Rev. Rul. 62-218

Advice has been requested concerning the applicability of the manufacturers excise tax on motor vehicle articles to sales by the manufacturer of the articles described below.

A company manufactures and sells a so-called `mobile furnace vacuum cleaner' which is used for cleaning furnaces and related ducts, pipes, register boxes, and chimneys in homes and commercial establishments. This vacuum cleaning system is built on a base made of channel iron spaced to fit on the chassis of an automobile truck. A dust box, in which the soot, dirt, dust, and residue from the various heating systems is deposited, is built over the channel iron base. A hinged `cleanout' door is built into the rear of the dust box for the removal of the refuse.

A series of canvas filter bags, a blower, and a blower motor are mounted on top of the dust box. A length of hose is attached to the blower for connecting to the heating system located on the premises being serviced. A `housing' with a canopy type door is constructed around the entire apparatus described above to afford protection from the elements and to provide storage space for tools, fittings, hoses, and nozzles.

Section 4061(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 imposes a tax upon certain enumerated articles (including in each case parts and accessories therefor sold on or in connection therewith or with the sale thereof) sold by the manufacturer, producer, or importer. Section 4061(a)(1) of the Code enumerates, among other taxable articles, automobile truck bodies.

Section 4061(b) of the Code imposes a tax on the sale by the manufacturer, producer, or importer of parts or accessories (other than tires and inner tubes and other than automobile radio and television receiving sets) for any of the motor vehicle articles enumerated in section 4061(a) of the Code.

The housing, including the channel iron base and the dust box, is considered to be an automobile truck body within the meaning of section 4061(a)(1) of the Code. Therefore, it is held that sales of such body by the manufacturer thereof are subject to the manufacturers excise tax imposed by that section.

On the other hand, the canvas filter bags, blower, blower motor, fittings, and hoses which are parts of the furnace vacuum cleaner do not constitute parts or accessories for the taxable body. Accordingly, the manufacturer's sales of such articles, whether sold separately or on or in connection with the taxable body, are not subject to the manufacturers excise taxes imposed by section 4061 of the Code.