Section Tax 11.72 - Laundries, dry cleaners, and linen and clothing suppliers(1) LAUNDRIES AND DRY CLEANERS.(a) The sales price received from selling, performing, or furnishing laundry, dry cleaning, pressing, and dyeing services is taxable, except as provided in par. (b).(b) The sales price from selling, performing, or furnishing laundry, dry cleaning, pressing, and dyeing services is exempt from tax when:1. The services are performed on raw materials or goods in process destined for sale.2. The services are performed by the customer through the use of self-service machines.3. The services are performed on cloth diapers by a diaper service. "Cloth diaper" means a cloth diaper used for sanitary purposes. "Diaper service" means a business primarily engaged in the lease or rental, delivery or laundering of cloth diapers.(2) LINEN AND CLOTHING SUPPLIERS. The sales price received by lessors from leasing, licensing, or renting clothing, including uniforms, towels, linens, or similar items, including cloth diapers, to commercial establishments or household users under agreements which provide for furnishing items and cleaning the items when they become soiled is subject to the tax. However, the items furnished to customers under these agreements may be purchased by the lessor without paying sales or use tax and the charge for cleaning cloth diapers by a diaper service is not subject to tax.(3) PURCHASES. (a) Laundries, dry cleaners, and linen or clothing suppliers are the consumers of and shall pay tax on their purchases of all items transferred to customers incidentally in providing laundry and dry cleaning services, including solvents, soaps, detergents, spotting compounds, water repellents, disinfectants, fabric softeners, starch, dyes, mat compounds, fire repellent compounds, and marking tags they use for identification purposes. They also shall pay tax on their purchases of items transferred to customers with clean linen or clothes, such as hangers, handkerchiefs, bags, boxes, shirt boards, shoulder guards, twisters, and pins. The tax applies to the sales price on the sale of these items to laundries, dry cleaners, and linen and clothing suppliers.(b) The tax applies to the sales price from sales, licenses, leases, or rentals of machinery and equipment to persons engaged in performing or furnishing laundry, dry cleaning, pressing, and dyeing services, and to persons leasing, licensing, or renting linens, towels, and clothing to industrial, commercial, or household users. Wis. Admin. Code Department of Revenue Tax 11.72
Cr. Register, December, 1979, No. 288, eff. 1-1-80; am. (3) (a) and r. (3) (c), Register, September, 1984, No. 345, eff. 10-1-84; am. (2) and (3) (a), cr. (1) (b), renum. (1) to be (1) (a) and am., Register, June, 1991, No. 426, eff. 7-1-91; EmR0924: emerg. am. (1) (a), (b) (intro.), (2) and (3), eff. 10-1-09; CR 09-090: am. (1) (a), (b) (intro.), (2) and (3) Register May 2010 No. 653, eff. 6-1-10.Amended by, CR 19-112: am. (1) (b) 2. Register June 2020 No. 774, eff. 7/1/2020 Section Tax 11.72 interprets ss. 77.51(1m), (3m), (13) (e) and (f), and (15a) and 77.52(2) (a) 6. and (2m) (a), Stats.
The interpretations in s. Tax 11.72 are effective under the general sales and use tax law on and after September 1, 1969, except: (a) Laundries and dry cleaners became the consumers of, and pay tax on the purchases of, items transferred to customers effective September 1, 1983, pursuant to 1983 Wis. Act 27; (b) The exemption for diaper services and cloth diapers became effective July 1, 1990, pursuant to 1989 Wis. Act 335; (c) The repeal of the exemption for cloth diapers became effective October 1, 2009, pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 2; (d) The change of the term "gross receipts" to "sales price" became effective October 1, 2009, pursuant to 2009 Wis. Act 2; and (e) The exemption for coin-operated, self-service laundry machines was expanded to include all self-service machines effective October 1, 2013, pursuant to 2013 Wis. Act 20.