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Ezel / Tax Rulings / CT
CT Ruling 90-44 Sales and Use Taxes 1990-04-26

Were engineering design services taxable for plant equipment shelters and for a small mobile, easily disassembled control building?

Short answer: Building-design services for private clients were taxable regardless of the building's use, including shelters for equipment at wastewater, solid-waste, or waste-treatment plants; municipal projects were exempt. But DRS did not treat a professional engineer's design of a small mobile, easily disassembled control structure as building engineering, so that design was not taxed. The ruling is obsolete under AN 94(3).

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1990. Ezel answers yours, under current Connecticut tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1990
Subsequent statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later rulings may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, rate, or position mentioned here.
Disclaimer: This is an official 1990 Connecticut Department of Revenue Services Ruling reflecting the engineering-service rules then in effect. DRS expressly marks it 'not current' and says it was obsoleted by Announcement (AN) 94(3). Its building-design and mobile-structure classifications should not be assumed current, and another taxpayer should not assume they apply. Connecticut imposes sales and use tax solely at the state level: there are no local or municipal sales taxes. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice. Consult a licensed Connecticut tax professional about your specific situation.
About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official state tax ruling. The original ruling (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source for any reliance.
View original ruling (PDF)

Note -- obsolete historical guidance. DRS marks this ruling "not current" and states that it was obsoleted by Announcement (AN) 94(3).

Plain-English summary

Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-407(2)(i)(F), Connecticut historically taxed architectural, building-engineering, and design services without regard to the type of building designed.

DRS therefore treated design services for buildings sheltering equipment at operations such as a wastewater treatment plant, solid-waste incinerator, or waste-treatment plant as taxable when performed for private clients. The same services were exempt when rendered to municipalities.

The result changed for a small control structure that was mobile and easily disassembled. DRS did not regard professional-engineer design of that structure as building-engineering services, so its design receipts were not subject to sales and use tax.

What this means for you

The historical ruling distinguished a building by its structural character, not by the industrial process inside it. A mobile, easily disassembled control structure fell outside building engineering. AN 94(3) later obsoleted the ruling.

Common questions

Did an equipment shelter avoid tax because it served a treatment plant? No. For a private client, the building's function did not change the taxable design classification.

Were municipal design services taxable? The ruling says they were exempt.

Why was the small control-building design not taxed? DRS treated the mobile, easily disassembled structure as something other than a building for this service classification.

Citations and references

  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-407(2)(i)(F).
  • Announcement (AN) 94(3) -- identified by DRS as obsoleting this ruling.

Source

Original ruling text

Ruling 90-44, Engineering Services

This information is not current and is being provided for reference purposes only

Ruling 90-44

Engineering Services

This Ruling has been obsoleted by   AN 94(3)

Section 12-407(2)(i)(F) of the Connecticut General Statutes imposes the sales and use tax on "architectural, building engineering and design services" without regard to the type of building which is designed.

Accordingly, building design services are subject to sales tax when the building involved serves as a shelter for certain equipment in operations such as a waste water treatment plant, a solid waste incinerator or a waste treatment plant. While these design services are exempt when rendered to municipalities, they are subject to sales tax when rendered for private clients.

The department does not regard the designing of structures by professional engineers that are mobile and easily disassembled as building engineering services. Therefore, the gross receipts for designing the small mobile control building are not subject to sales and use tax.

LEGAL DIVISION

April 26, 1990

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