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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Are ophthalmic (eye) surgical suture materials exempt from New York sales tax as prosthetic aids or as drugs/medical supplies?
Exempt as medical supplies under Tax Law § 1115(a)(3), not as prosthetic aids under § 1115(a)(4). Alcon's ophthalmic sutures (silk, dacron/nylon, polypropylene, polyester) are used to close surgical e…
Are on-line financial news services delivered to subscribers on computer screens exempt newspapers or periodicals, or a taxable information service?
Taxable information service, not an exempt newspaper or periodical. The petitioner's client published four on-line financial newsletters delivered to subscribers as text on computer screens (via Teler…
For a railroad's charter excursions, is the transportation taxable, who pays tax on bundled event tickets, and what local rate applies to souvenirs and food sold on a moving train?
The Department answered three questions for a railroad running charter excursion trains. (1) Charter excursion fares — including tickets bundling rail transportation with admission to events like spor…
When a home-party hostess redeems earned credits for a direct-sales company's merchandise, is that a taxable sale even though no cash changes hands?
Yes, it is a taxable sale. Petra Fashions ran home merchandise parties and, as an incentive to host, gave hostesses credits redeemable only for its own line of merchandise. The Department held that tr…
Can a New York vendor keep computer-readable tapes instead of paper cash-register tapes to satisfy its sales tax recordkeeping duties?
Yes. A vendor may keep computer-readable tapes as an alternative to paper cash-register tapes to satisfy its sales tax recordkeeping duties under Tax Law § 1135(a)(1) and 20 NYCRR § 533.2(f)(1), provi…
Are an art advisor's consulting and support services taxable in New York, and when do they become taxable interior decorating and designing services?
It depends on what the art advisor actually does. Pure consulting — advising a client whether to buy particular works of art for their investment potential, or advising on framing/restoration without …
Are a city impound lot's charges for towing, storage, notification letters, and DMV searches subject to New York sales tax, even though the operator is a government body?
Yes — the entire charge is taxable. Operating an auto pound is operating a place of business that provides storage of motor vehicles, which Tax Law § 1105(c)(6) taxes. The fact that the City of Roches…
Can a fireworks company buy pyrotechnic materials tax-free for resale when it uses them to put on a fireworks display for a customer?
No — the materials aren't bought for resale, because the company is selling a service, not the fireworks. Under its standard contract, Bay Fireworks furnishes a 'fireworks exhibition' — providing all …
How is New York sales/use tax applied to an oil- and chemical-spill cleanup company's services, the materials it uses, and its outright sales of cleanup supplies?
The Department treated Marine Pollution Control, an oil- and chemical-spill cleanup company, as a contractor and answered seven questions. Its spill cleanup and disposal is a service of maintaining, s…
Are weekly rentals of self-contained motel housekeeping/efficiency units subject to New York sales tax when no hotel services are provided?
Not taxable, on these facts. The Juliana Motel rents housekeeping and efficiency units — each with its own kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping room and no services provided — on a weekly basis through the…
Which of a property manager's charges — management fees versus cleaning, repair, and maintenance — are subject to New York sales tax?
It splits by the type of service — and separate billing matters. Certified Properties manages apartments and houses. Its core management services — renting units and signing leases, collecting and dep…
Is a company's charge to remove a wheel 'boot' from an illegally parked car subject to New York sales tax — as a parking service or as servicing tangible personal property?
The boot-removal fee is taxable — but not as a parking service. A-Z Parking runs a private-property enforcement program: its teams place an immobilizing wheel 'boot' on unauthorized vehicles, and the …
When a company buys taxable information reports delivered to offices both inside and outside New York, how much of the charge is subject to New York sales tax?
Only the reports delivered in New York are taxed, and the taxable share is allocated by where delivery happens. Clairol buys professional research/marketing reports that are assumed to be taxable info…
Can a rental company buy storage containers and trailers tax-free for resale when it only rents them out and delivers/picks them up?
Yes. Gibney Leasing rents storage containers and trailers, delivering them to customers in New York and picking them up at the end of the rental for a separate delivery/pickup charge. Under New York l…
Are accident reconstruction investigation services for attorneys and insurers subject to New York sales tax?
Yes. Robert Burns runs an accident reconstruction business for attorneys and insurance companies — visiting accident scenes after the police, taking photographs and measurements, interviewing drivers …
How should an HVAC contractor handle sales tax when customers give it exemption certificates or direct-pay permits instead of capital-improvement certificates, and can it buy repairs to rented equipment for resale?
The Department answered four questions for X, an HVAC seller-contractor. Under Tax Law § 1132(c) and 20 NYCRR § 532.4, all receipts are presumed taxable and the customer bears the burden of proving an…
Are combined shipping-and-handling charges on a mail-order purchase subject to New York sales tax?
Yes — because the charges are combined. Neil Harrison buys compact discs by mail from Columbia House, which bills each disc's cost plus a single combined 'shipping and handling' charge and computes sa…
When a leased car is stolen or totaled, does the lessor collect sales tax on the insurance buyout, and can the lessee get back tax already paid on the lease?
Two answers. First, when a leased car is stolen, lost, or totaled, the lessor does not collect sales tax on the insurance company's buyout or on any shortfall the lessee must pay: sales tax is not imp…
At a social or athletic club, is buying stock in a related land company — required for membership or bought voluntarily to cut annual dues — subject to sales tax as dues?
Yes, both are taxable as dues. St. George Operating and Improvement Co. is a title-holding company that owns a golf course leased to the St. George Country Club; its shareholders are almost all club m…
Does a nonresident company owe New York sales or use tax on an aircraft delivered out of state but then hangared and maintained in New York?
No New York sales or use tax is due. Arepo Corporation, a Delaware holding company with no New York office, employees, or business, took title and possession of two Gulfstream jets in Delaware, then h…
Can a newly formed sister corporation buy pool construction materials for resale to an affiliated pool-building contractor, and collect tax on those resales?
Yes — the structure works, and the sales to the affiliate are taxable. Majestic Pools builds in-ground concrete pools (a contractor) and its shareholders want to form a new sister corporation, 'Newco,…
How does New York sales tax and the passenger-car-rental tax apply to a rental company's rental charges, incidental fees, insurance, fuel, promotions, and fleet purchases?
In a 25-question opinion for Alamo Rent A Car, the Department confirmed that renting a car is a taxable sale of tangible personal property (Tax Law §§ 1101(b)(5), 1105) and also carries the special 5%…
Are janitorial services by resident apartment superintendents taxable when they are the complex's employees but are paid through a related company's central payroll?
Not taxable — the superintendents are the complexes' employees. Max Farash owns apartment complexes, each with a resident on-site superintendent who does light janitorial and related work. Each superi…
Can an extended-warranty administrator give repair shops a resale certificate for warranty repair work it pays for, or must its retail clients do that?
It can issue the resale certificate itself. Warrantech develops and administers extended warranty programs: retail vendors sell the extended warranties (collecting tax on the merchandise and the warra…
Are charges for picking up and shredding confidential documents subject to New York sales tax?
Yes. Confidential Data Management picks up confidential documents at customer sites, transports them to its plant, and shreds and bales them (recycling or disposing of the result); it bills a shreddin…
Is a toll-free 800 'call before you dig' message-relay answering service subject to New York sales tax?
Not taxable, on these facts. One Call Systems runs a toll-free 800 line that lets contractors, utilities, and the public report their intent to disturb the earth; the message is relayed to member util…
Are membership fees for a dating referral service, where members browse a library of other members' profiles, taxable as an information service?
Yes. People Resources runs a singles service where each member writes a biography and provides photos and a video, and all of that is placed in a library — separated by men, women and sexual preferenc…
Does a tax-exempt nonprofit have to collect sales tax on items sold at its annual charity auction held at a commercial auction house?
No. A New York not-for-profit corporation with an Exempt Organization Certificate wanted to run a charity auction of donated property to raise funds, held either at a public school or a commercial auc…
When a company buys taxable information reports delivered to offices both inside and outside New York, how much sales tax applies?
Only the New York-delivered portion is taxed, allocated by where delivery occurs. Revlon, Inc. buys taxable information-service reports (research and marketing) delivered to its offices across the U.S…
Are tickets to a dinner-theater performance taxable as cabaret charges, or exempt because the food was merely incidental to the show?
Taxable. Tamara NY, NY Limited Partnership staged the live play 'Tamara' at the New York Armory, where audience members were treated as guests and served a lavish banquet — a Le Cirque buffet designed…
Are cranes and equipment a contractor buys to install a gas pipeline and electric distribution grid for a utility exempt from New York sales tax as production machinery?
No. Bancker Construction Corp. bought heavy cranes to help install a gas pipeline and an electrical distribution grid for Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO). It asked whether that equipment qualifie…
Are materials and rented tools a tenant's contractors use to build out leased space at 7 World Trade Center exempt from New York sales and use tax?
Partly. Insurance Services Office, Inc. leased space at 7 World Trade Center and asked whether its contractors' purchases were exempt. Because legal title to the building's construction, improvements …
When performers set and collect their own cover charges at a tavern's door, must the tavern collect sales tax on those cover charges?
The cover charges are taxable, but on these facts the performers — not the tavern — must collect the tax. 89 Cragg Road Inc. (DBA Island Cottage) runs a Rochester tavern and lets performers entertain …
Which of a printer-mailer's services — personalized mailings, label printing, electronic data processing, and packaged or custom software — are subject to New York sales tax?
Mostly taxable, with specific exemptions. Computerized Transactions Inc. asked about five printing/mailing and software services. (1) Personalizing letterheads/envelopes and giving the client the data…
Is a company that leases furnished New York City apartments to tenants for a month or more a taxable 'hotel,' and which of its extra charges are taxable?
Not a hotel — the rent is exempt, but several add-on charges are taxable. KPMG Peat Marwick asked whether 'XYZ,' which leases furnished New York City apartments to residents for terms of one month to …
Does the 5% special tax on passenger-car rentals apply when a taxi company leases cabs to drivers by the shift?
Yes. BEJ Taxi Corp. leases cabs to drivers in Albany County on a shift basis (6-12 hours) and pays the registration, insurance and other nontaxable charges. The Department held the 5% special tax on p…
Is rent for leasing an entire parking garage taxable, and can a building owner who leases the garage to serve tenants treat that rent as a nontaxable purchase for resale?
Taxable, with only a partial resale credit. A building owner wanted to lease an entire adjoining parking garage — with the garage owner continuing to operate and maintain it — to provide parking for i…
Must a title-holding company that sells club-membership stock register as a vendor, and does the assessment statute of limitations run if it never filed sales-tax returns?
It must register, and no time limit protects it. St. George Operating and Improvement Co. is a title-holding company whose golf course is leased to the St. George Country Club; new members must buy st…
Does a bookstore have to charge New York sales tax on the sale of bibles?
Yes. Lauriat's, Inc., which operates a chain of retail bookstores in New York, asked whether selling bibles is taxable. The Department held that bibles, like any other books, are tangible personal pro…
Is renting a self-service mini-storage unit taxable as a storage service, or exempt as a rental of real property?
Not taxable. Elbridge Mini Storage rents self-service mini-storage rooms — each a specific, enclosed unit identified by number, dimensions and square footage, rented month-to-month with the tenant put…
Is a monthly minimum charge for credit information taxable even when few or no reports are actually issued, and does it matter if the reports are oral or written?
Yes, the minimum charge is taxable. CCB Management of Texas provides credit-information services and imposes a monthly minimum: if a subscriber orders less than $30 of reports in a month, it bills the…
When out-of-state vendors sell merchandise through airport video-terminal kiosks that ship goods to New York customers, do the vendors have to collect New York sales tax, is the kiosk operator liable as a co-vendor, and do the vendors owe New York income or corporate franchise tax?
Mixed answer across three taxes. Mitchell Sorkin's client planned computerized advertising video terminals at airports (within and outside New York) letting travelers direct-dial out-of-state vendors'…
For gas producers, are meter-maintenance and meter-installation fees taxable, and are chart-integration services (personalized well analyses) taxable?
The meters qualify for the production exemption, and the well reports are a nontaxable personal information service. The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York asked about three charges its mem…
When a company buys taxable information reports delivered to offices both inside and outside New York, how much sales tax applies?
Only the New York-delivered portion is taxed, allocated by where delivery occurs. Pfizer, Inc. buys taxable information-service reports (professional research and marketing advice) delivered to its of…
When a company buys taxable information reports delivered to offices both inside and outside New York, how much sales tax applies?
Only the New York-delivered portion is taxed, allocated by where delivery occurs. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company buys taxable information-service reports (professional research and marketing advice) del…
When a company buys taxable information reports delivered to offices both inside and outside New York, how much sales tax applies?
Only the New York-delivered portion is taxed, allocated by where delivery occurs. Kraft General Foods, Inc. buys taxable information-service reports (professional research and marketing advice) delive…
Is application software that a vendor analyzes and adapts to a customer's system taxable in New York, and are the software maintenance charges taxable?
No — neither the software nor the maintenance is taxable. Answer Systems, Inc., an application-software maker, analyzes each customer's requirements and modifies its software to fit the customer's env…
When a company rents out cranes and other self-propelled construction machinery, can it use the reduced motor-vehicle rental tax computation?
Only partly, and only if you separate the charges. Clark Rigging & Rental Corp. rents self-propelled construction machinery — truck cranes, boom trucks, tractor-trailers, trailers, and pick-ups — and …
When a company buys taxable information reports delivered to offices both inside and outside New York, how much sales tax applies?
Only the New York-delivered portion is taxed, allocated by where delivery occurs. American Home Products Corporation buys taxable information-service reports (professional research and marketing advic…
When a company buys taxable information reports delivered to offices both inside and outside New York, how much sales tax applies?
Only the New York-delivered portion is taxed, allocated by where delivery occurs. American Home Food Products, Inc. buys taxable information-service reports (professional research and marketing advice…
When a company buys taxable information reports delivered to offices both inside and outside New York, how much sales tax applies?
Only the New York-delivered portion is taxed, allocated by where delivery occurs. Colgate-Palmolive Company buys taxable information-service reports (professional research and marketing advice) delive…
When a company buys taxable information reports delivered to offices both inside and outside New York, how much sales tax applies?
Only the New York-delivered portion is taxed, allocated by where delivery occurs. Sterling Drug, Inc. buys taxable information-service reports (professional research and marketing advice) delivered to…
When a company buys taxable information reports delivered to offices both inside and outside New York, how much sales tax applies?
Only the New York-delivered portion is taxed, allocated by where delivery occurs. Conopco, Inc. buys taxable information-service reports (professional research and marketing advice) delivered to its o…
When a company buys taxable information reports delivered to offices both inside and outside New York, how much sales tax applies?
Only the New York-delivered portion is taxed, allocated by where delivery occurs. Carter-Wallace, Inc. buys taxable information-service reports (professional research and marketing advice) delivered t…
Does machinery a recycler uses to process construction debris into new products qualify for New York's production exemption?
Only the machinery used mostly to make products that are actually sold qualifies. Vigliotti Recycling Corp. accepts mixed construction and demolition debris for a fee and converts it into wood chips, …
If a club makes new members buy stock and bonds in a related land-holding company, must that company register and collect sales tax on the sales?
Yes — the company must register and collect the tax, with no time limit on assessment. St. George Operating and Improvement Co. is a title-holding company that owns a golf course leased to the St. Geo…
Do long-term rehabilitation and psychiatric care facilities get New York's reduced 0% energy tax rate, and can they claim a refund?
It depends on whether the facility is 'residential in nature' — and even then only the state portion is zero-rated. Dianne Germany asked whether long-term rehabilitation centers and long-term psychiat…
If a country club makes members buy bonds to fund capital improvements, are those bond payments taxable club dues?
Yes — the mandatory bonds are taxable dues. Nassau Country Club, a not-for-profit social/athletic club, required each member to buy a non-interest-bearing bond (up to $1,000) as a condition of continu…
Is the finance charge a country club adds for a member's overdue account balance subject to sales tax?
Yes — the late-payment finance charge is taxable as club dues. St. George's Golf & Country Club, a 501(c)(7) social and athletic club, bills members a 1½%-per-month finance charge on account balances …
Is a cash-processing and armored-car money service taxable, and does bundling the charges make all of it taxable?
The armored-car transport is taxable; the cash-room processing is not — but bundling them into one price makes the whole charge taxable. Paul J. Carucci asked about a client that moves a customer's mo…
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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.