LR 8182
Dental Straighteners/Aligners are Subject to Sales Tax
February 25, 2022
Dear Applicant:
This is a letter ruling issued by the Director of Revenue under Section 536.021.10, RSMo, and Missouri Code of State Regulations 12 CSR 10-1.020, in response to your letter dated December 28, 2021.
The facts as presented in your letter ruling request are summarized as follows:
Applicant is a dental supply distributor located in Missouri. Among the items Applicant sells are clear teeth straighteners and aligners that are removable. These are produced when a dentist takes a traditional or digital impression of a patient's teeth and sends the impressions to be manufactured into the straighteners/aligners.
ISSUE:
Are Applicant's sales of the removable straighteners/aligners subject to Missouri Sales tax?
RESPONSE:
Yes. Applicant's sales of the straighteners and aligners would be subject to sales tax pursuant to section 144.020.1, RSMo.
Section 144.020.1, RSMo, imposes a sales tax on sales of tangible personal property and certain enumerated services.
Section 144.030.2(18), RSMo, exempts from sales and use tax, "[a]ll sales of insulin, and all sales, rentals, repairs, and parts of durable medical equipment, prosthetic devices, and orthopedic devices as defined on January 1, 1980, by the federal Medicare program pursuant to Title XVIII of the Social Security Act of 1965, including the items specified in Section 1862(a)(12) of that act..."
Applicant's removable straighteners/aligners do not qualify as durable medical equipment or as a prosthetic or orthopedic device as defined on January 1, 1980, and they likewise are not included in the list of items specified in Section 1862(a)(12) of the Social Security Act of 1965.
Because the straighteners/aligners do not fall within the scope of section 144.030.2(18), RSMo, Applicant's sales of these items are subject to sales tax.
This letter ruling is binding upon the Department of Revenue with respect to the Applicant for three (3) years from the date of this letter and is subject only to statutory changes by the General Assembly and to changes in the interpretation of law by the courts or administrative tribunals. If a change occurs, the taxpayer who relies upon an outdated interpretation may be subject to additional taxes, interest and penalties, which may be imposed prospectively from the date of the change. For this reason, the interpretation set forth above should be reviewed on a regular basis. Please note that any change in or deviation from the facts as presented will render this ruling inapplicable.
Should additional information be needed, please contact Legal Counsel J. Ross Shelton, General Counsel's Office, Post Office Box 475, Jefferson City, Missouri 65105-0475 (phone 573-751-0961), or me.
Sincerely,
Wayne Wallingford