CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 086121 JMH
Irving W. Smith, Jr., Esq.
1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Suite 1200F
Washington, D.C. 20004
RE: Point-of-sale terminals
Dear Mr. Smith:
Your November 14, 1989, request for a classification ruling
under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Annotated (HTSUSA) on behalf of VeriFone Corporation for certain
point-of-sale terminals, the VeriFone Zon Jr. XL and the Tranz
330, has been referred to this office for a reply.
FACTS:
The articles in question are the VeriFone Zon Jr. XL and the
Tranz 330 point-of-sale terminals. The Zon Jr. XL and the Tranz
330 are used by businesses to record sales transactions as they
occur. The sales data is entered manually through a keyboard or
automatically by using an incorporated card reader. Once the
sales information is entered, the terminals are able to record
inventory information, the amounts of each sale, and the total of
all sales. The devices are also able to perform automated
printing of customer receipts by the use of either a slip or roll
printer.
The Zon Jr. XL and the Tranz 330 each have a sixteen-key
keyboard for the manual input of data. The terminals have
sixteen-character vacuum fluorescent alphanumeric displays with a
decimal point and a comma. Both terminals are equipped with a
magnetic card reader, a serial port for printer support and a Z-
80 central processing unit with 32K EPROM. The Zon Jr. XL has
16K RAM and the Tranz 330 has 32K RAM. Both terminals are
battery backed. The Zon Jr. XL and the Tranz 330 have a built-
in Bell auto-dial modem. The terminals are operable on eight
communications networks.
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ISSUE:
Whether the Zon Jr. XL and the Tranz 330 point-of-sale
terminals are "cash registers" within the meaning of heading
8470, HTSUSA.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is
governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1,
HTSUSA, states in part that "for legal purposes, classification
shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and
any relative section or chapter notes and...according ..to the
following provisions."
You contend that the Zon Jr. XL and the Tranz 330 are cash
registers, and therefore, heading 8470, HTSUSA, is the
appropriate heading. This heading describes the following:
8470 Calculating machines; accounting machines,
cash registers, postage franking machines,
ticket issuing machines and similar machines,
incorporating a calculating device...
8470.50.00 Cash registers...
In order to determine what is a cash register, the
Explanatory Notes to the HTSUSA must be utilized. The
Explanatory Notes, although not dispositive, are to be looked to
for the proper interpretation of the HTSUSA. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127,
35128 (August 23, 1989).
Explanatory Note 84.70(C) of the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Commodity System (HCDCS) defines "cash register"
as follows:
These machines are used in shops, offices, etc.,
to provide a record of all transactions (sales,
services rendered, etc.,) as they occur, of the amounts
involved, the total of the amounts recorded and, in
some cases, the code number of the article, quantity
sold, time of transaction, etc.
The data are introduced manually by means of a
keyboard and a stop, lever or handle. Like calculating
and accounting machines, however, however, some cash
registers have ancillary facilities for the automatic
input of recurrent or pre-set data (e.g., card or tape
readers).
Usually, the result is visually displayed and
printed, at the same time, on a ticket for the customer
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and on a tally roll which is periodically removed from
the machine for checking purposes.
These machines are oftem combined with a till or
drawer in which the cash is kept.
They may also incorporate or work in conjunction
with devices such as multipliers for increasing their
calculating capacity, calculators of change due,
automatic change dispensers, trading stamp dispensers,
credit card readers, check digit verifiers, or
appliances for transcribing all or part of the data on
transactions onto data media in coded form.
This heading also covers cash registers working in
conjunction, on-line or off-line, with an automatic
data processing machine. Explanatory Note 84.70(C),
HCDCS, Vol. 3, p. 1295.
As the note makes clear, cash registers are machines (1)
used to provide a record of all transactions as they occur and
(2) which input data, either manually or automatically. This
note draws no distinction between machines that operate on-line
or off-line with an automatic data processing machine. There is
no requirement that a cash drawer be incorporated with the
device.
The language of Explanatory Note 84.70(C), HCDCS, makes
clear that the Zon Jr. XL and the Tranz 330 point-of-sale
terminals are "cash registers" within the meaning of heading
8470. Both terminals provide a record of all sales transactions
after the sale information is entered. Therefore, the
appropriate classification for the terminals is subheading
8470.50.00, HTSUSA.
HOLDING:
The Zon Jr. XL and the Tranz 330 point-of-sale terminals are
"cash registers" within the meaning of heading 8470, HTSUSA.
Both terminals provide a record of all sales transactions after
the sale information is entered. Therefore, the appropriate
classification for the terminals is subheading 8470.50.00,
HTSUSA.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division