[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 27, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 27CFR53.91]

[Page 873-874]
 
            TITLE 27--ALCOHOL, TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND FIREARMS
 
 CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND FIREARMS, DEPARTMENT OF THE 
                                TREASURY
 
PART 53--MANUFACTURERS EXCISE TAXES--FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION--Table of Contents
 
     Subpart J--Special Provisions Applicable to Manufacturers Taxes
 
Sec. 53.91  Charges to be included in sale price.


    (a) In general. The ``price'' for which an article is sold includes 
the total consideration paid for the article, whether that consideration 
is in the form of money, services, or other things. However, for 
purposes of the taxes imposed under chapter 32 of the Code, certain 
collateral charges made in connection with the sale of a taxable article 
must be included in the taxable sale price, whereas others may be 
excluded. Any charge which is required by a manufacturer, producer, or 
importer to be paid as a condition of its sale of a taxable article and 
which is not attributable to an expense falling within one of the 
exclusions provided in section 4216 of the Code or the regulations 
thereunder is includable in the taxable sale price. It is immaterial for 
this purpose that the charge may be paid to a person other than the 
manufacturer, producer, or importer, or that it may be separately billed 
to the purchaser as a charge earmarked for expenses incurred or to be 
incurred in his behalf, such as charges for demonstration or display of 
the article, for sales promotion programs, or otherwise. With respect to 
the rules relating to exclusion of charges for local advertising of a 
manufacturer's products, see section 4216(e) of the Code and 
Sec. 53.100. In the case of sales on credit, a carrying, finance, or 
service charge is excludable from the sale price if it is reasonably 
related to the costs of carrying the deferred portion of the sale price 
(such as interest on the deferred portion of the sale price, expenses of 
bookkeeping necessary to keep the records of such sales, and expenses of 
correspondence and other communication in connection with collection).
    (b) Tools and dies. Separate charges for tools and dies used in the 
manufacture or production of a taxable article are to be included, in 
whole or in part, in the sale price on which the tax is based. It is 
immaterial whether the charges for such items are billed in a lump sum 
or are amortized or allocated to each of the taxable articles. If, at 
the termination of a contract to manufacture taxable articles, the tools 
and dies used in production pass to the purchaser, only the amount of 
depreciation of the tools and dies incurred in production, computed on a 
``production output'' basis, should be included in the sale price. If 
the purchaser furnishes the tools and dies, the amount of the cost 
thereof, to the extent that such cost has been depreciated in the 
production of the taxable articles (computed on a ``production output'' 
basis), shall be included in determining the sale price of the articles 
for purposes of computing the tax.
    (c) Charges for warranty. A charge for a warranty of an article 
which the manufacturer, producer, or importer requires the purchaser to 
pay in order to obtain the article shall be included in the sale price 
of the article on which the tax is computed. On the other

[[Page 874]]

hand, a charge for a warranty of a taxable article paid at the 
purchaser's option shall not be included in the sale price for purposes 
of computing tax thereon.
    (d) Charges for coverings, containers, and packing. Any charge by 
the manufacturer, producer, or importer for coverings and containers of 
whatever nature used to pack an article for shipment shall be included 
as part of the sale price for the purpose of computing the tax, whether 
or not the charges are identified as such on the invoice or are billed 
separately. Even though there is an agreement that the manufacturer, 
producer, or importer will repay all or a portion of the charge for the 
coverings or containers upon the return thereof, the full charge 
nevertheless shall be included in the sale price. It is immaterial 
whether the charge made at the time of sale is more or less than the 
actual value of the covering or container. See Sec. 53.173(b)(4) for 
provisions relating to the claiming of a credit or refund in the case of 
a price readjustment due to the return or repossession of a covering or 
container. Packing charges are to be included in the sale price whether 
the charges cover normal packing or special packing services, such as 
for extra protection of the article or for odd-lot quantities. This rule 
shall apply whether the packing services are initiated by the 
manufacturer, producer, or importer or are furnished at the request of 
the purchaser and whether the packing is performed by the manufacturer, 
producer, or importer or by another person at his request. If the 
purchaser supplies packing materials, the fair market value of such 
materials must be included in the tax base when computing tax liability 
on the sale of the article.
    (e) Taxable and nontaxable articles sold as a unit. Where a taxable 
article and a nontaxable article are sold by the manufacturer as a unit, 
the tax attaches to that portion of the manufacturer's sale price of the 
unit which is properly allocable to the taxable article. Normally, the 
taxable portion of such a unit may be determined by applying to the 
manufacturer's sale price of the unit the ratio which the manufacturer's 
separate sale price of the taxable article bears to the sum of the sale 
prices of both the taxable and nontaxable articles, if such articles are 
sold separately by the manufacturer. Where the articles (or either one 
of them) are not sold separately by the manufacturer and do not have 
established sale prices, the taxable portion is to be determined from a 
comparison of the actual costs of the articles to the manufacturer. 
Thus, if the cost of the taxable article represents four-fifths of the 
total cost of the complete unit, the tax applies to four-fifths of the 
price charged by the manufacturer for the unit.

[T.D. ATF-308, 56 FR 303, Jan. 3, 1991, as amended by T.D. ATF-312, 56 
FR 31083, July 9, 1991]