State Tax Rulings
Free state tax letter rulings and advisory opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
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Was a true equipment lease subject to Florida documentary stamp tax when its delivery-and-acceptance certificate was not expressly incorporated?
No. Although the master lease incorporated its supplements, it did not incorporate the certificate needed to show delivery and acceptance. The true lease also did not create an unconditional promise t…
How does Nebraska's enhanced (35%) research tax credit for on-campus research work, and how is it split from the regular (15%) credit?
Research done on a Nebraska college or university campus (or a college/university-owned facility) earns an enhanced credit of 35% of the federal IRC § 41 research credit, versus 15% for research done …
Did five federally taxable survivor-annuity lump sums qualify for Virginia's death-benefit subtraction?
Yes. Each payment came from an annuity contract between the deceased father and an insurance company, was paid to the beneficiary as a lump sum, and was included in federal taxable income. Those facts…
Could a business use 2008 receipts for its final BPOL year instead of the prior year's base receipts merely by saying it had ceased operations?
Not merely from the assertion. Virginia held that the city correctly computed 2008 BPOL from 2007 base-year gross receipts; a final-year proration also used the base year. But permanent cessation was …
Could Virginia recover a refund increase caused by itemized deductions overstated on the taxpayers' own return?
Yes. The couple had correctly stated the refund they expected, but they entered an incorrect itemized-deduction amount on the filed return. The Department processed that line and increased the overpay…
Were 1993 amended Virginia returns timely when IRS adjustments for 1984-1989 continued after the Department's claimed final date?
Yes for the 1984-1989 federal changes. IRS notices showed that adjustments continued beyond the 1992 reports, so the October 1993 amended Virginia returns preceded the relevant 1994 or 1996 final dete…
Could a taxpayer overturn a 1991 Virginia assessment in 2009 by arguing income-tax filing was voluntary and IRS data was illegal?
No. The assessment was issued April 8, 1994, but the taxpayer did not appeal until January 2009, long after even Virginia's former three-year administrative-appeal policy for pre-August 2003 assessmen…
Was a refund a Department error when the electronic return claimed an out-of-state credit that did not appear on the taxpayers' printed copy?
No. Department records showed that the electronically transmitted return included an out-of-state tax credit and North Carolina withholding data. The printed software copy showing no credit might not …
Did the 2009 Military Spouses Residency Relief Act exempt a service member's minor child from Virginia tax for 2006?
No. The minor could share her parents' out-of-state domicile yet still be a Virginia actual resident because she lived in the Commonwealth for more than 183 days. Virginia could tax all of a resident'…
Could a Virginia resident claim all joint itemized deductions when her nonresident military spouse's income funded a joint bank account?
No. A resident and nonresident spouse filing separately had to account for deductions separately or allocate inseparable items in proportion to income. Because the expenses came from a joint bank acco…
Did a missionary remain domiciled in Virginia because he kept a Virginia license, voter registration, and mailing address while living abroad?
No. The taxpayer had lived abroad since July 2003, worked there full time, rented a permanent home, lived with his spouse and children, and spent all of 2006 outside Virginia. A Virginia mailing addre…
Did moving to another state and taking a foreign assignment end Virginia domicile when the taxpayer kept his family, home, vehicles, voting, and license there?
No. Renting a room in another state, declaring it as an employer home of record, and working abroad showed some intent to move. But the taxpayer kept the Virginia home where his spouse and children li…
Could a for-profit school treat textbooks bundled with tuition as resold to students and remit tax through a revenue percentage?
No. The enrollment agreements stated no separate textbook price or sales tax, so the true object of the lump-sum transaction was educational service. The school was the consumer of books used in that …
Did a for-profit school's 2.5%-of-revenue payment satisfy tax on textbooks bundled into tuition and fees?
No. The enrollment agreements stated no separate textbook sales price or tax, so the true object of the lump-sum transaction was training. The school consumed textbooks in providing that service and o…
Who owed Virginia tax on textbooks bundled into a for-profit school's lump-sum tuition—the school or its students?
The school owed tax on its textbook cost. Because tuition, books, and fees were billed together, the transaction's true object was educational service, not a separate retail textbook sale. The school …
How did Virginia resolve sales-tax and withholding audits when an interior designer kept almost no business records?
Virginia reached a split result. The business sold property, collected sales tax, never registered or filed, retained the money, and produced only bank statements and canceled checks. Virginia upheld …
Could a bakery use Virginia's reduced food rate for cold takeout sandwiches and exempt organizational sales without separate records or certificates?
Only with proof. Cold food packaged for takeout could qualify for the reduced rate, and this business was below the 80% immediate-consumption threshold, but it had not kept separate records for qualif…
Can a taxpayer amend timely sales-tax refund claims after the refund statute of limitations has expired, if the amendment just reduces the amount sought?
Yes. A taxpayer that filed timely sales-tax refund claims may amend them to reduce the refund amount even after the three-year limitations period has expired, and the claims stay valid and timely -- a…
Are litigation support / e-discovery services -- and the discs, drives, and files used to deliver them -- subject to NY sales tax?
No, the services aren't taxable, regardless of the media they're delivered on. The provider indexes, sorts, de-duplicates, and adds searchable identifiers to a client's own documents -- which makes it…
Were a Florida yacht club's initiation fees exempt as purchases of equitable ownership interests?
No. The membership card did not evidence ownership, several membership classes lacked voting rights, and dissolution proceeds were not proportionate. The initiation fees—and the club's dues—were taxab…
When a food-service company prepares patient meals for a for-profit hospital, is sales tax due on the whole charge — including the labor and management fee — or only on the food?
On the whole charge tied to the meals. A food-service company that prepares patient meals for a for-profit hospital is treated as a caterer selling prepared meals, so it must collect Colorado sales ta…
How did Virginia's original 2010 accelerated sales-tax payment rules work for million-dollar dealers?
These superseded 2010 guidelines required dealers with at least $1 million in prior-fiscal-year taxable sales or purchases to prepay 90% of the previous June's liability by June 25 by mail or June 30 …
Can taxpayers rely on ST 10-0039-GIL's conclusion that a United States possession was not outside the United States for the air-carrier fuel exemption?
No. ST 10-0039-GIL originally said a United States possession was not a location outside the United States for the air-carrier fuel exemption, using a Los Angeles-Hawaii-Guam flight as its example. Bu…
Could shareholders claim a recycling-equipment credit earned by a corporation in 2004 and later carried into its S-corporation years?
No. Virginia's individual recycling-equipment credit expired after 2003, while legislation allowing individuals to receive the corporate credit through pass-through entities applied only for 2008 and …
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-10(5)C/(24)S: Are roaming charges for foreign carriers' customers (with a place of primary use outside New York) subject to New York sales or telecom excise tax?
No. A facilities-based carrier that supplies roaming service to the customers of foreign mobile carriers -- customers whose home addresses (places of primary use) are outside New York -- owes no New Y…
Did Virginia state agencies and political subdivisions owe the tire recycling fee on tires, including replacement truck tires?
No. Because the tire-recycling-fee chapter incorporated the retail sales-and-use-tax exemptions, all tires bought by the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions were exempt, including replacement t…
Are a company's tenant-screening / credit-reporting services subject only to NYC local sales tax, or to State and local sales tax across New York?
They're taxable as information services under Tax Law 1105(c)(1) (or 1105(c)(9) if delivered electronically), statewide. The company is a consumer reporting agency that resells data from the three nat…
Could a wage earner claim Illinois withholding from a Form W-2 issued under a different name or taxpayer identification number?
Yes, with proof. A taxpayer had to file an Illinois return regardless of legal status when Illinois tax was owed or, for an Illinois resident, when a federal return was required and no stated exceptio…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-10(3)C: Could a bank claim the historic-rehabilitation credit against its Article 32 franchise tax under proposed Governor's Program Bill #228?
Yes, if the bill becomes law. Assuming proposed Tax Law section 1456(u) (Governor's Program Bill #228) is enacted, a bank could claim a credit against its Article 32 bank franchise tax equal to 100% o…
My building is a not-for-profit Mitchell-Lama cooperative supervised by the state housing agency, with income limits and restrictions that prevent shareholders from selling at market value. A Voluntary Reconstitution Plan would convert us into a private, for-profit cooperative corporation, letting shareholders finally sell for full market value. Does converting from the Mitchell-Lama nonprofit structure to a private cooperative trigger New York's Real Estate Transfer Tax -- for the building itself, for the new shares issued to participating shareholders, and for shareholders who opt out instead?
Yes, RETT applies at multiple points in the conversion, though credits and the mere-change exemption reduce some of the burden. A shareholder in a not-for-profit Mitchell-Lama cooperative (organized u…
Were sales of digitally delivered articles and website membership fees taxable when buyers mainly acquired the right to republish the articles?
No. Digitized articles delivered over the internet were not taxable, and the buyer's true object was the intangible right to republish the work rather than a tangible copy. That intangible-right analy…
Did Illinois tax an automotive core charge, and what happened to the tax when the core or the purchased part was later returned?
Yes. A core charge was part of the taxable selling price. If the customer later returned the core, the retailer should refund the full core charge and the tax paid on it. If the customer supplied the …
Is an optional, separately stated 'rental protection' charge — a theft and damage waiver that isn't insurance — subject to sales tax when you rent equipment?
No. An optional, separately stated charge a lessee pays its equipment lessor for a 'rental protection plan' — a waiver limiting what the lessee owes for theft of or damage to the rented equipment, exp…
Did reusing previously mined phosphate-industry waste to produce phosphoric acid create a new Florida phosphate severance-tax liability?
No. The waste streams were part of material already severed from Florida soil, and severance tax had already been levied at that event even though the waste was removed before the wet-rock-bin measure…
What are South Carolina's latest state and county per capita income figures used for tax incentives (per SC IL #10-4)?
$32,495 statewide. SC Information Letter #10-4 publishes the most recently available per capita personal income figures for South Carolina — $32,495 for the state, plus a figure for every county — whi…
Is renting a self-storage unit that you lock and control yourself subject to New York's sales tax on storage services?
No. Renting a self-storage unit is not subject to the sales tax on storage services under Tax Law § 1105(c)(4) when the arrangement is a lease of real property rather than a storage service. Here the …
Did Illinois's interstate-commerce exemption apply when exhibit property shipped out of state was expected to return to Illinois for repair or remodeling?
No, if the return was known when the sale was made. The exemption required the serviceman to be obligated to deliver the property from Illinois to a point outside Illinois and for the property not to …
What petroleum products inspection fee applied to gasoline and diesel beginning July 1, 2010?
Kansas restored the Petroleum Products Inspection Fee to $0.015 per barrel of gasoline and diesel effective July 1, 2010. For this fee, K.S.A. 55-426 treats 50 gallons as one barrel and imposes the fe…
Were a city library's ongoing sales of used books and other tangible items exempt merely because the seller was a governmental unit?
No automatic exemption applied. Illinois said a governmental unit incurred Retailers' Occupation Tax when selling tangible personal property to the public unless the sale directly performed a governme…
Were subscriptions, online training, and analytic services taxable when contracted with software delivered in tangible form?
Yes. Each contested service was contracted in connection with software delivered in tangible form. Virginia treated that software as taxable property and found it was the true object of the purchase a…
Could Peter Sinclaire and Elizabeth Durston receive a $60 refund from their 2004 New Mexico income tax return when they applied after the deadline?
No. The $60 overpayment came from the taxpayers' 2004 personal income tax return, which was due in 2005, so the three-year claim period ended December 31, 2008. Their application arrived February 5, 2…
Under South Carolina's original 2010 guidance, when was a nonresident military spouse's South Carolina service income protected from state income tax?
Under the 2010 ruling, a spouse's South Carolina service income was protected when both spouses shared an out-of-state domicile, the servicemember was present under orders, and the spouse was there so…
Are refinery charges for renting, delivering, erecting, and dismantling temporary scaffolding subject to Kansas sales tax?
Yes. Temporary scaffolding used to construct, maintain, or repair refinery equipment is taxable rental equipment, not exempt integrated-production machinery or a nontaxable service. Kansas's taxable s…
Does Kansas sales tax include federal fuel excise tax when a motor-fuel sale is taxable?
Yes. When a motor-fuel retail sale is subject to Kansas sales tax, its sales price includes federal fuel excise tax even if separately stated, and a later federal credit or refund does not reduce the …
What share of rent for a mixed-use, 36,000-square-foot assisted living facility was subject to Florida sales tax?
Only 1.12%. The resident rooms and areas used to care for aged residents were exempt; the facility's 404-square-foot beauty shop was the only taxable commercial area under the submitted plans.
How did Illinois tax installed carpeting, custom draperies, reupholstery, handling fees, and sales spanning a tax-rate change?
Illinois applied different rules by transaction. A contractor permanently installing carpet was the end user and owed Use Tax on its material cost, while an over-the-counter carpet sale was taxable to…
Did tuition paid to a California school for teacher-led online instruction at home qualify for Illinois's education expense credit?
No. Section 201(m)'s definition of a qualifying school required tuition, book fees, and lab fees to be paid to a school located in Illinois. The child received internet instruction at home from teache…
Is a public university's mandatory annual vehicle registration fee taxable when the same fee also lets the registrant park on campus?
Yes. A State University of New York campus's mandatory $9.65 annual vehicle registration fee is subject to sales tax as a parking service under Tax Law § 1105(c)(6), because the single fee and permit …
Could an Illinois caterer exclude separately stated service, linen, equipment, setup, or delivery charges from taxable meal-sale receipts?
No. Illinois said a caterer's taxable gross receipts included charges associated with the food sale, including linens, tables, chairs, dishes, glasses, flowers, labor, setup, delivery, and corkage, ev…
Could a Florida city buy construction materials, furniture, and equipment tax-free for its public events-center project?
Yes, if the city followed its agreement: it had to order directly, receive the invoice, pay from public funds, take title at purchase or delivery, assume risk of loss, and give the vendor its exemptio…
Is a Medicare Part D insurance company exempt from Utah's corporate franchise tax even though its premiums themselves are federally exempt from Utah's premiums tax?
Yes, but for a narrower reason than the company argued. The company (a Medicare Part D insurer) claimed it should be treated as 'subject to' Utah's premiums tax (and thus exempt from corporate franchi…
Were premiums on a tenant's blanket insurance policy taxable as additional commercial rent when the policy also protected its landlords?
No. The policy protected both tenant and landlords, and the premiums were not itemized by property or landlord benefit. A separately stated portion securing only landlord protection would have been ta…
Could a custom-cabinet manufacturer avoid use tax by selling cabinets through a retailer before separately contracting to install them for a government or exempt entity?
No. A manufacturer that later installs its own cabinets owes use tax on fabricated cost, even through a separate contract and intervening retailer. A true sale without installation remains a sale of t…
Was a separately stated newspaper carrier-delivery charge subject to Florida sales tax when subscribers could avoid it?
No. The publisher disclosed carrier and mail charges at subscription or renewal, told subscribers they could avoid carrier delivery by pickup or mail, and separately stated the carrier charge on the i…
A campus dining contractor buys student meals from an off-campus hotel housing overflow students — does it owe sales tax on those purchases, and can it recover the tax?
The purchases are taxable, but the tax is recoverable. A food-service management company that contracts with a public college to provide meal-plan meals, and that buys meals from an off-campus hotel t…
Are receipts for managed IT support services -- monitoring, management, backup, security -- subject to NY sales tax?
It depends what's sold. The integrated IT monitoring and management packages are not taxable (their primary function -- helping a customer operate and manage its IT system -- is an unenumerated servic…
Did five months living and working in another state make a Virginia domiciliary resident a part-year resident for 2005?
No. The taxpayer said the out-of-state move was temporary, lived with relatives, returned to Virginia after the assignment, and spent 237 days in Virginia during 2005. She did not prove abandonment of…
Did a taxpayer prove she lived outside Virginia in 2004 after ignoring three Department requests for residency evidence?
Not yet. Virginia had third-party tax documents sent to a Virginia address and a Virginia license later renewed in 2007. The taxpayer claimed another-state domicile but did not provide all evidence re…
Did Virginia fixed-date conformity require a 2007 subtraction for foreign dividends included in federal adjusted gross income?
No. The foreign dividends were included in federal adjusted gross income, but Virginia's former foreign-source subtraction had been expressly repealed for tax years beginning in 2003 and later. Fixed-…
Did a military spouse remain a Virginia resident in 2003 after leaving her job and home to establish a household and employment abroad?
No. When her service-member spouse transferred abroad in 2001, she ended Virginia employment, vacated the home, moved her child, established a permanent foreign residence, enrolled the child in school…
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