When a nonprofit animal welfare organization or nonprofit animal shelter sells an animal, including the acceptance of an adoption fee, the sale is exempt from sales and use tax.
A nonprofit animal welfare organization is a nonprofit organization that has as its purpose the prevention of cruelty to animals; or providing shelter, homes, or care for lost, stray and abandoned animals. Health and Safety Code Section 821.021. An animal shelter is a facility that keeps or legally impounds stray, homeless, abandoned or unwanted animals. Health and Safety Code Section 823.001.
For information regarding tax-exempt purchases by nonprofit animal welfare organizations and nonprofit animal shelters, see Publication 96-122, Nonprofit and Exempt Organizations – Purchases and Sales.