New York. For sales tax, a hot dog on a bun counts as a sandwich there, and the only other state I’ve seen reported is Colorado.
What New York says
Sandwiches are taxed in New York, so the state’s tax department publishes a bulletin on what counts as one. Its list of examples includes “hot dogs and sausages on buns, rolls, etc.” It was issued in April 2019.
Who else has an opinion
Merriam-Webster said in 2016 that a hot dog is a sandwich, going by its own definition: a filling between two slices of bread or in a split roll. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council disagrees. It says the hot dog is a category of its own. Neither of them is a state.
Everywhere else
Colorado is reported to have counted hot dogs as sandwiches under a 2016 liquor-licensing rule about what bars have to serve, but I couldn’t find the rule itself, so Colorado stays yellow on the map. I couldn’t find a country that has ruled on it.
The nearest thing to a court case is from Massachusetts. In 2006 a judge ruled that a burrito isn’t a sandwich, in a row over whether a Mexican restaurant could open in the same shopping centre as a sandwich shop. Nobody asked him about hot dogs.
For more of the same, see each state’s official drink or Wyoming against the other 49 states.
Sources: New York State Tax Bulletin TB-ST-835, Mental Floss on Merriam-Webster, on the Hot Dog Council and the 2006 burrito case.
| Who | Verdict | Year |
|---|---|---|
| New York State tax department | A sandwich, for sales tax | 2019 |
| Merriam-Webster | A sandwich | 2016 |
| National Hot Dog and Sausage Council | Not a sandwich | 2015 |
| Massachusetts Superior Court | Not asked. It ruled that a burrito isn’t a sandwich | 2006 |
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