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.
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Which of a cargo airline's ground support equipment items -- forklifts, tugs, jacks, carts, and dozens more -- qualify for New York's commercial aircraft exemption from sales tax?
Federal Express's ground support equipment is exempt from New York sales tax under Section 1115(a)(21) only when it's installed on the aircraft or genuinely used for aircraft maintenance and repair (l…
Do track-mounted or portable moveable partitions qualify as an exempt capital improvement, or are they taxable tangible personal property?
No -- operable, accordion, and portable moveable partitions don't qualify as a capital improvement even though the tracks are bolted into the ceiling structure, because merely mounting panels on rolle…
Are a licensed engineering firm's photocopying charges for its final reports, billed as a reimbursable expense, subject to sales tax?
No -- when a licensed professional engineering firm bills a client a fixed photocopy charge (here, 15 cents per page) as a reimbursable expense incidental to its professional engineering services, tha…
Is an insured armored courier's daily bank-delivery service subject to New York sales tax?
Yes -- an insured courier's service of making daily armored-vehicle trips to banks for customers is a taxable protective and detective service under Tax Law § 1105(c)(8) (armored car and bonded courie…
Is a print-and-mail company's service of printing financial statements, confirmations, and invoices and mailing them to customers subject to New York sales tax?
Printing monthly statements, confirmations, or invoices for financial institutions and businesses is a taxable printing service under Tax Law § 1105(c)(2) when the client furnishes the paper, but only…
Does a Florida training company create New York nexus by sending independent contractors to run free in-state workshops, requiring it to collect use tax on its mail-order home-study program sales to New York students?
Yes -- a Florida-based factoring-training company that hires independent contractors to conduct regular free informational workshops in New York (aimed at enrolling students and promoting its programs…
Is a nonprofit aircraft co-ownership club, formed to make light-plane ownership affordable, a taxable 'social or athletic club' under New York's dues tax?
No -- under its current bylaws, a nonprofit club formed so members can jointly own and use light aircraft affordably is not a 'social or athletic club' within the meaning of Tax Law § 1101(d)(13), bec…
Is a litigation-support videographer's entire fee for producing and delivering accident-reconstruction video/audio media to attorneys subject to sales tax?
Yes -- a planned business that produces, edits, duplicates, and delivers audio/video media (such as accident reconstructions) to attorneys or parties in litigation is making a taxable retail sale of t…
Is selling grocery-discount 'coupon certificate' books, redeemable by mail for manufacturer coupons, subject to sales tax?
No -- selling 'Coupons on Demand' coupon certificate books, which entitle the book owner to request manufacturer-issued grocery coupons by mail, is not subject to New York sales and compensating use t…
Is selling a discount-coupon directory of health and fitness vendors subject to sales tax?
No -- the 'Healthy Step Directory,' a compilation of coupon-style discount advertisements for health, fitness, and wellness vendors, is not subject to sales and use tax when sold (whether through cons…
Does a free-brochure publisher, whose revenue comes only from selling ads printed in the brochures, owe sales tax on its own printing costs even though it gives the brochures to the State for free?
Yes -- a publisher that produces brochures and maps promoting State campgrounds and parks, gives them to New York State free of charge, and earns its revenue solely from selling advertising space prin…
Does a New Jersey document-storage company owe New York tax on its various service charges (storage, retrieval, filing, faxing, photocopying) to New York customers?
A New Jersey document-storage company's storage, retrieval, filing, disposal, and similar labor services -- all physically performed in New Jersey -- are not subject to New York sales or use tax even …
Can a commercial landlord avoid sales tax on trash removal, painting, maintenance, and water-leak repair charges just by billing them to the tenant as 'additional rent'?
It depends on the specific charge -- a landlord's overtime freight elevator service, overtime heating, and overtime air conditioning tower cleaning charges are treated as untaxed real property rent be…
Does a sale-and-leaseback of office equipment escape New York sales tax if it's really a disguised financing arrangement rather than a true sale?
No -- a proposed sale of office and computer equipment by a securities firm to an unrelated commercial lender, followed by a 'leaseback' with renewal/purchase/return options structured so the firm is …
Are elevator consulting firms' inspection, evaluation, design, and expert-witness services subject to New York sales tax?
No -- a group of elevator consulting firms' inspections, performance evaluations, code-compliance reviews, modernization studies, traffic-capacity studies, design/specification work, bid analysis, pos…
How does New York sales and use tax apply to a kitchen cabinet and countertop manufacturer that sells its products both installed and uninstalled?
It depends on whether the sale is installed or uninstalled -- a kitchen cabinet and countertop manufacturer must collect sales tax when selling cabinets uninstalled, but when it installs cabinets or c…
Is a 7-Eleven franchisee personally liable for sales tax on store sales even though the franchisor prepares, signs, and files the sales tax returns?
Yes -- a 7-Eleven franchisee who makes taxable retail sales is a "vendor" personally liable for the sales tax collected at the store, even though the franchise agreement has the franchisor (Southland)…
Is the cost of soft patterns and prototype materials an apparel manufacturer uses to develop new clothing designs exempt from New York sales and use tax as research and development?
Yes, but only conditionally -- an apparel manufacturer's soft patterns and prototype materials qualify for New York's research-and-development sales/use tax exemption to the extent they are used direc…
Are the transportation fees and landfill tipping fees an auto-shredding company pays to dispose of shredder waste subject to New York sales tax as a trash removal service?
Split result -- the tipping fee an auto-shredding company pays a landfill to accept its shredder waste (even waste with reuse value as landfill daily cover) is NOT subject to sales tax because it's a …
Does an out-of-state manufacturer that only occasionally demos at a New York trade show and ships to New York customers by mail or common carrier have to collect New York sales tax?
No -- a Rhode Island manufacturer with no New York place of business or property, no employees or agents soliciting business in New York, and only an occasional (no more than once-a-year, two-or-three…
When a retailer's private-label credit card program (run by an independent, non-owned finance company) writes off a customer's debt as uncollectible, can either the retailer or the finance company get a refund or credit for the New York sales tax already paid on that sale?
Neither one -- when an independent (non-captive) company issuing a retailer's private-label credit card writes off a cardholder's debt as uncollectible, the finance company can't claim a sales-tax ref…
Is a company's charge for testing water samples and issuing a results report subject to New York sales tax?
No -- charges for performing water testing (for potability, contaminants, or regulatory compliance) and providing a written results report are not subject to New York sales tax, regardless of which te…
Is a bank's purchase of office furniture and equipment from the FDIC, acting as receiver for a failed savings bank, exempt from New York sales and use tax as a purchase from a federal agency?
No -- a bank's purchase of office furniture, equipment, and other tangible personal property from the FDIC, acting as receiver for a failed savings bank, is not exempt from New York sales and compensa…
Does the annual charge homeowners pay for use of a community's pool, bathrooms, and lake rights qualify for New York's homeowners-association exclusion from the club dues tax?
Yes -- the annual charge a community corporation levies on homeowners for use of a shared swimming pool, bathrooms, and lake rights qualifies for New York's homeowners-association exclusion from the c…
Does New York sales tax apply to the full charge for an integrated pickup-and-disposal trash removal service even when the waste is hauled out of state and simply dumped, with no processing?
Yes -- picking up, hauling, and dumping a New York customer's waste is a single, integrated taxable trash-removal service under Tax Law § 1105(c)(5), and New York sales tax applies to the entire charg…
Is a manufacturer's purchase of source artwork (paintings, antique fabric swatches, or similar images) used to design a computer-generated textile pattern exempt from New York sales and use tax as production equipment?
Yes -- an upholstery fabric manufacturer's purchase of source "artwork" (a painting, antique fabric swatch, carved molding, or polished stone slab) that is scanned and used to design the computer-gene…
Is a marketing/business analysis consulting firm's fee subject to New York sales tax, including when it also provides presentation artwork?
Generally no -- a firm's business analysis and marketing-strategy consulting service is not subject to New York sales tax because it isn't one of the enumerated taxable services, but if the firm sells…
Is an environmental consulting firm's installation of a petroleum-leak remediation system, its water/soil sampling, and its reports subject to New York sales tax?
It depends entirely on the capital-improvement test -- if an environmental consulting firm's installation of a petroleum-leak remediation system (and any related tank removal/replacement) satisfies al…
Are the annual membership fees, supplier commissions, and consulting charges earned by an operator of computer-equipment buying groups subject to New York sales tax?
Mixed result -- a computer buying group operator's annual membership fees (not club dues) and supplier commissions (agency fees) are not subject to New York sales tax, and its software training or net…
Is a personal matchmaking and dating service subject to New York sales tax?
No -- a dating service that matches clients based on interviews and profiles, or lets clients browse an album of prospective dates, is not subject to New York sales tax, because bringing people togeth…
Is the electricity a paper mill uses to run dedicated air conditioning for rooms housing its production equipment's electrical controls exempt from New York sales tax?
Yes -- a paper mill's electricity used exclusively to run dedicated air conditioning systems that keep separate, restricted-access control rooms cool enough to prevent the electrical components (switc…
Is a temporary staffing agency's key-entry data-entry work, performed at a client's own facility using the client's own computer system, subject to New York sales tax?
No -- charges from a temporary staffing agency for its temps' key-entry of manual records (time cards, C.O.D. stubs, package pick-up records) into a client's own computer system, at the client's own l…
Does a wholly owned aircraft-transportation subsidiary that flies employees and customers of related companies for a cost-based fee qualify for New York's commercial aircraft sales tax exemption?
Yes, conditionally -- a wholly owned subsidiary whose sole activity is flying employees, customers, and potential customers of its related companies for a cost-based fee qualifies for New York's comme…
Is a matchmaking service that arranges social lunch meetings between clients subject to New York sales tax?
No -- a service that interviews clients, matches them with other clients by phone, and arranges a luncheon meeting between them is not subject to New York sales tax, because the primary function of en…
Does an aircraft leased to a commuter air-charter operator qualify as an exempt "commercial aircraft" under New York sales tax law, even though the lessor also uses it for its own company business?
Yes -- an aircraft the owner leases to a commuter air-charter operator qualifies as an exempt "commercial aircraft" under Tax Law § 1115(a)(21), exempting the lease payments and related maintenance/re…
If a fuel distributor blends cheap marine diesel or off-spec No. 2 heating oil with enhanced diesel motor fuel to make standard No. 2 heating oil, is the result taxable 'enhanced' diesel motor fuel?
No — the resulting product is unenhanced diesel motor fuel, so previously-untaxed inter-distributor sales of it stay free of the Article 12-A excise tax, the Article 13-A petroleum business tax, and t…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(45)S: If a three-year car lease is extended by three months (because the lessee's replacement vehicle isn't ready), are the extension's rental payments hit with the extra 5% passenger car rental tax on top of ordinary sales tax -- and does it matter whether the extension is agreed to before or after the original lease expires?
It depends entirely on WHEN the extension is agreed to. If the lessor and lessee agree to extend a long-term (one-year-plus) passenger vehicle lease BEFORE the original lease expires, the extension is…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(44)S: Is a database data-cleaning/matching service taxable, and are the related software license fees a company charges its clients subject to New York sales tax?
Split ruling: the data service is exempt, but the software license fees are taxable. Company ABC organizes and updates client marketing databases (standardizing names/addresses, matching households, v…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(43)S: Are a manufacturer's sales of corrugated cardboard and box-forming machinery to companies that turn the material into shipping boxes for their own products exempt from New York sales and use tax?
Yes, both are exempt -- but only if the customer gives a timely exemption certificate. Petitioner's client sells corrugated material (which customers form into their own non-returnable shipping boxes)…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(42)S: Is a specific method of waterproofing leaking basement wall cracks -- installing a permanent interior drainage system rather than patching the cracks -- a tax-exempt capital improvement or a taxable repair service?
It's a capital improvement, exempt from sales tax to the customer. Sta Dry Systems Inc. doesn't patch or inject cracked basement walls -- instead it permanently reroutes leaking water into the floor d…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(41)S: Does an environmental contractor's installation of soil and groundwater treatment systems at contaminated gas station sites qualify as a tax-exempt "capital improvement" to real property?
It depends on the facts of each installation -- the Department can't decide that question in the abstract, but it laid out the test. Envirotrac Ltd. installs soil and/or groundwater treatment systems …
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(40)S: When a printer's invoice for coupons bundles the printing cost with overhead, can the buyer exclude the overhead portion from the sales-tax base?
No -- the whole purchase price is the taxable receipt, with no deduction for overhead. E.C.E. Enterprises buys printed coupons at $123 per 10,000 or $194 per 20,000 and believed part of that price was…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(39)S: Is the fee a private child-support collection agency charges clients to secure a payment arrangement from delinquent parents subject to sales tax as a "detective service," given that the agency sometimes has to locate the delinquent parent first?
No -- the collection fee itself is not taxable, but a subcontracted locator charge would be. Child Support Services of NY, Inc. charges clients 28% of the delinquent child support it collects, mainly …
How are a utility's tolling fees for burning marketers' gas to produce the marketers' electricity, and the marketers' imported gas, taxed under sections 186, 186-a, 189 and the sales tax?
Marketers that import out-of-state gas into Con Edison's system to be burned into their own electricity are section 189 gas importers, and Con Edison -- the public utility delivering the gas -- must c…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(37)S: A contractor who hires a plumber and mason as subcontractors on a pool job asks whether he has to pay sales tax to those subcontractors, or whether he can instead give them a Contractor Exempt Purchase Certificate (Form ST-120.1).
It depends on what kind of job the contractor is doing for the property owner. If the contractor's own work for the customer is a TAXABLE service (an installation that doesn't become part of real prop…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(36)S: When Viacom finances office build-outs, equipment, and maintenance contracts through the New York City Industrial Development Agency's bond program to stay headquartered in the city, are those purchases, the resulting lease (debt-service) payments, intercompany reimbursements, the $1 buyout option, and an early-removal penalty all exempt from sales and use tax?
Yes, with one open factual question and one hard carve-out. Because title to the improvements and equipment runs through the New York City Industrial Development Agency (IDA) under General Municipal L…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(35)S: When a group of securities-clearing companies finances new equipment through the New York City Industrial Development Agency's bond program, are the equipment purchases/leases, the companies' lease payments to the IDA, the $1 buyout price, and the early-removal penalty all exempt from New York sales and use tax?
Yes to all four -- as long as the IDA stays the on-paper purchaser, lessor, or lessee. Because title to the equipment runs through the New York City Industrial Development Agency (IDA) under General M…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(33)S: Are the fees a farmer charges to board and care for horses kept on his farm for breeding purposes subject to New York sales tax?
Yes, exempt -- but only if the boarded horses are used predominantly to breed horses for sale, and the owner provides a Farmer's Exemption Certificate. A farmer boards horses belonging to other owners…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(32)S: Is installing custom-cut, permanently anchored closet shelving a tax-exempt capital improvement, and does it matter whether it's going into a brand-new building or an existing one?
It depends on whether the building is new or existing. Home Insulation & Supply Inc. installs closet shelving cut to the exact size of each closet, permanently anchored with screws, nails, or similar …
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(34)S: When a nonprofit cooperative housing corporation generates its own electricity and submeters it to residential and commercial tenants at cost, are those electric charges taxable utility sales, do residential tenants get a reduced rate, and can the co-op get a refund on the sales tax it paid for the fuel oil used to generate that electricity?
Yes, all three questions get detailed yes answers. Mutual Redevelopment Houses, Inc., a nonprofit cooperative, generates its own electricity and bills residential and commercial tenants separately fro…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(31)S: When an interior design firm buys furnishings for a client at its own discretion and bills the client a marked-up price (cost plus a design fee percentage), is the entire charge taxed as a sale of goods, or can the design fee be taxed at a lower rate as a separate service?
The entire marked-up charge is taxable as a sale of goods, at New York City's full combined rate, unless the design fee is separately contracted for and separately billed. J.P. Molyneux Studio Ltd., a…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(30)S: Is applying a slip-resistant chemical treatment to tile, terrazzo, or concrete floors -- often done for ADA compliance -- subject to sales tax, and does it matter whether the floor is brand new or already existing?
It depends on whether the floor is new or existing. FST Services applies a permanent chemical treatment to hard mineral floors (ceramic, quarry tile, concrete, terrazzo) that boosts slip resistance fo…
When a gas marketer sells natural gas to New York end-users with title passing outside New York, are its receipts taxed under sections 186, 186-a, 189, or the sales/use tax?
It turns on where the sale occurs, which depends on where title, possession, and risk of loss pass -- a factual question. Under this agreement, title, risk of loss, and transportation responsibility p…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(28)S: Is a 1,000-capacity concert hall a taxable "cabaret" because it also sells drinks at a bar during shows, or is admission exempt as a musical performance because the drink sales are merely incidental to the concerts?
It's not a taxable "cabaret," so admission is exempt. The Water Street Music Hall is a 1,000-capacity concert venue with no seating, no tables, and no food, that hosts touring musicians and runs a cas…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(27)S: Does a banking-software license and maintenance contract signed in 1988 -- before a 1991 New York law change made pre-written software taxable -- still get the OLD exempt treatment for its ongoing annual maintenance fees, or does the new tax apply going forward regardless of when the contract was signed?
The new tax applies to charges from September 1, 1991 forward, even under a contract signed years earlier -- there's no grandfathering here. ALLTEL Financial Information Services, Inc. (formerly Syste…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(26)S: When a commercial landlord bills a tenant "additional rent" for building services beyond the basic lease package -- overtime elevator/porter/heat, plus separate categories like extra cleaning, mechanical maintenance, and rubbish removal -- which of those charges are subject to sales tax?
It splits by service type, regardless of the "additional rent" label. Midtown Realty Company's lease bundles basic cleaning, elevator, porter, and heat/AC service into base rent during normal business…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(25)S: A driving school that switches from renting road-test cars to buying its own vehicles asks whether it now owes sales tax on those purchases (and on repair parts), and whether it can get a credit for the 25% of its student fee that's allocated to "providing the car."
Yes, both are taxable, and no, there's no credit. Model Auto Driving School, Inc. charges students a fee split 75%/25% between driving instruction and providing a car for the practical road test -- th…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(24)S: Is a company that supplies custom decorative table linens for one-time special events (weddings, parties) performing an exempt "laundering" service, or is it making a taxable rental of tangible personal property?
It's a taxable rental of tangible personal property, not an exempt laundering service. Table Wraps, Ltd. supplies custom-made decorative table linens for one-time events like weddings and parties unde…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(23)S: When an out-of-state industrial auctioneer sells equipment at a New York auction site "as is, where is" to a buyer who arranges common-carrier shipment to an out-of-state destination, is the sale taxable in New York, and what records must the auctioneer keep to prove it isn't?
Not taxable in New York -- as long as the buyer never takes physical possession within the state. Norman Levy Associates, a Michigan-based industrial auctioneer and appraiser, conducts public auction …
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-96(22)S: Are a merchant-services company's charges for its "check guarantee" service -- where it agrees, for a fee, to buy a dishonored check from a subscribing merchant at face value -- subject to New York sales tax?
No, not taxable. TeleCheck Services offers retail merchants a check "guarantee" service: before accepting a customer's check, a subscribing merchant contacts TeleCheck electronically (via a point-of-s…
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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.