Publication 45, Hospitals and Other Medical Facilities
Appendix

Prescription Defined

To be exempt from tax, medicines sold by pharmacists and others must generally be prescribed by a licensed physician for the treatment of a patient or be furnished or provided in another manner prescribed by law as noted in the section Medicines, Medical Supplies, and Products.

"Prescription" means an oral, written, or electronic transmission order that is issued by a physician, dentist, optometrist, or podiatrist licensed in this state and written for a specific individual. The order must include the following:

  1. The name or names and address of the patient or patients.
  2. The name and quantity of the medicine or medical device prescribed and the directions for use.
  3. The date of issue.
  4. Either rubber-stamped, typed, or printed by hand or typeset, the name, address, and telephone number of the prescriber, their license classification, and their federal registry number, if a controlled substance is prescribed.
  5. A legible, clear notice of the conditions for which the medicine or medical device is being prescribed, if requested by the patient or patients.
  6. If in writing, signed by the prescriber issuing the order.

HMOs and Charges for the Use of Durable Medical Equipment

Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) that operate hospitals and clinics often provide durable medical equipment, such as wheelchairs, walkers, and so on, at no cost to members when ordered by a physician. If the HMO hospital retains ownership of the property (even if the patient does not return the property), the hospital is the consumer of the property. As the consumer, the hospital cannot purchase the equipment with an exemption certificate. Tax will generally apply to the hospital's purchase.

Filing a Claim for Refund

If you have paid sales tax reimbursement or use tax to a supplier or accrued and reported use tax directly to us on a purchase that is not subject to tax, a claim for refund may be filed for these amounts. However, it is important to note that, as a purchaser, the proper method of filing a claim for refund depends on whether the overpaid tax is either sales tax reimbursement paid to a supplier, or use tax paid to a supplier, or accrued and paid directly to us.

Refund of sales tax

When you pay sales tax reimbursement to a supplier on the purchase of an item that you believe is exempt or excluded from tax, you must file a claim for refund with the supplier from whom the property was purchased. The supplier may then file a claim for refund with us. If you file a claim for refund of sales tax reimbursement paid to a supplier directly with us, it will be denied.

Refund of use tax

When you accrue and report use tax directly to us on the purchase of an item you believe is exempt or excluded from tax, you may file a claim for refund directly with us. If use tax was paid to a supplier rather than directly to us, you have the option of filing a claim for refund directly with us or filing a claim for refund with the supplier who may then file a claim for refund with us on your behalf.

Filing deadlines

It is very important to note that any claim for refund must be filed with us in the proper time frame. Therefore, if you are filing a claim for refund of sales tax reimbursement, the claim must be filed with us by the supplier by the filing deadline. Whichever of the following dates occurs last is the filing deadline:

  • Three years from the due date of the return on which the tax was reported and paid.
  • Six months from the date you overpaid tax.
  • Six months from the date a determination (billing) became final.
  • Three years from the date we collect a payment through the use of a levy, lien, or other enforcement procedure.

How to file a claim for refund

You may file a claim for refund using our online services. To submit a claim for refund, simply log in using your username and password and click on the account for which you want to request a refund. Click on More under the I Want To section, then select Submit a Claim for Refund and follow the prompts. You may also use CDTFA-101, Claim for Refund or Credit, or write your own letter. Your claim must state all of the following:

  • The specific reasons for the claimed overpayment of tax.
  • The amount of the overpayment, if known. If you are not yet sure of the actual amount, you may file for an unspecified amount. If possible, please break down your total overpayment into state, local, and district tax amounts (specify the district or districts), and include any interest or penalties.
  • The reporting period or periods for which you paid too much tax. Your claim can cover more than one reporting period.

When you use CDTFA-101 or write your own letter, you must sign the form for the claim to be valid. Be sure to file your claim for refund by the applicable deadline and remember to include your telephone number so that we may contact you if there is a need.

Exemption Certificates

When purchasing medicines whose sales are exempt (as defined under Medicines, Medical Supplies and Products), you should issue an exemption certificate as provided in Regulation 1667, Exemption Certificates. You can also use an exemption certificate to purchase items that may be considered medicines depending on their use, such as ostomy appliances (see Ostomy appliances and supplies) and catheters (see Balloon catheters and other catheters).

Your supplier should not apply tax to your purchase if you submit a properly completed certificate. The proper use of an exemption certificate at the time of the transaction can prevent the need to file a claim for refund at a later date.

No specific form of the certificate is required; however, the certificate must contain the following information:

  • The name and address of the purchaser.
  • The number of the seller's permit held by the purchaser (if the purchaser is not required to hold a permit, a notation should be entered to that effect, explaining the reason a permit is not required).
  • A description of the property to be purchased.
  • The date of the document.
  • The signature of the purchaser or someone approved to act on their behalf.
  • A statement explaining how the property will be used to make the sales tax inapplicable to the sale.

Resale Certificates

As noted under Examples of purchases not subject to tax, you can submit a resale certificate to your supplier to purchase property, other than medicines, that you will resell and report and pay tax on. If you submit a properly completed resale certificate, your supplier will not charge tax.

We do not provide resale certificates. However, you may download CDTFA-230, General Resale Certificate, on our website.

Revision June 2026