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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When an affiliate produces computer reports for a company, who owes sales tax on the paper — and does it depend on whether the reports are taxable?
It turns on whether the reports are a taxable information service. Norstar Leasing asked whether it owes sales tax on computer printout paper it receives, as reports, from its affiliate Data Company, …
Does a direct-mail company owe sales tax on the mailing lists it rents, or can it claim an exemption?
The mailing lists remain taxable; no exemption applies. The D.M. Group, a direct-mail firm, rents mailing lists (as electronic tapes or gummed labels) to distribute promotional material it produces fo…
When a business sells its subscriber list to a competitor, is that both a taxable sale of information and a bulk sale of business assets?
It is both. A C.P.A. asked, for a client that sells a taxable information service (a semi-monthly publication with about 200 subscribers), whether selling those accounts to a major competitor is both …
Is a company taxable when it obtains copies of public records like deeds and mortgages from a county clerk and furnishes them to an attorney?
Yes — furnishing public-record copies is a taxable information service. A law firm asked whether receipts from obtaining and furnishing copies of public records (deeds, mortgages) to a bank were taxab…
Are the trademark-search reports a company sells to attorneys a taxable information service, or are they exempt because they're personalized?
Taxable — the reports don't qualify for the personal/individual exclusion. Trademark Service Corporation compiles trademark records (federal, state, and common-law marks) into a library and sells sear…
Is an employment-background investigation firm's work taxable as 'detective services' under New York City's tax, or exempt as an information service?
Taxable as detective services. Fidelifacts, an investigative agency, prepares employment-background reports on job applicants for its clients — including verifying application information but also int…
Is charging to irradiate a core sample — making it radioactive so it can be tested — a taxable service in New York?
Yes — it's taxable. Company X, which analyzes core samples, needs each sample made radioactive before testing; Company Y performs the irradiation and returns the radioactive sample with a report of th…
Does a company that laser-prints tax returns from clients' data files sell taxable tangible personal property, or a service?
It's selling taxable tangible personal property, not a service. Lasar Image Corp. takes computer tapes from its accountant and tax-preparer clients and prints paper copies of income tax returns, then …
Are a materials lab's concrete strength-test reports a taxable information service?
No — the reports are a non-taxable 'personal and individual' information service. Fortunato Sons, a contractor, buys concrete strength-and-standards testing from a lab. A written report compiling test…
Are computer-generated financial reports, like loan amortization printouts made from a client's figures, a taxable information service or exempt personal information?
Computer-generated financial reports, such as loan amortization printouts produced from a client's figures, are a taxable information service, because the exemption for personal information requires t…
When a data processor maintains and prints a client's membership list, is it selling a taxable printed product or an exempt information service?
A data processor that maintains a client's membership list and delivers updated printed lists is selling taxable tangible personal property, not an exempt information service, because the essence of t…
Are customized market-research reports drawn from a common database a taxable information service, or 'personal or individual in nature' and excluded?
Customized market-research reports that track warehouse movements of goods — built from a common database but formatted to each client's needs — are a taxable information service, because they don't m…
For a publicity-booklet producer: which production inputs are exempt, are out-of-state deliveries taxed, is a clipping service resale, and when are charges to charities exempt?
For a company that produces publicity booklets and sends them to newspaper editors, this opinion resolves four issues. (1) Because it manufactures booklets for sale, its production inputs — artwork, s…
Can a legal publisher buy the statutes, court reports, and periodicals it researches tax-free — as resale, research materials, information services for resale, or production supplies?
Generally taxable — the Department rejected all four exemption theories, though a separate newspaper-and-periodical exemption may still cover some items. Lawyers Co-operative buys statutes, court repo…
Is a bulletin that is essentially a listing of manufacturers' refund offers a tax-exempt periodical, or a taxable information service?
It's taxable — a bulletin that is essentially a listing of manufacturers' refund offers is a taxable information service, not an exempt periodical or newspaper. Rose Marie Thompson asked whether she m…
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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.