2000 Minnesota Statutes

     297A.67 General exemptions. 

    Subdivision 1.    Scope.  The gross receipts from the 
 sale and purchase of, and storage, distribution, use, or 
 consumption of the items contained in this section are 
 specifically exempted from the taxes imposed by this chapter. 

    Subd. 2.    Food products.  Food products including, but 
 not limited to, cereal and cereal products, butter, cheese, milk 
 and milk products, oleomargarine, meat and meat products, fish 
 and fish products, eggs and egg products, vegetables and 
 vegetable products, fruit and fruit products, spices and salt, 
 sugar and sugar products, coffee and coffee substitutes, tea, 
 and cocoa and cocoa products are exempt.  

    Subd. 3.    Food stamps.  Tangible personal property 
 purchased with food stamps, coupons, or vouchers issued by the 
 federal government under the Food Stamp Program is exempt.  This 
 exemption also applies to food purchased under the Special 
 Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children.  The 
 exemption provided by this subdivision is effective and applies 
 only to the extent required by federal law. 

    Subd. 4.    Exempt meals at residential facilities.  
 Meals or drinks served to patients, inmates, or persons residing 
 at hospitals, sanitariums, nursing homes, senior citizen homes, 
 and correctional, detention, and detoxification facilities are 
 exempt.  

    Subd. 5.    Exempt meals at schools.  Meals and lunches 
 served at public and private schools, universities, or colleges 
 are exempt. 

    Subd. 6.    Other exempt meals.  Meals or drinks 
 purchased for and served exclusively to individuals who are 60 
 years of age or over and their spouses or to handicapped persons 
 and their spouses by governmental agencies, nonprofit 
 organizations, or churches, or pursuant to any program funded in 
 whole or in part through United States Code, title 42, sections 
 3001 through 3045, wherever delivered, prepared, or served, are 
 exempt.  

    Subd. 7.    Medicines; medical devices.  (a) Prescribed 
 drugs and medicine, and insulin, intended for internal or 
 external use, in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention 
 of illness or disease in human beings are exempt.  "Prescribed 
 drugs and medicine" includes over-the-counter drugs or medicine 
 prescribed by a licensed physician. 

    (b) Nonprescription medicines consisting principally 
 (determined by the weight of all ingredients) of analgesics that 
 are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration 
 for internal use by human beings are exempt.  For purposes of 
 this subdivision, "principally" means greater than 50 percent 
 analgesics by weight.  

    (c) Prescription glasses, hospital beds, fever 
 thermometers, reusable finger-pricking devices for the 
 extraction of blood, blood glucose monitoring machines, and 
 other diagnostic agents used in diagnosing, monitoring, or 
 treating diabetes, and therapeutic and prosthetic devices are 
 exempt.  "Therapeutic devices" means devices that are attached 
 or applied to the human body to cure, heal, or alleviate injury, 
 illness, or disease, either directly or by administering a 
 curative agent.  "Prosthetic devices" means devices that replace 
 injured, diseased, or missing parts of the human body, either 
 temporarily or permanently.  

    Subd. 8.    Clothing.  Clothing and wearing apparel, 
 including sewing materials to be directly incorporated into 
 wearing apparel, are exempt.  For purposes of this subdivision, 
 clothing and wearing apparel do not include the following: 

    (1) articles designed primarily for use while engaging in a 
 specific sport or recreational activity that are not also worn 
 for general use; 

    (2) articles designed primarily to provide safety or 
 protection against injury while the user is engaged in 
 industrial or general job activities; 

    (3) all articles commonly or commercially known as jewelry 
 including, but not limited to, watches; 

    (4) nonprescription optical glasses of any sort; 

    (5) articles made entirely of fur on the hide or pelt, or 
 partially of such fur if the value of the fur is more than three 
 times the value of the next most valuable component material; 

    (6) perfume, lotions, creams, dyes, or other substances 
 that are applied to the skin or the hair; and 

    (7) luggage, bags, purses, wallets, or cases of any sort. 

    Subd. 9.    Baby products.  (a) Products such as lotion, 
 creams, ointments, oil, powder, or shampoo, and other articles 
 designed for application to the hair or skin of babies are 
 exempt. 

    (b) Baby bottles and nipples, pacifiers, teething rings, 
 thumb sucking preventatives, and infant syringes are exempt. 

    Subd. 10.    Caskets; vaults.  Caskets and burial vaults 
 for human burial are exempt.  

    Subd. 11.    Automobiles; disabled veterans.  
 Automobiles or other conveyances are exempt if the purchaser is 
 assisted by a grant from the United States in accordance with 
 United States Code, title 38, section 3902. 

    Subd. 12.    Parts and accessories used to make a motor 
 vehicle handicapped accessible.  Parts, accessories, and labor 
 charges that are used solely to modify a motor vehicle to make 
 it handicapped accessible are exempt. 

    Subd. 13.    Textbooks.  Textbooks that are prescribed 
 for use in conjunction with a course of study in a school, 
 college, university, and private career school to students who 
 are regularly enrolled at such institutions are exempt.  For 
 purposes of this subdivision (1) a "school" is as defined in 
 section 120A.22, subdivision 4; and (2) "private career school" 
 means a school licensed under section 141.25. 

    Subd. 14.    Personal computers prescribed for use by 
 school.  Personal computers and related computer software sold 
 by a school, college, university, or private career school to 
 students who are enrolled at the institutions are exempt if: 

    (1) the use of the personal computer, or of a substantially 
 similar model of computer, and the related computer software is 
 prescribed by the institution in conjunction with a course of 
 study; and 

    (2) each student of the institution, or of a unit of the 
 institution in which the student is enrolled, is required by the 
 institution to have such a personal computer and related 
 software as a condition of enrollment.  

    For the purposes of this subdivision, "school" and "private 
 career school" have the meanings given in subdivision 13. 

    Subd. 15.    Residential heating fuels.  Residential 
 heating fuels are exempt as follows: 

    (1) all fuel oil, coal, wood, steam, hot water, propane 
 gas, and L.P. gas sold to residential customers for residential 
 use; 

    (2) for the billing months of November, December, January, 
 February, March, and April, natural gas sold for residential use 
 to customers who are metered and billed as residential users and 
 who use natural gas for their primary source of residential 
 heat; and 

    (3) for the billing months of November, December, January, 
 February, March, and April, electricity sold for residential use 
 to customers who are metered and billed as residential users and 
 who use electricity for their primary source of residential heat.

    Subd. 16.    Residential water services.  Water services 
 for residential use are exempt regardless of how the services 
 are billed. 

    Subd. 17.    Feminine hygiene products.  Sanitary 
 napkins, tampons, or similar items used for feminine hygiene are 
 exempt.  

    Subd. 18.    Used motor oils.  Used motor oils are 
 exempt. 

    Subd. 19.    Cross-country ski passes.  Cross-country 
 ski passes issued under sections 85.40 to 85.43 are exempt. 

    Subd. 20.    Manufactured homes.  Manufactured homes, as 
 defined in section 327.31, subdivision 6, to be used by the 
 purchaser for residential purposes are exempt, unless the sale 
 is the first retail sale of the manufactured home in this state. 

    Subd. 21.    De minimis exemption.  A purchase subject 
 to use tax under section 297A.63 is exempt if (1) the purchase 
 is made by an individual for personal use, and (2) the total 
 purchases that are subject to the use tax do not exceed $770 in 
 the calendar year.  For purposes of this subdivision, "personal 
 use" includes purchases for gifts.  If an individual makes 
 purchases subject to use tax of more than $770 in the calendar 
 year, the individual must pay the use tax on the entire amount.  
 This exemption does not apply to purchases made from retailers 
 who are required or registered to collect taxes under this 
 chapter. 

    Subd. 22.    Property brought into Minnesota by 
 nonresident.  All articles of tangible personal property 
 brought into Minnesota by a person who was a nonresident of this 
 state immediately prior to bringing such property into this 
 state for the person's use, storage, or consumption are exempt 
 from the use tax imposed by section 297A.63. 

    Subd. 23.    Occasional sales.  Isolated and occasional 
 sales in Minnesota not made in the normal course of business, 
 and the storage, use, or consumption of property or services 
 resulting from such sales, are exempt. 

    Subd. 24.    Constitutional prohibitions.  The gross 
 receipts from the sale of and the storage, use, or other 
 consumption in Minnesota of tangible personal property, tickets, 
 or admissions, electricity, gas, or local exchange telephone 
 service, that the state of Minnesota is prohibited from taxing 
 under the Constitution or laws of the United States or under the 
 Constitution of Minnesota, are exempt. 

    Subd. 25.    Maintenance of cemetery grounds.  Lawn care 
 and related services used in the maintenance of cemetery grounds 
 are exempt.  For purposes of this subdivision, "lawn care and 
 related services" means the services listed in section 297A.61, 
 subdivision 16, paragraph (g), clause (6), and "cemetery" means 
 a cemetery for human burial. 

    HIST: 2000 c 418 art 1 s 11,44 subd 3; 2000 c 490 art 8 s 13 

*   NOTE:  This section, as added by Laws 2000, chapter 418, 
*article 1, section 11, is effective for sales and purchases 
*occurring after June 30, 2001.  Laws 2000, chapter 418, article 
*1, section 46.