New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 20 - DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE › Chapter IV - Sales And Use And Other Miscellaneous Taxes › Subchapter A - Sales And Use Taxes › Part 528 - Exemptions › Section 528.5 - Prosthetic aids

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
Tax Law, § 1115[a][4] and [g]
(a)
Exemption.
Prosthetic aids, hearing aids, eyeglasses and artificial
					 devices and component parts thereof, purchased to correct or alleviate physical
					 incapacity in human beings are exempt from the tax.
(b)
Qualifications.
(1) In order to qualify as a prosthetic aid,
				  a hearing aid, eyeglasses or an artificial device, the property must either
				  completely or partially replace a missing body part or the function of a
				  permanently inoperative or permanently malfunctioning body part and must be
				  primarily and customarily used for such purposes and not be generally useful in
				  the absence of illness, injury or physical incapacity.
Example 1:
Artificial hands, arms, legs, false teeth, etc. are
					 exempt.
Example 2:
Breast forms for post-mastectomy patients are exempt from
					 tax. Garments with permanently built-in breast forms intended for use by
					 post-mastectomy patients are also exempt as a prosthesis. However, brassieres
					 worn with breast forms are not exempt.
Example 3:
Cardiac pacemakers are exempt.
Example 4:
A crown which is permanently attached to a tooth by a
					 dentist is exempt.
Example 5:
Sound amplification devices for hard-of-hearing people used
					 with telephones or television sets are exempt.
Example 6:
Specialized equipment used by the hearing impaired that
					 converts teletype signals into telephone signals and telephone signals into
					 teletype signals and thus enables a hearing impaired person to communicate by
					 telephone, are exempt.
Example 7:
Items installed on motor vehicles to make them adaptable
					 for use by handicapped persons are exempt. Such items may include special
					 controls for paralytics or amputees and automotive lifts designed for the use
					 of handicapped individuals for entry into motor vehicles.
Example 8:
Guide dogs for the blind are exempt.
Example 9:
Braille typewriters are exempt.
Example 10:
A device (commonly known as an Optical Tactile Converter)
					 which converts standard printing into various impulses that represent
					 alphabetic and numeric characters which a blind person can feel with his hand
					 and thereby read standard print is exempt.
Example 11:
Devices for installation of TV sets for receiving closed
					 captioned programs are exempt.
Example 12:
Alarms and flashing lights are not exempt.
Example 13:
Nonprescription eyeglasses, nonprescription sunglasses, and
					 noncorrective contact lenses are not exempt.
(2) Parts, special attachments, special
				  lettering, etc., that are added to or attached to tangible personal property,
				  such as appliances, so that a handicapped person can use them are exempt. If
				  tangible personal property is sold with special controls, lettering or devices,
				  and the additional charge for the added features is separately stated on the
				  bill for the tangible personal property, that portion of the sales receipts
				  attributable to the added features is exempt. In determining whether the extra
				  amount charged for the special controls, lettering or devices is reasonable,
				  like items exclusive of the added features should be compared with the same
				  item with the added features.
Example 14:
If a TV is sold with a closed captioned device built in,
					 the portion of the price attributable to the closed captioned device, if
					 separately stated on the bill, can be deducted from the selling price before
					 computing the tax.
Example 15:
That portion of the price of braille books and braille
					 games which is attributable to those features of the books and games that
					 enable the affected person to use them, if separately stated on the bill, is
					 excluded from the amount upon which the sales tax is computed. In determining
					 the reasonableness of the amount of the exclusion, like items must be compared,
					 such as, a comparison of the price of a hard cover braille edition of a book
					 with the same hard cover edition of a nonbraille book.
Example 16:
Calculators which contain talking devices that are intended
					 for the use of blind people are subject to tax. However, that portion of the
					 price of the calculator attributable to the talking device is exempt from tax,
					 if separately stated on the bill for the calculator.