(a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
  (1) Accessory--A machine fixture that causes the machinery to operate in a specialized way.
  (2) Custom manufacturing--Producing tangible personal property to the special order of the customer, e.g., tailor-made clothing, custom-made draperies or slip-covers, or furniture made-to-order. Custom manufacturers are manufacturers for the purpose of this section.
  (3) Display item--A manufactured item that is identical in size and function to other items held for sale which it represents and that is ultimately sold at retail. For example, manufacturer's apparel lines, furniture showroom pieces, light fixture displays.
  (4) Equipment--Any apparatus, work clothing, device, or simple machines used directly in production.
  (5) Fabrication--To make, build, create, produce, or assemble components of tangible personal property, or to make tangible personal property work in a new or different manner.
  (6) Hand tool--An instrument that is to be used, managed, and powered by the hand (e.g., paint brush, trowel, hammer, screwdriver, files). Equipment that is controlled or operated by the hand, but is moved or powered by electricity, gas, steam, or other fuel, is not a hand tool (e.g., electric drill, chain saw, jack hammer).
  (7) Machinery--All power-operated machines.
  (8) Manufacturer--A person who is engaged in manufacturing. The definition includes processors, fabricators, submanufacturers, and custom manufacturers.
  (9) Manufacturing--Each operation beginning with the first stage in the production of tangible personal property and ending with the completion of tangible personal property. The first production stage means the first act of production, and it shall not include those acts in preparation for production. For example, a lumber company that cuts trees or a manufacturer that gathers, arranges, or sorts raw materials or inventory is preparing for production. The first production stage for the manufacturing of software is the design and writing of the code or program, and manufacturing includes the testing or demonstration of the software. Manufacturing includes the repair or rebuilding of tangible personal property that the manufacturer owns for the purpose of being sold, but does not include the repair or rebuilding of property that belongs to another.
    (A) Completion of production means the tangible personal property has all the physical properties, including packaging, if any, that it has when transferred by the manufacturer to another. For example, a manufacturer of raw rubber has completed production when the raw rubber is ready to be transferred to a manufacturer of rubber goods.
    (B) Processing and fabrication are two activities that are performed during manufacturing. For example, the person who takes raw steel and makes pipe is engaged in fabrication. The workers who coat or thread the pipe are engaged in processing.
  (10) Processing--The physical application of the materials and labor necessary to modify or to change the characteristics of tangible personal property. The repair of tangible personal property, belonging to another, by restoring it to its original condition is not considered processing of that property. The mere packing, unpacking, or shelving of a product to be sold will not be considered to be processing of that property. Processing does not include remodeling.
  (11) Remodeling--To make tangible personal property belonging to another over again, in a similar but different way, or to change the style, shape, or form, without causing a loss of its identity, or without causing the property to work in a new or different manner.
  (12) Replacement part--Any repair part attached to the machinery, equipment, or accessory.
  (13) Sample--A scale model or representative piece of a manufactured product held for sale. For example, cloth swatches and wallpaper books.
  (14) Semiconductor fabrication and pharmaceutical biotechnology cleanrooms and equipment--All tangible personal property, without regard to whether the property is affixed to or incorporated into realty, that is used in connection with the manufacturing, processing, or fabrication in a cleanroom environment of a semiconductor product or a pharmaceutical biotechnology product, without regard to whether the property is actually contained in the cleanroom environment. The term includes integrated systems, fixtures, and piping; moveable cleanroom partitions and cleanroom lighting; all property necessary or adapted to reduce contamination or to control airflow, temperature, humidity, chemical purity, or other environmental conditions or manufacturing tolerances; production equipment and machinery; all tangible personal property that moves the product or other materials that are necessary and essential to the process, including piping that is used to move gas, liquids, deionized water, and hazardous waste material; silicon wafer moving, handling, and tracking systems; and electrical supply and control equipment, such as switches, wiring, and monitoring equipment that is incorporated into the realty. The term does not include the building or any permanent, nonremovable structural component part of the building, such as vibration-isolation platforms and vibration columns.
  (15) Submanufacturer--A person who performs one or more of the manufacturing operations described in paragraph (9) of this subsection upon a product, or upon an intermediate or preliminary product, for a manufacturer.
(b) Manufacturer's responsibilities.
  (1) Collection of tax. Persons who are engaged in the business of fabricating, manufacturing, processing, or custom manufacturing must collect sales tax on the total sales price of the manufactured item or accept a resale or exemption certificate in lieu of the tax. The sales price includes the cost of materials, labor or service costs, and all expenses that are connected with production. Persons who fabricate, custom manufacture, or process tangible personal property that the customer furnishes, either directly or indirectly, must collect tax on such fabricating, custom manufacturing, or processing charge. Manufacturers shall pay or accrue sales or use tax on all items used in the manufacturing process that do not qualify for exemption from tax. A manufacturer who purchases tangible personal property tax free by means of an exemption certificate or resale certificate and subsequently uses the item for a nonexempt purpose is responsible for tax as provided in subsection (k) of this section.
  (2) Installed items. Generally, the charge for labor to install an item sold is taxable when the item sold is taxable. Persons who manufacture and install items that become improvements to residential realty or are incorporated into new real property structures are contractors and are subject to the provisions of §3.291 of this title (relating to Contractors). Example: cabinetmakers who also affix the cabinets as a part of a new-construction contract. Persons who manufacture and install items that become improvements to existing nonresidential realty are subject to the provisions of §3.357 of this title (relating to Nonresidential Real Property Repair, Remodeling, and Restoration; Real Property Maintenance). Persons who manufacture and install items as a part of a contract to repair tangible personal property are subject to the provisions of §3.292 of this title (relating to Repair, Remodeling, Maintenance, and Restoration of Tangible Personal Property). Example: fabricating a propeller shaft for a customer as a part of an outboard motor repair. Persons who manufacture and install items that do not become improvements to realty or that are not part of a repair must collect sales tax on the total charge. Example: a retailer who makes and installs draperies for a home owner.
  (3) Molds, dies, patterns. The manufacturer's purchase of molds, dies, patterns, jigs, tooling, photo engraving, and other manufacturing aids, and their raw materials or component parts, may qualify for exemption under subsection (d) of this section.
    (A) Written agreement - sale. A separate charge by the manufacturer for the aid will be considered a sale of the aid to the customer only if a written agreement exists between parties that clearly makes the customer the owner of the aid. As owner of the aid, the customer will owe tax on the amount that the manufacturer charged, unless the customer is also manufacturing a product for sale.
    (B) No written agreement - no sale. When no written agreement exists between the manufacturer and the customer, and the manufacturer separates the charge for the aid from the charge for the items produced by means of the aid, a sale will not be considered to have occurred. The combined charges constitute the sales price of the manufactured item. (Charge for aid plus charge for items produced equals sales price of items.) The total charge shall be taxable or nontaxable depending on the taxability of the items produced.
Cont'd...