If I rent portable cold-storage units to customers and already paid sales tax when I bought the units, do I have to charge my customers sales tax on the rental, storage, delivery, and other fees I bill them?

Plain-English summary

Missouri's Department of Revenue ruled on six separate questions from a franchisee that rents portable steel storage units ("Units") -- some insulated and climate-controlled, some not -- to residential and commercial customers under a "COOL-BINZ" type business model. The company buys its Units and pays sales tax on that purchase without claiming a resale exemption, then rents the Units out, delivers and picks them up, sometimes stores loaded Units at its own yard, and separately sells accessories like locks and packing materials.

The core holding: because the company already paid sales tax when it purchased the Units (and did not claim a resale exemption), Missouri's "already-taxed" rule for leased tangible personal property means it does not have to collect sales tax again on the recurring rental charges -- whether the Unit sits on the customer's premises or gets moved to the company's own storage yard. Storage-only charges (for Units moved to the company's facility and no longer independently accessible to the customer) are separately exempt for a different reason: storage services are not a specifically enumerated taxable service under Chapter 144, RSMo.

Delivery, pickup, and relocation fees are also exempt, but for two different reasons depending on how they're billed. Mandatory fees bundled into the rental package are exempt because the underlying rental itself isn't taxable (having already been taxed at purchase). Optional, separately stated fees for extra delivery, pickup, relocation, insurance, contents protection, cleaning, after-hours access, and late payment charges are exempt because they are optional, separately stated, and/or not enumerated taxable services at all. The one exception to this run of "not taxable" answers: sales of physical accessories -- locks, boxes, packing materials, and similar moving/storage supplies -- ARE subject to Missouri sales tax, because those are ordinary retail sales of tangible personal property with no applicable exemption.

What this means for you

Cold storage and portable storage unit operators

If you buy your rental units and pay sales tax at the time of purchase (without claiming a resale exemption), Missouri's rule in Section 144.020.1(8), RSMo lets you skip charging sales tax again on the rental income from those units -- this applies whether the unit stays at the customer's site or later gets moved to your own storage yard. But this hinges entirely on having paid tax at purchase; if you instead bought units tax-free under a resale exemption, this ruling's logic would not protect your rental charges the same way.

Storage and warehouse operators more generally

Charges for pure storage services (holding a customer's already-loaded unit at your facility, where the customer no longer has independent access) are exempt because storage is simply not on Missouri's list of taxable services under Chapter 144, RSMo -- separate from the "already-taxed" rental logic above.

Businesses that bundle delivery, insurance, or other add-on fees

How you structure and state your fees matters. Mandatory delivery/pickup fees folded into a rental package ride along with the (non-taxable) rental. Optional fees -- extra relocation, insurance, cleaning, after-hours access, late fees -- stay untaxed only if they are genuinely optional and separately stated on the invoice; bundling them into the mandatory price without separate statement risks pulling them into a taxable gross receipts calculation.

Businesses that also sell physical accessories

If you sell locks, boxes, packing materials, or similar accessories separately from the rental, those are ordinary taxable retail sales -- there's no exemption for them just because they're sold alongside an otherwise tax-exempt rental.

Common questions

Q: Why don't I have to collect sales tax on the rental income if I already collect rent from customers?
A: Because Missouri's tax scheme taxes tangible personal property once, either at the sale/purchase or at the rental, not both. Section 144.020.1(8), RSMo specifically says that if the lessor already paid tax when purchasing the property (without a resale exemption), the lessor should not also collect tax on the rental receipts from that same property. The ruling cites APLUX, LLC v. Dir. of Revenue, 619 S.W.3d 462, 467 (Mo. Banc 2021) for this principle.

Q: Does it matter whether the unit stays on the customer's property or gets moved to the company's own yard?
A: Not for tax purposes here, though the reasoning differs. Rental charges for units still on the customer's premises are exempt because tax was already paid at purchase. Charges for storing loaded units at the company's own facility (where the customer typically no longer has independent access) are separately exempt because storage services simply aren't a taxable service under Missouri's sales tax statute.

Q: Are delivery and pickup fees taxable?
A: Generally no in this fact pattern -- whether mandatory (bundled into the rental package) or optional and separately stated, but for different reasons. Mandatory fees are exempt because they ride with the untaxed rental transaction; optional fees are exempt because they are separately stated and the customer isn't required to pay them to rent a unit.

Q: What actually IS taxable here?
A: Only one thing among the six issues addressed: separate retail sales of locks, boxes, packing materials, and other storage/moving accessories. Those are ordinary sales of tangible personal property with no exemption that applies, so sales tax must be collected on them.

Q: Can I rely on this ruling for my own storage-rental business?
A: No, not directly. This is a Missouri letter ruling issued under Section 536.021.10, RSMo and 12 CSR 10-1.020. By its own terms it binds the Department only with respect to the Applicant who requested it, only for three years from its date, and only so long as the facts don't change and the underlying law isn't changed by the legislature or courts. No other taxpayer can rely on it, though it's a useful signal of how the Department reasons about similar facts.

Citations and references

Statutes and regulations:

• Section 536.021.10, RSMo (letter ruling authority)
• Section 144.020.1(1), RSMo (imposition of sales tax on retail sales of tangible personal property)
• Section 144.020.1(8), RSMo (tax on rental/lease of tangible personal property; no additional tax if tax already paid at purchase)
• Section 144.010.1(13), RSMo (definition of sale at retail)
• Section 144.605(8), RSMo (definition of sales price for use tax; excludes separately stated delivery charges)
• Section 144.010.1(4), RSMo (definition of gross receipts; excludes usual and customary separately stated delivery charges)
• Section 144.030, RSMo (sales tax exemptions)
• 12 CSR 10-108.700 (taxability of leases of tangible personal property)
• 12 CSR 10-103.600 (taxability of services and of charges bundled with sales of tangible personal property)

Case law:

• APLUX, LLC v. Dir. of Revenue, 619 S.W.3d 462, 467 (Mo. Banc 2021)

Source

• Landing page: Missouri DOR Rulings Search
• Ruling: LR 8382

Original ruling text

Dear Applicant

This is a letter ruling issued by the Director of Revenue under Section 536.021.10, RSMo, and Missouri Code of State Regulations 12 CSR 10-1.020, in response to your letter dated December 9, 2025.

The facts presented in your letter ruling request are summarized as follows:

Applicant operates a COOL-BINZ portable storage franchise in Missouri. The business provides insulated, climate-controlled, and non-climate-controlled steel portable storage units ("Units") for residential and commercial customers. Applicant operates from a fixed Missouri location from which it dispatches Units and, in some cases, stores Units on behalf of customers. All Units used in the business are purchased subject to the applicable sales tax of the relevant jurisdiction in which the Units are purchased. Applicant does not claim a resale exemption on its acquisition of any Units and considers itself the final consumer of Units for sales and use tax purposes.

Customers may rent one or more Units for short-term or long-term projects. Applicant delivers the Unit or Units to the customer's Missouri premises using Applicant's own trucks or contracted carriers. The customer is responsible for loading and unloading the Unit or Units at the customer's premises and has exclusive physical access to Units while they are on the customer's premises. Applicant does not use, access, or control the contents of any such Unit during this time. Applicant retains legal ownership of the Units at all times; customers do not acquire any ownership interest in the Unit(s) on their premises. Customers pay a recurring rental charge for the rental period, which continues until the customer requests that the Unit or Units be picked up and removed.

In some cases, after a customer has loaded a Unit at their premises, Applicant transports the loaded Unit to Applicant's secured yard or warehouse in Missouri, where the Unit will remain. While a Unit remains at Applicant's facility, customers generally do not have independent access to the Unit. Access is controlled by Applicant and is typically by appointment or under Applicant's supervision. Applicant treats such arrangements as the provision of storage services for the customer's property, with the Unit functioning as part of the taxpayer's storage infrastructure rather than as a separately rented item of property.

Applicant charges customers fees for delivery of Units, pickup and removal of Units, and, where requested, relocation of Units. Applicant may structure these fees in two ways: first as mandatory fees included as part of the rental package that a customer must pay before renting a Unit, or second, as separately stated, optional fees for delivery and relocation services based on whether the customer utilizes such services, such as additional relocation of a Unit beyond the initial delivery and final pickup.

Applicant may also charge customers additional fees that are not required to rent or store a Unit, which may include: contents protection or insurance, optional cleaning services, after-hours access or other special handling services, and late payment or non-sufficient funds charges. Such charges are billed separately as they are not mandatory components of every transaction. Applicant also occasionally sells tangible personal property separately from rental costs, such as locks, boxes, packing materials, and other such moving and storage accessories.

ISSUE 1:

Are recurring rental charges for Units located at a customer's premises subject to Missouri sales tax where the renting business paid sales tax on their purchase of such Units?

RESPONSE 1:

No. Recurring rental charges for Units located at a customer's premises are not subject to Missouri sales tax where the lessor paid sales tax when purchasing the Units without claiming a resale exemption.

Section 144.020.1(1) RSMo, provides a tax to be levied: "Upon every retail sale in this state of tangible personal property ... a tax equivalent to four percent of the purchase price paid or charged..."

Section 144.020.1(8), RSMo, provides a tax on rentals as:

"A tax equivalent to four percent of the amount paid or charged for rental or lease of tangible personal property, provided that if the lessor or renter of any tangible personal property had previously purchased the property under the conditions of sale at retail or leased or rented the property and the tax was paid at the time of purchase, lease or rental, the lessor, sublessor, renter, or subrenter shall not apply or collect the tax on the subsequent lease, sublease, rental, or subrental receipts from that property."

Section 144.010.1(13), RSMo, defines a sale at retail to mean: "...Any transfer made by any person engaged in business as defined herein of the ownership of, or title to, tangible personal property to the purchaser, for use or consumption and not for resale in any form as tangible personal property, for a valuable consideration..."

Section 144.605(8), RSMo, defines sales price for the purposes of the complementary use tax as:

"The consideration, including the charges for services, except charges incident to the extension of credit, paid or given, or contracted to be paid or given, by the purchaser to the vendor for the tangible personal property, including any services that are a part of the sale ... and any amount for which credit is given to the purchaser by the vendor...The sales tax price shall not include usual and customary delivery charges that are separately stated.

"The regulation found in 12 CSR 10-108.700 states:

"(1) In general, payments for the lease of tangible personal property are subject to tax unless the lessor paid tax on the purchase of the property. Payments for the lease of tangible personal property are exempt from tax if the sale of tangible personal property would be exempt."

If tangible personal property is purchased not subject to a resale exemption, such that sales or use tax is paid on the item of tangible personal property by the purchaser at the point of purchase, then subsequent lease of that tangible personal property is not subject to sales or use tax. APLUX, LLC v. Dir. Of Revenue, 619 S.W.3d 462, 467 (Mo. Banc 2021).

Applicant pays the applicable sales tax at the point of purchase in the relevant jurisdiction where Applicant purchases the Units they lease. Therefore, Applicant should not collect sales tax on the recurring rental fees charged for the lease of such Units.

ISSUE 2:

Are charges for storage services for Units loaded at a customer's premises and transferred to a business's storage facility, to remain at such storage facility for the duration of the lease term, subject to Missouri sales tax?

RESPONSE 2:

No. Charges for storage of Units at Applicant's facilities are not subject to sales tax because storage services are not a specifically enumerated taxable service under Chapter 144 RSMo.

Section 144.020.1 RSMo provides: "A tax is hereby levied and imposed ... upon all sellers for the privilege of ... rendering taxable service at retail in this state."

The regulation in 12 CSR 10-103.600 provides: "The sale of a service is not subject to tax unless a specific statute authorizes the taxation of the service."

Applicant provides storage services for Units stored at their Missouri facilities after being loaded at a customer's premises. Sale of storage services is not a specifically enumerated taxable service under 144.020.1. Therefore, Applicant should not collect sales tax on the charges for storage of customer's loaded Units at Applicant's Missouri facilities.

ISSUE 3:

Are mandatory fees for delivery and pickup of Units that are included as part of an initial rental package, such that a customer must pay such fees in order to rent a Unit, subject to Missouri sales tax?

RESPONSE 3:

No. Mandatory fees for delivery and pickup are not subject to Missouri sales tax because they are not part of a taxable transaction.

12 CSR 10-103.600(3)(A)(1) provides: "If the purchaser is required to pay for the service as part of the sale price of tangible personal property, the entire sale price is subject to tax."

Section 144.010.1(4) provides: "'Gross Receipts', except as provided in section 144.012, means the total amount of the sale price of the sales at retail including any services other than charges incident to the extension of credit that are a part of such sales ... The term gross receipts shall not include usual and customary delivery charges that are stated separately from the sale price."

Applicant's mandatory delivery and pickup fees are intended to be a required part of the transaction to lease Units because the customer must pay such fees prior to renting a Unit. Such mandatory pickup fees would be included in the total sale price for purposes of sales tax liability pursuant to 12 CSR 10-103.600(3)(A)(2). Mandatory delivery fees would not be taxable, as they are usual and customary delivery charges separate from the sale price and thus not included in gross receipts. Additionally, because Applicant paid sales tax on their purchase of the Units Applicant leases, the mandatory service fees are not part of a taxable transaction. Therefore, Applicant should not collect sales tax on their mandatory delivery and pickup service fees.

ISSUE 4:

Are optional, separately stated service charges for additional delivery, pickup, and relocation services that are available at the customer's discretion subject to Missouri sales tax?

RESPONSE 4:

No. Optional, separately stated service charges are not subject to sales tax because they are not intended to be part of the lease transaction.

12 CSR 10-103.600(3)(A)(1) provides:

"If the purchaser is not required to pay the service charge as part of the sale price of tangible personal property, the amount paid for the service is not subject to tax if the charge for such service is separately stated. If the charge for the service is not separately stated, the entire sale price is subject to tax."

Applicant's optional relocation fees and optional, additional delivery and pickup fees are not intended to be part of the lease transaction because a customer can lease a Unit without ever incurring one of these charges. The charges are separately stated from the sale price and are incurred only if the customer elects to utilize such services. Therefore, pursuant to 12 CSR 10-103.600(3)(A)(1), Applicant should not collect sales tax on their optional, separately stated delivery, pickup, and relocation service charges.

ISSUE 5:

Are optional, separately stated fees for services such as insurance, contents protection, optional cleaning, after-hours access, late payment charges, and similar optional amounts subject to Missouri sales tax?

RESPONSE 5:

No. Fees for optional, separately stated services are not subject to Missouri sales tax because they were not intended to be part of the transaction, and such services are not an enumerated taxable service under Chapter 144 RSMo.

See above for relevant legal standards.

Under 12 CSR 10-103.600(3)(A)(2), optional service charges are not taxable if they are separately stated from the sales transaction. Additionally, services such as insurance, content protection, cleaning, storage access, late payments, and similar services are not enumerated taxable services under 144.020 RSMo. Thus, they are not taxable either as part of the lease transaction nor as a separately engaged service. Therefore, Applicant should not collect sales tax on fees for optional, separately stated services such as insurance, contents protection, cleaning, after-hours access, late payments, or any other such optional, separately stated service charges.

ISSUE 6:

Are sales of locks, boxes, packing materials, and other such storage accessories subject to Missouri sales tax?

RESPONSE 6:

Yes. Sales of storage accessories are subject to sales tax because they are sales of tangible personal property to which no sales tax exemption applies.

12 CSR 10-103.600(1) provides: "In general, the sale of tangible personal property is subject to tax unless a specific statute exempts it."

Applicant sells locks, boxes, and other such storage accessories that constitute tangible personal property. Such sales are optional transactions separate from Unit lease transactions. There is no sales tax exemption for such sales under 144.030 RSMo. Therefore, Applicant should collect sales tax on their sales of locks, boxes, packing materials, and other such storage accessories that constitute tangible personal property.

This letter ruling is binding upon the Department of Revenue with respect to the Applicant for three (3) years from the date of this letter and is subject only to statutory changes by the General Assembly and to changes in the interpretation of law by the courts or administrative tribunals.  If a change occurs, the taxpayer who relies upon an outdated interpretation may be subject to additional taxes, interest and penalties, which may be imposed prospectively from the date of the change.  For this reason, the interpretation set forth above should be reviewed on a regular basis.  Please note that any change in or deviation from the facts as presented will render this ruling inapplicable.

Should additional information be needed, please contact Legal Counsel Gabriel Barnes, General Counsel's Office, Post Office Box 475, Jefferson City, Missouri 65105-0475, phone (573) 751-0961.

Sincerely,

Trish Vincent