Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc. v. State Tax Commission

At issue is an assessment of sales tax under G. L. c. 64H on the rental of certain rubbish containers. The taxpayer’s business was rubbish removal. Three methods were used to collect rubbish from customers: (1) the manual emptying into the taxpayer’s trucks of conventional *327barrels and the like; (2) the pick-up of rubbish with hydraulic front-end and rear-end loaders; and (3) the “roll-off” method which gave rise to this controversy.

Roll-off customers were provided by the taxpayer with special containers for the deposit of their trash. These weighed 4,000 pounds empty, were five feet high,…