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 the fees from a web-based job search and posting platform taxable as software, information services, or are they exempt advertising?
Not taxable. The platform is free to the customers who embed it (no consideration = no taxable sale of software), and the pay-per-click and job-posting fees the operator earns are charges for an adver…
Are hosted, web-accessed investment, trade, and compliance management platforms taxable as prewritten software, or nontaxable information services?
Taxable. The firm's three hosted investment-management products are taxable prewritten software: clients pay annual fees for the right to use, control, and direct software platforms for risk analysis,…
For a multi-level-marketing company, is a distributor's annual 'active status' renewal fee taxable, and what about fees for a mobile app sold alone or bundled with a dashboard and website?
The $25 annual renewal fee for 'active' distributor status is NOT taxable — it buys the right to keep distributing products and earn a discount, not taxable property or services. But the mobile app fe…
Which charges for a web-based foreign-exchange trading platform are taxable as software, and which (support, secure tokens, benchmarking reports) are treated differently?
Mostly taxable. The Department concluded that the petitioner's web-based foreign-exchange trading platform is prewritten software, so its receipts for Annual License Fees, Transaction Charges, and mos…
Is a web portal that customers and applicants log into to prepare and process applications taxable as prewritten software, and are the related setup and support services taxable?
Mostly taxable. The Department concluded that charges to access and use the petitioner's web portal are the sale of prewritten software subject to sales tax (Tax Law § 1105(a), § 1101(b)(5)/(6)), beca…
Are services to create, host, maintain and optimize a client's mobile website subject to New York sales tax?
No. The company designs, builds, hosts, maintains, and optimizes mobile websites for retailers, all for a fixed monthly fee. Website development — design, creation, and the operation of a site the dev…
Is a hosted call-handling/voice-recognition product a taxable sale of prewritten software, and where is the sale taxed?
Yes — it's a taxable sale of prewritten computer software. The company's proprietary software, hosted on its own out-of-state servers, determines callers' intent and routes calls for its customers; li…
Is a firm's automotive marketing product a taxable sale of prewritten computer software, or a non-taxable advertising service?
It's a non-taxable advertising service. The firm uses its own staff and proprietary software to gather dealership sales data, build marketing models, and design and launch targeted ad campaigns (email…
Are charges for a cloud webcasting and virtual-communications platform — plus its optional add-on services — subject to New York sales tax?
Mostly no. The core charge for the cloud webcasting/webhosting platform is not taxable: hosting events isn't an enumerated service, and the software-driven features (registration pages, webinar tools,…
Are fees for online courses, completion certificates, specializations, and degrees subject to New York sales tax?
No. The free streaming access and downloadable software carry no charge, so there is nothing to tax there. The paid 'course certificate' videos, specializations, and university-recognized degrees are …
Are a firm's digital marketing services and the third-party software licenses it resells subject to New York sales tax?
It depends. Helping clients track and improve their own marketing is a non-taxable advertising service. But when the firm resells a third-party software license to the client, that is a taxable sale o…
Is a hosted digital advertising campaign platform that lets customers build and manage their own ads subject to New York sales tax?
Yes. Giving customers the right to access and use the platform's prewritten software tools to create, deliver, and manage their own advertising is a taxable sale of prewritten software, taxable to the…
Are subscription fees to access an online library of instructional video courses subject to New York sales tax?
No. Subscriptions that let users stream video courses to learn new skills are not tangible personal property and are not a taxable information service, because their purpose is to impart knowledge. Do…
Are a coupon clearinghouse's products, sold to retailers and advertisers, subject to New York sales tax?
No. The primary function of the clearinghouse's products is processing redeemed coupons and handling payments between retailers and advertisers, which is not a taxable service. The prewritten software…
Is a service that automatically pulls, compiles, and reports a client's own internet-advertising performance data subject to New York sales tax?
No. The service is an information service, but it falls within the 'personal or individual' exclusion: each client receives reports built only from its own advertising data, not shared with or compile…
Can an online software marketplace that facilitates downloads by independent vendors be treated as a vendor required to collect New York sales tax?
Yes, at the Commissioner's discretion. The operator runs app/software marketplaces where independent software vendors (ISVs) sell downloadable prewritten software; the operator hosts the products, col…
Are a platform's webinar and live-stream products taxable, and what about its optional add-on services?
The core products aren't taxable, but two software add-ons are. Letting customers make presentations available to viewers over the internet — webinars and live streams — isn't a taxable service. Inter…
Is customized retail-training software (with embedded videos) and its subscription fees taxable, and how is the tax sourced?
Mostly taxable, sourced to where it's used. The 'skinned' training software is prewritten software customized for each retailer — taxable as tangible personal property, and because the custom 'skinnin…
Is a cloud service that remotely runs a customers telephone system taxable as prewritten software in New York?
Yes. The cloud collaboration service is essentially prewritten software that instructs the customers own phone equipment how to route and process calls, voicemail, video, conferencing and the like. Sa…
Is an online service that turns users photos and clips into videos taxable as prewritten software in New York?
Yes. The company sells online access to a web interface that lets customers turn their photos and clips into videos: customers choose content, order, music, logos, text, and style, and proprietary vid…
Does New York sales tax apply to a free app that lets users pay to use restrooms at participating venues?
No, on both counts. The app is prewritten software, which is taxable tangible personal property when sold — but a sale requires a transfer for consideration, and here the app is given to users free of…
Is subscription access to an online secure board-document file-sharing portal taxable as software in New York?
Yes. The petitioner sells subscription access to online applications that let corporate boards store, annotate, approve, collaborate on, and share secure documents. Giving customers access to this pre…
Are hosted email, fax, online meeting, and file-management services taxable in New York?
It splits four ways. Email service is not taxable: although email is telephony/telegraphy, the Internet Tax Freedom Act bars taxing Internet access, which includes email and instant messaging. Fax ser…
Is a cloud data-storage, backup, file-sharing and sync subscription subject to New York sales tax?
No. The service is not taxable. It is not a sale of prewritten software, because the optional app is free, is not required, and the service is fully usable through any web browser - so customers are n…
Is a tablet-based remote health-monitoring product, and the devices sold with it, subject to sales tax?
It splits. The monthly fee for the product is taxable prewritten software: caregivers log in to the provider's web portal and gain constructive possession of the software (the right to use and direct …
Are Internet-based large-file transfer subscription plans subject to New York sales tax?
No. The plans are a nontaxable bridging service. Their primary function is letting a customer send large files to recipients over the Internet: the customer uploads a file to the provider's server and…
Is a real-time web-analytics product that reports a customer's own website traffic subject to sales tax?
No. The product is an information service, but it qualifies for the 'personal or individual' exclusion and is not taxable. The company embeds tracking code on a customer's website, gathers data about …
Are fees to download and maintain prewritten software taxable in New York, and are per-order fees charged to website vendors taxable?
The software fees are taxable; the per-order vendor fees are not. Charging customers to download prewritten software is a taxable sale of tangible personal property, and the company's 'installation fe…
Are a cloud DNS-security firm's services taxable in New York, does its data center create nexus, and are its software plug-ins a separate taxable sale?
Yes to nexus and to tax. The firm (and its predecessor LLC) has had New York nexus at least since 2006, when it established a data center here -- physical property in the state is more than a slight p…
Can manufacturing production-control software be sold tax-free as machinery used directly in production or in research and development?
No. The software lets manufacturers quote prices, process orders, schedule jobs, control materials, track labor, and ship orders -- coordinating and monitoring the production process. But it does not …
Is a hosted IT cost-management service taxable -- as an information service, as software, or both?
It depends on how it's sold. The core 'Line-Item IT Billing' offering is a nontaxable information service: it collects, processes, and reports the customer's own IT-usage data back to that customer. I…
Are subscription charges for online meeting, web-conferencing, remote-support, and remote-computer-access products subject to NY sales tax or the section 186-e telecom excise tax?
No. The products are not taxable for sales tax or for the section 186-e telecommunication excise tax. Each product works by letting the subscriber's own computers connect to one another over the Inter…
Are sales of downloadable video-game software, in-game content, access/point/subscription cards, and dollar-value gift cards subject to NY sales tax, and where is the sale taxed?
Most are taxable; dollar-value gift cards are not. Selling prewritten game software the customer downloads -- a full game or add-on content like new levels or maps -- is a taxable sale of tangible per…
Is a cloud-computing (infrastructure-as-a-service) product that sells scalable computing power subject to NY sales tax?
No -- selling computing power is not one of the services made taxable by the Tax Law, so the cloud product is not subject to sales tax. Customers rent 'instances' of CPU, memory, and storage to run th…
Is a software maintenance and support contract taxable when it entitles the customer to upgraded versions of prewritten software?
Yes -- if the upgraded software is prewritten software, the whole contract is taxable unless the support and upgrade charges are separately stated. Selling prewritten computer software (including prew…
Are an online provider's legal-document services (wills, entity formation, registered agent, trademarks, legal plans) subject to NY sales tax?
No -- none of these services is subject to sales tax, because each one's primary function is producing documents or providing a legal or agent service, not furnishing information, and legal and regist…
Are an online marketing company's customer-review platform and its separately billed SaaS analytics product subject to NY sales tax?
The review platform isn't taxable but the analytics product is. The Core Offering -- which captures, moderates, and displays customer feedback on the client's and other retailers' websites -- compiles…
Is a license to web-hosted prewritten software taxable in NY, and what happens to bundled training and support charges?
Yes -- a license to use web-hosted prewritten software is a taxable sale of tangible personal property, sourced to where the customer uses it, even though nothing is downloaded. Bundled, nontaxable se…
Is a license to access hosted law-office practice-management software subject to NY sales tax, and how is it sourced?
Yes. A monthly license to access the developer's hosted practice-management software is a taxable sale of prewritten computer software -- taxable even though nothing is downloaded or copied to the cus…
Is an online assessment software tool taxable, and are the custom reports it generates from a customer's own data taxable?
Two different answers. Licensing the online assessment tool to third-party consultants is a taxable sale of prewritten computer software (sourced to where it's accessed), and the developer's own use o…
Is selling customers online access to fill-in forms templates on my web site -- with no software copy delivered -- subject to NY sales tax?
Yes. Charging customers to access forms templates on your server, fill them in with their own data, and download the populated forms is a sale of prewritten computer software, which NY treats as taxab…
Are monthly fees for litigation-support and e-discovery hosting of a client's own documents subject to NY sales tax?
No. A provider that collects, processes, organizes, and hosts a client's own documents on a web platform -- letting the client retrieve, view, tag, redact, highlight, and annotate them -- is providing…
Is a single-price, integrated portfolio and risk-management support service for investment managers subject to NY sales tax?
No, the integrated service itself is not taxable. Even though several components viewed alone would be taxable (intrastate telecom, the prewritten-software web interface, and risk-analysis/calculator …
Is an online driver-safety / point-reduction course subject to NY sales tax as prewritten software?
No. A DMV-regulated online accident-prevention course (an Internet Point and Insurance Reduction Program, or IPIRP) is a nontaxable educational service, not a sale of taxable software. Although the co…
Are downloadable craft patterns and project collections (eProjects) subject to NY sales tax?
No. Downloadable craft patterns (step-by-step instructions to make something) and eProjects (collections of multiple electronic patterns) are non-tangible digital files. They are not tangible personal…
Is a service that gathers, stores, and reports a customer's own data a taxable information service in NY?
No. Gathering and mapping a customer's data, storing it in a confidential per-customer online data warehouse, and using it to create customizable reports is an information service -- but one that is p…
Are an expert network's oral consultations, consultant directory/software, and custom research reports subject to NY sales tax?
Generally no. Oral consultations with the firm's expert consultants are not taxable -- they are guidance, advice, and perspective from the experts' own knowledge (not drawn from any common database), …
Is a subscription to a hosted product-data-synchronization data pool taxable as prewritten software in NY?
Yes. The product is a certified data pool (CDP) that lets supply-chain trading partners upload, synchronize, request, and view standardized product data through the operator's hosted software, which r…
Are a laser-surgery treatment-card fee and a per-procedure patent-license fee subject to NY sales tax?
Yes, both are taxable. The $10 plastic treatment card that must be inserted to operate the laser is itself tangible personal property with real utility (it activates the equipment), not a mere token o…
Is a hosted email-marketing service performed through the provider's software taxable, and are its training and consulting charges taxable?
The hosted service is taxable as prewritten software, but the optional training and consulting charges are not. Clients log into the provider's 'Hosted Offering' to build, target, and send email/messa…
Is a subscription for digital-certificate authentication and resolution services (secure-website certificates) subject to NY sales tax?
No. The company verifies a website operator's identity and issues a 'digital certificate' (an SSL-type certificate) so visitors' browsers can confirm the site is genuine and open an encrypted connecti…
Is e-discovery access taxable when the customer logs in and uses the vendor's software to review and organize data?
Partly. When the customer uses the vendor's proprietary online tool to classify, organize, batch, and index its uploaded data -- the Data Capturer, Data Reviewer, and Data Manager access levels -- the…
Are electronic-discovery litigation support services -- where the vendor processes a client's own documents -- subject to NY sales tax?
No. The vendor collects, processes, searches, and organizes a client's own electronic documents for litigation -- categorizing, de-duplicating, threading emails, and making them searchable -- which ad…
Which of a railroad IT provider's hosted products are taxable, and how are they sourced for NY sales tax?
They split three ways. Products where the customer uses the provider's hosted software to manipulate its own data are sales of prewritten software (taxable, Tax Law 1101(b)(6)) -- Transportation Manag…
Is a merchant return-authorization (fraud-scoring) service taxable in NY, and what about a linked discount-coupon service?
The return-authorization service is taxable; the discount-coupon service isn't. The authorization service compiles shoppers' return history and runs it through proprietary risk models to recommend whe…
Are a financial data provider's options taxable -- aggregated investor info versus an optional analytics software tool?
Mostly not, but the optional software tool is. The provider gathers and normalizes investor-level portfolio and advisor information from many institutions and delivers it to financial institutions and…
Is a software license taxed in full because the buyer's NY office is the bill-to address, or only on the NY users?
Only on the portion attributable to users located in New York. Prewritten software is tangible personal property (Tax Law 1101(b)(6)), and a license to use it is taxed where possession is transferred …
Are a financial-data company's charges for data feeds, online reports, application software, technical/research support, and training subject to NY sales tax?
It depends on the item. The company's data feeds are taxable information services (Tax Law 1105(c)) -- they are compilations drawn from a common database that every subscriber accesses, so the 'person…
Is a transfer of prewritten software taxable in NY, and how is the sale sourced when the code sits out of state but is used here?
Yes, it's taxable, and it's sourced to where the software is used in New York. Prewritten computer software is tangible personal property regardless of how it's conveyed (Tax Law 1101(b)(6)), so the c…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-10(4)C/(23)S: Are charges to use an online virtual-call-center network (and related billing and call-handling services) subject to New York sales tax?
Partly. Charges to access the LiveXchange virtual-call-center network are taxable receipts from the sale of prewritten computer software, sourced to where the users are located. PaySource's billing an…
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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.