Provided by the Bucks County Department of Consumer Protection:
Q. I love this time of year! Our family always plans a day trip or two during the autumn season that usually includes a hayride, pumpkin and apple picking. This year we were able to do all of those things at one location. The children enjoyed the pumpkin patch the most while the adults were looking forward to the aroma of both apple and pumpkins pies that would soon fill their homes.
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I wasn’t paying too much attention when the kids and I went to pay for our goods. When I got home however, and looked at the receipt, I noticed that some of the pumpkins and gourds that we purchased were taxed while the apples and other kinds of pumpkins were not. I thought that food/fruit was a non taxable item in Pennsylvania. I’m wondering if the clerk just rang it up incorrectly but, before I call the farm, I’d like to know for certain that our purchases are indeed non taxable. – J.A. Doylestown
A. This is a good question to ask, however, the question of taxing or non-taxing on pumpkins and gourds is somewhat “grey”. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, “Pumpkins and gourds are taxable unless they are purchased for food.”
So basically, the pumpkins that your family will carve into a jack o lantern and the gourds that you plan to use in your fall decorations you can expect to be taxed. If however, you are purchasing pumpkins to make into pies and the gourd variety that you can eat, you should not be taxed on these items.
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I would recommend that next time; you make the clerk aware of the expected use of the pumpkins and/or gourds you are buying so that you can avoid incorrect taxation of these items.
If you would like to learn more about the Bucks County Weights and Measures Department, please visit us at www.buckscounty.org under “Consumer Protection” in the “Quick Links” section on the right hand side of the page.
