New York State Tax Rulings
Free plain-English summaries of state tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued in New York, with full citations and the original source on every page.
No New York rulings match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Is a fixed fee that an antiques show promoter charges dealers and vendors for temporary booth space a nontaxable real-property rental, or a taxable sale of tangible personal property or services?
The booth-space fee itself is not subject to sales tax — it's a rental or license to use real property, which New York doesn't tax. But that exemption doesn't extend upstream: because the promoter is …
Do a patient-restraint 'Security Vest' and 'Tie-Back Vest,' sold to hospitals and nursing homes, qualify for New York's under-$110 clothing exemption, or as exempt medical equipment?
The vests don't qualify for the clothing exemption, but they do qualify as exempt medical equipment in most sales. Even though patients wear them, their primary function is to serve as a safety restra…
In a multi-tier supply chain for prepaid telephone calling cards, who owes New York sales tax on sales made from 1998-2000, and what happens when resale certificates were never issued between the companies?
It depends on the date of sale and whether a resale certificate was properly obtained. Before March 1, 2000, New York didn't tax the sale of a prepaid calling card itself — tax applied only when the e…
Are a multilevel marketer's dietary supplement capsules, powders, and bars exempt from New York sales tax, and what about its antiseptic gel and its skin-care lotions?
Most of the products are exempt, but two specific lotions are taxable. The bulk of the company's line — capsules, powders, tablets, caplets, and bars marketed as dietary supplements that substitute fo…
Is a company's charge to a day camp for supplying only the labor to cook meals — with the camp buying the groceries, setting the menu, and handling serving and cleanup — subject to New York sales tax?
No. The company's fee is not subject to sales or compensating use tax, because it isn't selling any food, drink, or tangible personal property, and it isn't providing catering — the camp itself buys t…
Does a children's baking-party business have to register as a vendor and collect sales tax on its birthday party packages, which bundle a baking class with snacks and drinks served on-site?
Yes. Baking instruction by itself isn't a taxable service, but because Little Chefs also serves food and drinks (pizza, juice, snacks) to the children for consumption on its premises while the baked g…
Is an uninstalled, portable greenhouse used to farm tilapia fish for food exempt from New York sales and use tax under the farming exemption?
Yes. Raising tilapia fish for sale as food counts as 'farming' under New York's tax rules, and the greenhouse — built over an in-ground pond to control temperature and sunlight for the fish and the al…
Are a swim-and-health club's membership fees subject to New York State or New York City sales tax?
No. Waterside Swim and Health Club's membership fees are not subject to any New York State or New York City sales tax. Members have no ownership interest in the club, no control over its social or ath…
When a Canadian company designs, engineers, and fabricates structural steel and sells the finished steel to a New York vendor for use in a NY construction project, is New York use tax based on the whole price, or can the design/engineering portion be carved out?
New York's compensating use tax applies to the entire price paid for steel fabricated outside the state and brought in for a construction project, including the cost of design and engineering — even i…
Is a subcontractor's charge to a general contractor for temporary protective pedestrian walkways at a capital-improvement construction site subject to New York sales tax?
It depends on how the arrangement is structured. If the subcontractor is simply renting the walkway equipment to the general contractor (with installation and dismantling as part of that rental), the …
If a curling club converts from a taxable social/athletic club to a tax-exempt organization, does that change whether its membership dues are subject to New York sales tax?
Yes, the change matters a great deal. Once the club qualifies and is certified as a tax-exempt organization under New York's exemption for charitable/educational/amateur-sports organizations, its memb…
Is a contractor's lease of fuel-distribution equipment from the Port Authority — used to fuel and defuel commercial aircraft it doesn't own — exempt from New York sales tax?
Yes. Fueling and defueling services are activities that keep commercial aircraft in a condition of fitness, efficiency, readiness, or safety, so they qualify as exempt aircraft maintenance services — …
Is a candy manufacturer's wastewater pipeline, metering/sampling equipment, and holding tank exempt as manufacturing waste-treatment equipment, or taxable as building materials?
The pipelines carrying wastewater from the plants to the holding tank, the flow metering and sampling equipment, and the holding tank itself all qualify as exempt manufacturing equipment, because they…
Which of a securities printer's corporate documents — prospectuses, proxy materials, SEC forms, offering circulars — qualify as exempt 'promotional materials' when mailed free to shareholders?
It depends on the specific document type. Prospectuses, red herring prospectuses, offering circulars, tender offer documents, private placement memorandums, and Forms 10-K and 10-Q all qualify as exem…
Is freshly extracted wheat grass juice and vegetable juice sold at a health food store's juice bar exempt from New York sales tax as food, or as a health-preservation product?
The juices are not exempt as a special health-preservation product — that exemption is meant for drug-like items, not nutrient-rich foods and beverages. But they are exempt beverages under the ordinar…
Can a cable manufacturer treat the scrap value of a customer's used cable as a tax-reducing 'trade-in' credit against the price of new cable, where the used cable is shipped straight to a third-party scrap dealer instead of back to the manufacturer?
It depends on how the deal is papered. Crediting a customer for the scrap value of its used cable against the price of new cable can qualify as a tax-reducing 'trade-in,' even though the used cable is…
Are a corporate aircraft division's aircraft purchases and maintenance services exempt from New York sales tax as commercial aircraft, and are its cost-based intercompany flight charges to affiliates exempt air transportation rather than a taxable aircraft rental?
Yes. The Department ruled that Tropicana's aircraft operations division (SoBe) owns aircraft used over 90% for transporting PepsiCo affiliates' employees and customers for cost-based compensation, so …
Are an aircraft-owning subsidiary's purchases of its aircraft and maintenance services exempt from New York sales tax, and are the operating-cost charges it bills to affiliates for flights exempt as air transportation rather than a taxable aircraft rental?
Yes, once the lease ends. The Department ruled the subsidiary's aircraft qualify as tax-exempt 'commercial aircraft' because over 90% of flight time transports affiliates' employees and customers for …
Are admission fees, shop sales, reproduction charges, and 'Charter Founder'/'Sustaining Member' contributions collected by the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation's American Family Immigration History Center subject to New York sales tax?
It depends on the charge. Admission fees to the genealogy research center are exempt as an exempt organization's museum/historic-site admissions, but sales of shop items and reproductions of records (…
If a motor-vehicle leasing company uses a Qualified Intermediary to structure its vehicle sales as an IRC Section 1031 like-kind exchange, does the Qualified Intermediary have to register as a New York sales tax vendor?
No. Because the Qualified Intermediary only manages the escrowed sale proceeds and never takes title to or possession of any vehicle, it isn't a sales tax 'vendor' and doesn't have to register or coll…
Can a mail-order company that used to have traveling sales representatives in New York, but no longer has any physical presence there, stop collecting New York sales tax and surrender its vendor registration?
Yes. Once a mail-order company has no employees, independent sales representatives, or other physical presence in New York, catalog and website solicitation alone doesn't create nexus, so it may surre…
Is a highway contractor's purchase of steel materials to build a temporary traffic-detour crossover for a state expressway interchange exempt from sales and use tax?
Yes. Because the steel crossover becomes the property of the New York State Department of Transportation upon installation and functions as an integral, if temporary, part of the state highway, the co…
Do the fork trucks used to unload raw materials and the storage racking that holds them before production qualify for New York's manufacturing exemption from sales tax?
Yes, both do. Because the manufacturer only visually checks and counts raw materials without weighing, testing, or measuring them, production is considered to begin at unloading -- so equipment used t…
Who is responsible for collecting and remitting New York sales tax when an insurance administrator sells extended service contracts on automobiles through credit unions and dealerships?
Both. When credit unions and dealerships sell extended service contracts on behalf of an out-of-state administrator, they become co-vendors jointly and severally liable, with the administrator, for co…
Is a hotel relieved of its duty to collect sales tax on a New York State employee's room just because the employee pays with a credit card embossed 'tax exempt'?
No. A credit card embossed 'tax exempt' issued to a New York State employee is not, by itself, enough to relieve a hotel of its duty to collect sales tax on the room, because the card's receipt doesn'…
Are Vitoss and Cortoss, two synthetic bone void fillers, exempt from New York sales tax as prosthetic aids when sold to hospitals and physicians?
It depends on the product. Vitoss, which dissolves and is gradually replaced by the patient's own bone, does not qualify as a prosthetic aid and is taxable when sold to a for-profit medical practice (…
Are charges for web site design and development services subject to New York State sales tax?
No. Web site design and development services are not subject to New York sales tax, whether the finished site is delivered by uploading it to a hosted server or by sending the client a CD-ROM, because…
Are the food, beverage, and lane-rental charges for a bowling alley's 'bowling party' packages subject to New York sales tax?
It's split. The lane-rental charge for a bowling party is exempt from sales tax as a participatory-sporting-activity admission charge, but the food and beverage charges (and any gratuities paid over i…
Is a company's licensed equity-trading software, along with its customer support, training, and customization charges, subject to New York sales and use tax?
It depends on whether the software is 'prewritten' or truly custom. If the FLEXTRADE software (or its updates) wasn't designed and developed to each specific customer's own specifications, it's taxabl…
Are prospectuses, proxy materials, offering circulars, and SEC forms that a securities printer mails free to shareholders exempt from New York sales tax as promotional materials?
It depends on the document. Prospectuses, red herring prospectuses, offering circulars, tender offer materials, private placement memorandums, and Forms 10-K/10-Q qualify as exempt promotional materia…
Is a hotel's floor-by-floor reconstruction project -- including wall demolition, skimming, painting, wall coverings, and new carpet -- exempt from New York sales tax as a capital improvement?
Mostly yes, with one exception. Hilton's multi-million-dollar floor-by-floor reconstruction -- demolishing and re-plastering walls, painting, and installing wall coverings -- qualifies as an exempt ca…
Can a member-owned private ski club avoid sales tax on members' ski lift passes by billing them separately from annual dues instead of bundling them together?
No. Because the ski club is a member-owned social/athletic club, any charge to members for use of its ski lifts and slopes counts as taxable club 'dues' under New York law regardless of how it's bille…
Are a new media company's web site development, design, consulting, and maintenance services subject to New York sales and use tax?
Web site development, design, implementation, consulting, and content maintenance are not subject to sales tax, even when the site is delivered on a CD-ROM. But the company's own purchases of prewritt…
When a contractor installs kitchen appliances for hotels, institutions, and tax-exempt organizations, which appliances are taxable free-standing property and which are tax-exempt capital improvements — and does it matter when title to the appliances transfers or whether the customer is tax-exempt?
Free-standing appliances like dishwashers, refrigerators, ovens, and stoves remain taxable tangible personal property even when installed as part of a larger project, but built-in appliances (cabinets…
Is a web-hosting company's purchase of internet 'bandwidth' from telecommunications carriers exempt from New York sales tax as interstate or international telephone service?
No, it's taxable. Even though most of the web site's visitor traffic comes from outside New York, the bandwidth purchase itself is treated as intrastate telephone service delivered to and consumed by …
Are refundable 'land fund' security deposits that a country club requires as a condition of membership subject to New York's social/athletic club dues tax?
Yes. A 'land fund' deposit that a country club requires new members to pay as a condition of joining is an 'initiation fee' subject to sales tax, regardless of the fact that it's kept in a segregated …
Can a bus company get a New York sales tax refund on the portion of its diesel fuel purchase price that corresponds to federal excise tax the IRS later refunds to it?
No. Because the sales tax is computed on the full price the vendor actually received at the time of the sale -- which properly includes the federal excise tax embedded in that price -- a later refund …
Is an elk farmer's purchase of a hydraulic elk squeeze and handling system exempt from New York sales and use tax as farming production equipment?
Yes, as long as it's used more than half the time for that purpose. Because the elk squeeze and its handling pens are used to immobilize elk for artificial insemination, semen collection, antler velve…
Does selling candy and snacks from open, unlocked vending trays for 75 cents or less qualify for New York's coin-operated vending machine sales tax exemption?
No. An open vending tray where customers simply take candy or snacks and drop payment in a nearby coin box is not a 'vending machine' under New York's sales tax law, so sales through it don't qualify …
For a $1.3 billion JFK Airport terminal rebuild, is an airline's purchase of construction materials, furniture, computers, and equipment exempt from sales tax through the Port Authority/City of New York's exempt status or through an Industrial Development Agency agency arrangement?
Yes, through two separate paths. Construction materials that become part of the new terminal are exempt because title to each improvement passes immediately to the City of New York (an exempt governme…
Are the annual membership fees a marine towing and assistance membership organization charges recreational boaters subject to New York sales tax as club dues or a taxable service?
No. Sea Tow's $95 annual membership fee is not subject to New York sales tax, because Sea Tow is not a 'social or athletic club' subject to the club-dues tax, and the fee is not a charge for an enumer…
Does a retailer have to collect New York sales tax on the commission a distributor or cellular phone carrier pays it for selling cellular telephones and prepaid calling cards?
No. The commission a distributor or cellular phone carrier pays a retail establishment for selling cellular phones or prepaid calling cards is not itself a taxable receipt, so the retailer doesn't col…
Is a Web site development company's charge for consulting on, designing, and building a client's Web site subject to New York sales tax, and does the developer owe tax on the software it buys or writes in-house to do that work?
Web site development services — consulting, design, and building the site, plus any future hosting fees passed through from an ISP — are not a taxable service in New York and stay untaxed no matter wh…
Is a separate annual vehicle registration fee that a SUNY college charges students, faculty, and staff subject to New York sales tax as a parking charge?
No. SUNY College at Oneonta's separate $5 annual vehicle registration fee is not subject to sales tax as a parking, garaging, or storing charge, because it is legally and financially distinct from the…
If a telephone answering service passes through the cost of its dedicated phone lines to customers as part of its bill, does New York sales tax apply to that charge too, on top of the tax already paid when the service bought the lines?
Yes. New York taxed the answering service's purchase of its dedicated phone lines as a taxable expense it consumes in its own business, and separately taxed the full charge it bills customers (includi…
If a delicatessen sells frozen pizzas and made-to-order sandwiches wholesale to bars for resale to their patrons, does it have to charge sales tax on those wholesale sales?
It depends on the item. The delicatessen's uncooked frozen personal-size pizzas are exempt because they're commonly sold unheated, in the same form, by ordinary food stores. But its cold-cut, eggplant…
Is a health and sporting facility's membership fee subject to New York's social/athletic club dues tax, or to New York City's separate tax on gyms and health salons?
No, on both counts. La Palestra's membership charges are not taxable as social/athletic club dues under state law, because members have no control over the club's activities, membership selection, or …
Is a motorcycle escort service for funeral processions — where the escort provider supplies both the motorcycle and driver — subject to New York sales tax as a vehicle rental?
No. Because the escort provider keeps full dominion and control over the motorcycle and driver — hiring and firing the driver, choosing the route, and paying all operating costs — the funeral director…
Is selling music downloads delivered electronically over the Internet subject to New York sales tax, either as a sale of tangible personal property, a taxable information service, or a taxable entertainment service?
No, on all three theories. Digitized music delivered electronically over the Internet and stored on a customer's own hard drive is a sale of intangible property, not taxable tangible personal property…
Does New York's sales-tax exemption for manufacturing/production equipment cover the equipment, materials, and supplies bought to build a sewage treatment plant that will be dedicated to a county government once finished?
No. Materials, equipment, and supplies purchased to construct a sewage treatment plant are not exempt under New York's production exemption, because neither the developer building the plant nor the co…
If a vendor separately bills a New York client for reimbursed travel expenses (airfare, hotel, meals) on top of its service fee, does sales tax apply to the travel-expense portion of the bill too?
Yes, if the underlying service itself is taxable. Travel expenses a vendor incurs performing its work — even if reimbursed dollar-for-dollar and separately stated on the invoice — are treated as the v…
Does a personal chef who cooks and freezes meals in a client's home owe New York sales tax, and does the answer change depending on who buys the groceries, or whether the chef splits grocery-buying and cooking into two separate companies?
It depends on who sells the food. If the client already owns the groceries and only pays the chef to cook and package them, the chef's charge is a nontaxable cooking service (though the chef must stil…
Can homeowners' association members avoid New York's parking taxes when an independent company, rather than the association itself, operates the association's garage?
It depends on how the money flows and when. Before a February 6, 2001 law change, the exemption required parking charges to be paid directly to the homeowners' association itself, so members who paid …
Are pet pedicures (nail trims) performed by a veterinarian and staff exempt from New York sales tax as veterinary medicine, or are they taxable grooming?
Taxable. Even though the veterinarian frames pet pedicures as preventive health care, New York's veterinary exemption only covers services that are the actual practice of veterinary medicine — diagnos…
Does New York's under-$110 clothing exemption apply to fabric sold by the yard, when the total purchase costs $110 or more even though each individual yard costs less?
No. New York's clothing exemption for items priced under $110 applies per item as actually sold, not per yard. Five yards of $50-per-yard fabric sold together as a single purchase costs $250 total, so…
Does an out-of-state manufacturer that sells to New York customers, using only an independent sales representative who visits every few months, have to register as a New York sales tax vendor?
Yes. Even a single independent manufacturer's representative who periodically visits New York customers on the manufacturer's behalf creates enough nexus to require the out-of-state manufacturer to re…
Which local jurisdiction's sales tax rate applies to a telephone answering service — the location where the phone company technically routes the original call, or the customer's own business or home address?
The customer's own business or personal-residence address, not the location where the phone company technically routes the original ring. A telephone answering service isn't the same thing as telephon…
When a securities broker-dealer spins off its software-development operations into a separate subsidiary and licenses its trading software back, does that reorganization trigger New York sales or use tax on the software?
Generally no, as long as the software stays custom-built for one purchaser's own specifications and isn't resold to third parties. A joint venture's custom-built trading algorithm licensed to the brok…
Are ventilators and related breathing equipment exempt from New York sales tax as prosthetic devices, or only as ordinary medical equipment and supplies?
It depends on function, not the equipment's name. Ventilators and related parts (circuits, filters, oxygen concentrators, suction units) qualify as exempt prosthetic aids when they completely or parti…
Is a large Manhattan health club's membership and initiation fee subject to New York's social/athletic club dues tax, or to New York City's separate tax on gyms and health salons?
No, on both counts. Manhattan Plaza Health Club's membership and initiation fees are not taxable as social/athletic club dues under state law, because members have no control over the club's activitie…
Browse New York rulings by topic
These are official tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued by New York's revenue authority in response to questions from specific taxpayers about how the tax law applies to their facts. A ruling is binding on the department only for the taxpayer who requested it and cannot be relied on by anyone else, but it is strong evidence of how the state reads the law. Every ruling above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original source.