Section 45IAC2.2-5-10. Sales of manufacturing machinery, tools and equipment to be directly used in processing or refining tangible personal property

   (a) In general, all purchases of tangible personal property by persons engaged in the processing or refining of tangible personal property are taxable. The exemption provided in this regulation [45 IAC 2.2] extends only to manufacturing machinery, tools, and equipment used in direct production. It does not apply to materials consumed in production or to materials incorporated into the tangible personal property produced. Additionally, the exemption provided in this regulation [45 IAC 2.2] extends to industrial processors. An industrial processor, as defined in IC 6-2.5-4-2, is one who:

(1) acquires tangible personal property owned by another person;

(2) provides industrial processing or servicing, including enameling or plating, on the property; and

(3) transfers the property back to the owner to be sold by that owner either in the same form or as a part of other tangible personal property produced by that owner in his business of manufacturing, assembling, constructing, refining, or processing.

  (b) The state gross retail tax will not apply to sales of manufacturing machinery, tools, and equipment which are to be directly used by the purchaser in processing or refining tangible personal property.

  (c) Purchases of manufacturing machinery, tools, and equipment to be directly used by the purchaser in processing or refining are exempt from tax; provided that such machinery, tools, and equipment are directly used in the production process; i.e., they have an immediate effect on the tangible personal property being processed or refined. The property has an immediate effect on the article being produced if it is an essential and integral part of an integrated process which processes or refines tangible personal property.

─EXAMPLES─

(1) Whiskey is produced in a process that begins with the grinding and fermenting of grain and the distillation of the fermented mash, continues further with the maturation of the distilled alcohol and with the blending of individual whiskeys, and ends with the bottling, labeling, and packaging of the whiskey prior to shipment to customers. Because of the functional interrelationship of the various steps and the flow of the work-in-process, the total production process comprised of such activities is integrated.

(2) The following types of equipment constitute essential and integral parts of the integrated production process and are, therefore, exempt. The fact that such equipment is built in a manner to service various pieces of exempt equipment, as an alternative to building the equipment into each of the pieces of exempt machinery, is not determinative.

(A) Pumps used to circulate cooling water through exempt condensers in the distillery.

(B) Chemicals used to treat the water used in the production of whiskey to ensure that the water is pure or to prevent scale buildup in the boilers and pipes.

(C) Equipment used to pulverize coal prior to being fed into the exempt boiler used to generate steam in the distillation process.

(D) A bottling and packaging process, which includes equipment such as case and bottle conveyors used during the filling operations, equipment to fill the bottles with product and to place labels on the bottles, and case filling equipment and case palletizers. The exempt production process begins after the bottles are introduced onto the bottle conveyors for the filling step of production and ends with the final packaging of the product onto the case palletizers.

(3) Because of the lack of an essential and integral relationship with the integrated production process in Example (1), the following types of equipment are not exempt:

(A) Equipment and furnishings located in the administrative offices of the plant.

(B) Equipment used for research and development of new products.

(C) Equipment used periodically to test the purity of the water in on-site deep wells which supply the plant's water requirements.

(D) Racks on which cases of empty bottles are stored prior to their introduction into the bottling and packaging system.

(E) The depalletizer used to strip pallets from cases containing empty bottles and unscramblers used to move empty bottles out of cases and onto the production line.

  (d) Pre-processing and post-processing activities. "Direct use" begins at the point of the first operation or activity constituting part of the integrated production process and ends at the point that the processing or refining has altered the item to its completed form, including packaging, if required.

  (e) Storage equipment. Tangible personal property used in or for the purpose of storing raw material, work in process, semi-finished or finished goods is subject to tax except for temporary storage equipment necessary for moving materials being processed or refined from one (1) production step to another.

(1) Temporary storage. Tangible personal property used in or for the purpose of storing work-in-process or semi-finished goods is not subject to tax if the work-in-process or semi-finished goods are ultimately or completely produced for resale and are, in fact, resold.

(2) Storage facilities or containers for finished goods after completion of the production process are subject to tax.

  (f) Transportation equipment.

(1) Tangible personal property used for moving raw materials to the plant prior to entrance into the production process is taxable.

(2) Tangible personal property used for moving finished goods from the plant after completion of the processing or refining process is subject to tax.

(3) Transportation equipment used to transport work in process or semi-finished material to or from storage is not subject to tax if such equipment is used to transport work-in-process or semi-finished materials within the production process.

(4) Transportation equipment used to transport work in process or semi-finished goods between plants, however, is taxable, if the plants are not a part of the same essential and integrated production process.

─EXAMPLES─

(1) Transportation equipment, including trucks, conveyors, forklifts, and specialized barrel movers used to move whiskey barrels to, within, and from a maturation warehouse as transportation of work-in-process, is exempt.

(2) Transportation equipment used to move barrels of matured and blended whisky [sic.] from a storage warehouse to trucks for shipment to customers is taxable.

  (g) "Have an immediate effect on the tangible personal property being processed or refined." Machinery, tools, and equipment used during processing or refining which have an immediate effect upon the tangible personal property being processed or refined are exempt from tax. Component parts of an exempt unit of machinery and equipment, which unit has an immediate effect on the article being produced, are exempt if such components are an integral part of the manufacturing unit. The fact that particular property may be considered essential to the conduct of the business of manufacturing because its use is required either by law or by practical necessity does not, of itself, mean that the property "acts upon and has an immediate effect on the tangible personal property being processed or refined". Instead, in addition to being essential for one of the above reasons, the property must also be an integral part of an integrated process which produces tangible personal property.

  (h) Maintenance and replacement equipment.

(1) Machinery, tools, and equipment used in the normal repair and maintenance of machinery used in processing or refining which are predominantly used to maintain processing or refining machinery are subject to tax.

(2) Replacement parts, used to replace worn, broken, inoperative, or missing parts or accessories on exempt machinery and equipment, however, are exempt from tax.

  (i) Testing and inspection. Machinery, tools, and equipment used to test and inspect the product are taxable, unless such machinery, tools, and equipment are used as part of the production process.

  (j) Managerial, sales, and other nonoperative activities. Machinery, tools, and equipment used in managerial sales, research and development or other nonoperational activities are not directly used in processing or refining and, therefore, are subject to tax. This category includes, but is not limited to machinery, tools, and equipment used in any of the following activities: management and administration; selling and marketing; exhibition of manufactured or processed products; safety or fire prevention, equipment which is not essential and integral to the production process; space heating; ventilation and cooling for general temperature control; illumination; heating equipment for general temperature control; and shipping and loading.

  (k) Definitions. Processing or refining is defined as the performance by a business of an integrated series of operations which places tangible personal property in a form, composition, or character different from that in which it was acquired. The change in form, composition, or character must be a substantial change. Operations such as distilling, brewing, pasteurizing, electroplating, galvanizing, anodizing, impregnating, cooking, heat treating, and slaughtering of animals for meal or meal products are illustrative of the types of operations which constitute processing or refining, although any operation which has such a result may be processing or refining. A processed or refined end product, however, must be substantially different from the component materials used.

  (l) Energy equipment.

(1) Equipment used to modify energy purchased from public utilities for the production process is exempt if the equipment is used to modify the utilities for use by exempt equipment.

(2) Equipment used to create energy that could otherwise be purchased exempt form [sic.] a public utility for use by exempt equipment is exempt.

(3) When any equipment qualifies as essential and integral to the production process and also is used in an alternative nonessential and/or non-integral manner, the exemption shall only apply to the percentage (%) of use of the equipment used in the exempt manner.

(Department of State Revenue; Ch. 5, Reg. 6-2.5-5-3(030); filed Dec 1, 1982, 10:35 am: 6 IR 34; filed Aug 6, 1987, 4:30 pm: 10 IR 2630)