Subway Charges Tax on Toasted (Heated) Subs Sandwiches

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I recently grabbed a quick lunch from Subway, fully taking advantage of the $5 footlong special that they have running in February. I ordered my usual…a foot-long tuna.

Anyways, what caught my attention this time was that I didn’t get charged my normal amount, a flat $5. Although it was only slightly more ($5.46 or something), I asked the cashier…how come? She said, “Oh because you got one of them 6 inch sandwiches toasted, so there’s tax on it.” I was like, “really? so when you get a sub toasted, you guys charge tax? why?” She had no idea why.

I found that kinda weird and interested. I mean I’ve heard places charging tax if you “eat in” vs “to go”. That’s why places like Coffee Bean ask “for here or to go?” When you say “for here”, they end up charging tax.

I don’t get where heating sandwiches falls under California’s tax laws…maybe someone can help me make sense of this.

I found a few articles and forum posts about this, here is one. Some people say this tax is referred to as “hot food tax”.