tax. The purchase of all such tangible personal property is not taxable, even though a portion will be lost or removed as waste or for testing. The manufacturer must pay use tax on the price, as defined in division (G) of section 5741.01 of the Revised Code, of any completed product not sold and stored or used by the manufacturer in a taxable manner, except such product that is consumed in testing or is disposed of because it is defective or otherwise unsalable.

(B)

(1) “Manufacturing operation” means a process in which materials are changed, converted, or transformed into a different state or form from which they previously existed and includes refining materials, assembling parts, and preparing raw materials and parts by mixing, measuring, blending or otherwise committing such materials or parts to the manufacturing process. “Manufacturing operation” does not include packaging.

Tangible personal property purchased by a manufacturer for use in packaging is taxable unless exempted pursuant to division (B)(15) of section 5739.02 of the Revised Code.

Any business whose sole activity is a process that does not include conversion or alteration of tangible personal property into a different state or form is not a manufacturer and is not covered by this rule.

The manufacturing operation begins when the raw materials or parts are committed to the manufacturing process. If the raw materials or parts are stored after being received at the manufacturing facility, the raw materials or parts are not committed until after they are removed from such initial storage. The point of commitment is where the materials handling from such initial storage has ceased or the point where the materials or parts have been mixed, measured, blended, heated, cleaned, or otherwise treated or prepared for the manufacturing process, whichever first occurs. If the raw materials or parts are not stored, they are committed at the point where materials handling from the place of receipt ceases or where they are mixed, measured, blended, heated, cleaned, or otherwise treated or prepared for the manufacturing process, whichever first occurs. The commitment of the materials or
parts need not be irrevocable, but they must have reached the point, after materials handling from initial storage has ceased, where they normally will be utilized within a short period of time. The point of commitment frequently will be different for particular materials and parts, since they are introduced at different times in the manufacturing operation.

Things used in any activity, including movement or storage of the materials or parts before they are committed are taxable.

See examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 40, 61, 63, and 64.

(2) “Refining” means removing or separating a desirable product from raw or contaminated materials by distillation or physical, mechanical, or chemical processes.

This definition of “refining” describes a type of manufacturing process and is not limited to the petroleum industry. A business whose sole activity is sorting material by size or other physical characteristic, or washing dirt or other contaminates from the surface of parts or other materials is not engaged in refining.

See examples 4, 5, and 63.

(3) “Assembly” and “assembling” mean attaching or fitting together parts to form a product, but do not include packaging a product.

Assembly generally refers to the process whereby previously manufactured parts or components are brought together and attached to create a complete, or more complete, item.

See example 15.

(4) “Manufacturer” means a person who is engaged in manufacturing, processing, assembling, or refining a product for sale and, solely for the purposes of division (B)(12) of section 5739.011, a person who meets all the qualifications of that division.

(5) “Manufacturing facility” means a single location where a manufacturing operation is conducted, including locations consisting of one or more buildings or structures in a contiguous area owned or controlled by the manufacturer.

The manufacturer does not have to own or lease the property, but must have the legal right to use it. If the property under the control of the manufacturer is not contiguous, it is not a single manufacturing facility.

See examples 21, 23, and 57.

(6) “Materials handling” means the movement of the product being or to be manufactured, during which movement of the product is not undergoing any substantial change or alteration in its state or form.

(7) “Testing” means a process or procedure to identify the properties or assure the quality of a material or part.

(8) “Completed product” means a manufactured item that is in the form and condition as it will be sold by the manufacturer. An item is completed when all processes that change or alter its state or form or enhance its value are finished, even though the item subsequently will be tested to ensure its quality or be packaged for storage or shipment.

A product may be completed, as far as a particular manufacturer is concerned, even though it is not in the form in which it will be sold to the ultimate consumer because it will be further manufactured by another manufacturer. If the product will be further manufactured by the same manufacturer at a different manufacturing facility, the product is still in-process and is not completed.

See examples 8, 13, and 64.

(9) “Continuous manufacturing operation” means the process in which raw materials or components are moved through the steps whereby manufacturing occurs. Materials handling of raw materials or parts from the point of receipt or pre-production storage or of a completed product, to or from storage, to or from packaging, or to the place from which the completed product will be shipped, is not a part of a continuous manufacturing operation.

The continuous manufacturing operation begins at the point where the raw materials or parts are committed and ends at the point where the product is completed.

There may be several continuous manufacturing operations at the same manufacturing facility, each producing a different product.

The things used in the continuous manufacturing operation include all production machinery, the materials handling equipment that moves the product between the production machines, and any equipment, such as tanks, shelves, or racks, that temporarily store or hold the product in between production machines. Even though testing equipment used to test in-process product is not taxable under this rule, no testing procedure is part of the continuous manufacturing operation unless it is physically and functionally integrated between steps on the production line.

See examples 1, 6, 8, 11, 19, and 63.

(C) Things transferred for use in a manufacturing operation include, but are not limited to, any of the following:

(1) Production machinery and equipment that act upon the product or machinery and equipment that treat the materials or parts in preparation for the manufacturing operation.

Production machinery is the equipment that actually changes the state or form of the product, that is, the tangible personal property being manufactured for sale. Also included is the equipment that treats the product by blending, mixing, measuring, washing, agitating, filtering, heating, cooling, or similar processes after the material or parts have been committed to the manufacturing operation and before the product is completed.

See examples 1, 4, 7, 8, 18, 24, 27, 32, 35, 56, 60, 61 and 63.

(2) Materials handling equipment that moves the product through a continuous manufacturing operation; equipment that temporarily stores the product during the manufacturing operation; or, excluding motor vehicles licensed to operate on public highways, equipment used in intraplant or interplant transfers of work in process where the plant or plants between which transfers occur are manufacturing facilities operated by the same person.

Any equipment, except motor vehicles registered for highway operation, used to move or transport the in-process product between manufacturing facilities of the same manufacturer, is considered to be used in the manufacturing operation.

See examples 1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 57, 59, 60, 63, and 64.

(3) Catalysts, solvents, water, acids, oil, and similar consumables that interact with the product and that are an integral part of the manufacturing operation.

This describes those substances that do not appreciably become a component part of the product, but which usually come in contact with the product during the manufacturing process.

See examples 1, 13, 14, 28, 35, and 62.

(4) Machinery, equipment, and other tangible personal property used during the manufacturing operation that control, physically support, produce power for, lubricate, or are otherwise necessary for the functioning of production machinery and equipment and the continuation of the manufacturing operation.

Materials which are used to make foundations, supports, and other things which are incorporated into a building or structure and become accessions to the real estate may not be purchased without payment of tax under this rule. Foundations, structural steel, and similar items which provide physical support and which retain their status as personal property must be treated for purposes of taxation separately from the equipment which they support.

Foundations and supports for production machinery, materials handling equipment, and other equipment used in a continuous manufacturing operation are not taxable. Similarly, foundations and supports for tangible personal property used to manufacture tangible personal property used in the manufacturing operation, as described in paragraph (C)(5) of this rule; for testing equipment, as described in paragraph (C)(6) of this rule; and for equipment used to handle or store scrap for recycling at the same facility, as described in paragraph (C)(7) of this rule, are deemed necessary for the continuation of the manufacturing operation and are not taxable.

Tangible personal property that monitors in-process product or that lubricates, cools, monitors, or controls production machinery, materials handling equipment, and other equipment used in a continuous manufacturing operation is not taxable. Similarly, tangible personal property that lubricates, cools, monitors, or controls equipment used to manufacture tangible personal property used in the manufacturing operation, as described in paragraph (C)(5) of this rule; testing equipment, as described in paragraph (C)(6) of this rule; and equipment used to handle or store scrap for recycling at the same facility, as described in paragraph (C)(7) of this rule, is deemed necessary for the continuation of the manufacturing operation and is not taxable. However, all equipment that makes or stores records of monitoring is taxable.

See examples 1, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25, 29, 52, 55, 57, and 59.

(5) Machinery, equipment, fuel, power, material, parts, and other tangible personal property used to manufacture machinery, equipment, or other tangible personal property used in manufacturing a product for sale.

If a manufacturer makes an item that is used in the manufacturing operation as described in this rule, such as tools, tooling, replacement parts for machinery, or consumable substances, such as acid or solvents, the raw materials and components that go into that item are not taxable.

Certain things used by the manufacturer to make the item that will be used in the manufacturing operation are also not taxable. These things include the machinery which manufactures the item by changing the state or form of the raw materials or components, the materials handling equipment which moves the item between such machinery, and any fuel or power used to operate the machinery or materials handling equipment.

After the item is in the form in which it will be used in the manufacturing operation, any equipment that stores it or moves it to or from the manufacturing operation is taxable.

See example 18.

(6) Machinery, equipment, and other tangible personal property used by a manufacturer to test raw materials, the product being manufactured, or the completed product.

The equipment and supplies that the manufacturer uses to perform testing, and tangible personal property used to physically support, control, lubricate, cool, or monitor such equipment are not taxable. Those things that are merely used in the lab or other area where testing occurs, but play no part in the actual testing procedures, such as furniture, storage equipment, and computers that record or store the test results, are taxable. The testing activity is not part of the continuous manufacturing operation unless it is physically and functionally integrated between steps on the production line. Materials handling equipment used to transport test samples is taxable. Equipment and supplies used to test fuel,
consumables, equipment, or anything else that is not a raw material, the product being manufactured, or a completed product are taxable.

See examples 3, 4, 19, and 60.

(7) Machinery and equipment used to handle or temporarily store scrap that is intended to be reused in the manufacturing operation at the same manufacturing facility.

In this context, scrap is any portion or component of the product being manufactured that is removed, intentionally or unintentionally, from the manufacturing process or that is residual after the process is completed. If the manufacturer recycles the scrap back into the manufacturing operation at the same facility, the equipment which moves or stores the scrap is not taxable.

Scrap which is to be sold or to be reused as a raw material by the manufacturer at another facility, is considered to be processed in a manufacturing operation if the state or form of the scrap is changed or altered. In such a case, the scrap, as it is removed from the manufacturing operation, is a raw material and the equipment which transports or stores it before it is committed to the operation where it undergoes manufacturing is taxable. After such manufacturing is over, the processed scrap is a completed product.

See examples 22 to 24, 47, and 61.

(8) Electricity, coke, gas, water, steam, and similar substances used in the manufacturing operation; machinery and equipment used for, and fuel consumed in, producing or extracting those substances; and machinery, equipment, and other tangible personal property used to treat, filter, pump, alter voltage, or otherwise make the substance suitable for use in the manufacturing operation.

Anything that is a fuel or a source of power for machinery used in the manufacturing operation, or that provides energy for the manufacturing process itself, is not taxable. Similarly, substances which transmit energy, such as steam or cooling water which transmits heat to or from the process or machinery, are not taxable. Any equipment that the manufacturer uses to generate, produce, or extract these substances, as well as fuel used to power such generation or extraction, is not taxable.

Tangible personal property which treats the fuel or power is not taxable. Such things may include coal crushers, electrical transformers, fuel or water filters, and water treatment chemicals.

See examples 22 to 32, 59, and 64.

(9) Machinery, equipment, and other tangible personal property used to transport or transmit electricity, coke, gas, water, steam, or similar substances used in the manufacturing operation from the point of generation, if produced by the manufacturer, or from the point where the substance enters the manufacturing facility, if purchased by the manufacturer, to the manufacturing operation.

Such equipment includes wires, conduit, pipes, larry cars, and conveyors.