Rev. Rul. 60-100

A company is engaged in the business of manufacturing and leasing postage meters, which are taxable `postal permit mailing machines' within the meaning of section 4191 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Under regulations of the Post Office Department, postage meters may be leased from certain authorized manufacturers who are held responsible by the Post Office Department for the control, operation, maintenance, and replacement, when necessary, of meters manufactured by them. Postage must be paid to the postmaster at the time the meter is `set' or `reset' at the post office where the metered mail will be deposited. These machines are leased by the manufacturer for a prescribed percentage of the amount of postage used per quarter. However, the minimum charge per quarter is 25 x dollars and the maximum charge per quarter is 40 x dollars. Held , any charge made by the manufacturer in excess of the prescribed minimum is also considered to be a rental charge for the additional use of the postage meter. Accordingly, under the provisions of section 4216(c)(1) of the Code, the manufacturers excise tax on business machines, imposed by section 4191 of the Code, applies to the total amount paid for the lease of such machines.