Vacutainers Taxable in New Jersey

New Jersey sales and use tax regulations disqualified a laboratory’s purchases of vacutainers (sealed test tubes used to collect blood or other specimen samples) from exemption because they did not qualify as “nonreturnable containers” or “other wrapping supplies” as indicated by the taxpayer. Although the vacutainers served as containers in which samples are transported to the laboratory, and once punctured or filled with blood they were not reusable, they were still considered returnable containers. The exemption statute dictates that vacutainers are subject to tax, even though they are an essential part of the operation and function of the laboratory’s business. (Quest Diagnostic, Inc. v. Division of Taxation, New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, No. A-0901-04T2)

Posted on February 13, 2007