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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Is a sports-training facility's personal and group training memberships, where members can only access the facility during scheduled sessions, a taxable athletic-club membership?
No. A fitness and sports-training facility's personal-training and small-group-training memberships are nonamusement instructional services, not taxable athletic-club memberships, because members can …
Were consulting fees taxable as New Mexico gross receipts when Colorado businesses performed every service by phone and internet from Colorado for New Mexico clients?
No. Michael and Meredith Hartnagle's Colorado businesses performed all consulting services for two New Mexico clients from Colorado by telephone and internet, without traveling to New Mexico. Although…
Does Florida's $4 emergency-management surcharge apply to a stand-alone commercial glass insurance policy?
No. The stand-alone policy covering broken or chemically damaged glass did not qualify as commercial fire, commercial multiple-peril, or business-owner property insurance under the surcharge rule.
Could Virginia accept a Qualified Equity and Subordinated Debt Tax Credit application postmarked after the April 1 deadline?
No. Form EDC and supporting documents had to be submitted by April 1 for the preceding tax year. Because the application was postmarked April 23, 2018, Virginia denied the 2017 credit; the annual $5 m…
Could Virginia accept a Qualified Equity and Subordinated Debt Tax Credit application postmarked after the April 1 deadline?
No. Form EDC and supporting documents had to be submitted by April 1 for the preceding tax year. Because the application was postmarked April 18, 2018, Virginia denied the 2017 credit; the annual $5 m…
Did renting homes and filing resident returns in two other states end Virginia domicile when the taxpayer kept Virginia licenses, vehicles, and voting ties?
No. The taxpayer did not prove abandonment of Virginia because she kept a Virginia driver's license, vehicles, and voter registration and later identified herself as a Virginia resident. She could cla…
Did a later merger or acquisition eliminate Virginia's long-term capital-gain subtraction when the company qualified at the time of investment?
No. The statute tied the subtraction to an investment in a qualified business and did not require the company to remain qualified until the stock was sold. Because the business qualified when the inve…
Did taxpayers qualify for Virginia's 2017 tax amnesty after filing an unpaid 2014 return and paying the later assessment during the amnesty period?
Yes. Although the assessment was issued after the program's ordinary June 15 cutoff, the guidelines had a special rule for unpaid returns filed while the taxpayer was not under audit. Because the taxp…
Did working abroad change Virginia domicile when the taxpayer kept a Virginia home, license, voter registration, vehicles, and later returned?
No. Even if the taxpayer established a home abroad, he did not prove abandonment of Virginia. He kept a Virginia residence, driver's license, voter registration, and vehicle registrations and returned…
Were maintenance agreements sold at a Virginia dealership taxable when the vehicle was immediately removed, titled, and registered in another state?
Yes. The vehicle itself escaped Virginia motor-vehicle tax because it was titled elsewhere, but the optional agreement was a separate Virginia retail sale. Parts-and-labor contracts remained taxable o…
Did Virginia's broadcasting-equipment exemption cover equipment sold to a satellite system that transmitted programming only to paying subscribers?
No. Virginia required dissemination to the general public unless the system was a specifically listed cable technology. The customer's satellite service sent signals only to subscribers and was not wi…
Are internet-delivered prewritten-software sales exempt from Georgia sales tax, and must the seller still register and file returns?
Yes, software delivered only over the internet was exempt because no tangible storage medium was used. The seller had to document the electronic delivery; otherwise Georgia presumed tangible delivery.…
Did a Florida city's proposed owner-direct-purchase contract qualify construction materials for the public-works sales-tax exemption?
Yes. The contract qualified because the city would directly order, receive invoices for, and pay vendors for materials, take title, and bear risk of loss from jobsite delivery until permanent installa…
Did Virginia order a city to refund BPOL tax on internet-access receipts under the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act?
No. The Department maintained that the Internet Tax Freedom Act applied to BPOL and that BPOL was a gross-receipts tax, not an exempt net-income tax. But it declined to decide whether the city's tax w…
Did hospital property have to be absolutely owned by the hospital to qualify for Virginia's business tangible personal property exemption?
No. “Belonging to” a hospital did not require absolute ownership; an interest or estate in the property could be enough. But the taxpayer still had to prove to the city that the physical-therapy equip…
Could the buyer of a New Mexico restaurant avoid the seller's tax debt because some purchased equipment was repossessed and the buyer changed the employees, menu, and tax identification?
No. Tyler Carter purchased “the restaurant business” for $25,000, including furniture and equipment, then continued operating at the same location under a substantially similar name. Those facts estab…
When a New Mexico shopping-center landlord evicted a delinquent restaurant tenant and continued operating the restaurants, did it owe the tenant's entire tax debt as a successor in business?
No. TVSLR became a successor in business when it evicted VSH, LLC and continued the same restaurants, but it was not a mere continuation of the tenant because the entities lacked continuity of managem…
Are Florida Development Finance Corporation bonds and documents securing them exempt from documentary stamp and nonrecurring intangible taxes?
Yes. Bonds issued by the Florida Development Finance Corporation under Part X of chapter 288, plus security documents arising from or securing their repayment, were exempt from documentary stamp and n…
How should Virginia sales tax apply to food, beverages, and vending-machine sales in unstaffed workplace micro markets?
Micro markets could use the reduced food-tax rate for qualifying food for home consumption, but hot food, hot drinks, and other immediate-consumption items remained taxable at the general rate. Checko…
Was a steam-and-power facility primarily engaged in producing electricity for resale, excluding its fuel purchases from Georgia's manufacturing-energy exemption?
Yes. Considering the facility's steam purchaser relationship, business model, production design, self-classification, and electricity sales, Georgia found it primarily engaged in producing electricity…
Could a New Mexico bicycle shop recover late-return penalties after it made monthly gross receipts tax payments but failed to file separate returns because it followed Department help-line guidance?
Yes. High Desert Bicycles made monthly gross receipts tax payments through the Department's online system but did not realize that filing a return was a separate step. The AHO credited its treasurer's…
Could a New Mexico contractor obtain a refund of gross receipts tax penalty and interest when an employee unintentionally paid one day late while the office was short-staffed?
No. El Terrero Construction's assistant office manager believed the December 2017 gross receipts tax had been paid on time but later discovered that the deadline was missed by one day while the office…
Does a Georgia restaurant pay sales tax on kitchen equipment, cookware, shelving, cleaning supplies, tables, and chairs bought to open the business?
Yes. The restaurant used the equipment, cookware, supplies, tables, and chairs to prepare food and serve customers; the items did not become part of meals sold for resale. Restaurants are also express…
Is Suffolk County's mandatory 5-cent carryout-bag fee subject to New York state or local sales tax?
No. Suffolk County's Local Law No. 27-2016 requires covered stores to charge customers a 5-cent fee for each carryout bag (stores keep the fee and must itemize it on the receipt) to encourage reusable…
Did a Virginia shutter manufacturer owe sales or use tax on raw materials used for shutters it installed as part of out-of-state real-property contracts?
Yes. Installing fabricated shutters made the taxpayer a using and consuming real-property contractor, not an exempt industrial manufacturer of products for sale or resale. Because it bought and fabric…
Is Florida sales tax due on furnishings transferred with a home when the contract gives only a lump-sum furnishing amount?
No on these facts. Although the contract assigned a separate lump sum to furnishings, it did not separately describe and price the tangible items, so the broker was not required to collect sales tax.
Does a billing-services company owe Colorado sales tax on the printed bills it produces, or on the separately stated postage it charges to mail them?
No to both. A company that turns clients' raw financial data into printed bills and statements is selling a nontaxable service, not taxable goods — the paper the bills are printed on is incidental to …
Were CCA's receipts for housing county and federal inmates deductible as licenses sold to Torrance County for resale to the U.S. Marshals Service?
No. CCA's contracts required incarceration, custody, records, transportation, medical care, meals, utilities, maintenance, guards, and other detention services; they did not sell or resell licenses to…
How can taxpayers check whether an older South Carolina advisory opinion was modified or superseded (per SC IL #18-9)?
Use the citator attached to SC Information Letter #18-9. It helps you determine what effect newer South Carolina advisory opinions have on previously published ones — whether an opinion was modified, …
Where can taxpayers find South Carolina Department of Revenue advisory opinions by tax topic through June 30, 2018?
Use the subject index attached to SC Information Letter #18-8. It organizes South Carolina Department of Revenue advisory opinions issued from 1987 through June 30, 2018 under administrative, alcoholi…
Is the electricity my Utah business buys under a utility's renewable-energy 'green' tariff exempt from Utah sales and use tax?
Only partly. Electricity is taxable tangible personal property in Utah, and a business's power is taxed as 'commercial use.' Utah's renewable-energy exemption (§ 59-12-104(47)(a)) is narrow: it covers…
Is water and ice dispensed from a vending machine — into containers the customer brings — subject to Colorado sales tax, and does it matter that the machine sits just outside a bar?
No, they're exempt. Water dispensed in discrete quantities is tangible personal property (not a utility service), but it's still exempt as 'food': SNAP-eligible non-carbonated water sold from a vendin…
Can a U.S. company that retains title to raw materials still issue a Texas Maquiladora Exemption Certificate as agent for its Mexican maquiladora when buying those materials tax-free in Texas?
Yes, in principle. Retaining title to raw materials exported to a Mexican maquiladora does not by itself prevent a U.S. company from acting as the maquiladora's agent and issuing a Texas Maquiladora E…
Could Virginia grant a land-preservation credit when the taxpayer filed Form LPC-1 almost a year after the statutory deadline?
No. For the July 6, 2015 donation, the statute required Form LPC-1 by December 31, 2016. The Department received it on December 20, 2017. Missing the deadline or misunderstanding the law did not autho…
Did foreign work and advice from an employer or tax preparer prove that a taxpayer was not a Virginia resident in 2014?
No. Temporary work abroad did not by itself abandon Virginia domicile, and the taxpayer supplied no requested evidence of a permanent new home. Filing Virginia resident returns before, during, and aft…
Could taxpayers reverse Virginia assessments after failing to report an IRS deduction change and failing to document later itemized deductions?
Not on the existing record. The 2010 appeal was already exhausted, and Virginia upheld 2011 because the taxpayers failed to report the final IRS reduction of their deductions. For 2014 through 2016, t…
Could taxpayers overturn Virginia assessments based on IRS and withholding information without objective evidence that the adjustments were wrong?
No. Virginia could use IRS information and other available records to adjust federal adjusted gross income, credits, and withholding. Because the taxpayers supplied no objective evidence showing the c…
Did the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protect a military couple from Virginia income tax when their conduct showed they had established Virginia domicile?
No. Military orders alone do not change domicile, but the federal protection did not prevent Virginia from considering the couple's voluntary ties. Virginia licenses, vehicle registrations, voting, ho…
Is dormitory-style educational housing that only training-course and conference attendees may use — not the general public — a 'hotel' subject to Texas hotel occupancy tax?
No — the educational housing is not a 'hotel,' so its stays are not subject to hotel occupancy tax. Under Section 156.001(a) a hotel is a building where members of the public obtain sleeping accommoda…
How should a Florida-licensed financial-services company source fees earned through disregarded entities?
Treat the taxpayer as a financial organization and source the redacted service fees to the location of the relevant owner or service recipient. Florida-located owners or recipients put the receipts in…
How should a holding company with disregarded entities source service revenue for Florida corporate-income-tax apportionment?
Florida treated the company as a financial organization because a disregarded entity performed financial-type activities. It sourced financial services to the receiving customer or entity and other se…
Is the sale and installation of an F-5-rated prefabricated storm shelter, anchored into a concrete foundation, taxable as tangible personal property or exempt as an improvement to real property?
It depends on how you bill. A prefabricated storm shelter anchored into a permanent concrete foundation is an improvement to real property, so a lump-sum charge for its sale and installation is not ta…
Is a medical billing and coding company's lump-sum fee taxable, when its services include both nontaxable coding/claim-filing work and taxable insurance-claims-appeal work?
It depends on the mix. A medical coding and billing company's coding, eligibility-verification, and initial claim-filing services are nontaxable, but its work appealing denied insurance claims is a ta…
What does Illinois General Information Letter ST 18-0018-GIL conclude about Service Occupation Tax?
The Department declined to issue the requested Private Letter Ruling because the facts provided were too limited, and instead issued this General Information Letter explaining, in general terms, how R…
When does a vehicle qualify as a Texas trade-in, how must a dealer document it, and what must a blanket resale certificate show?
A trade-in reduces taxable value only when the dealer accepts it as consideration in the same purchase transaction. The buyer's order, installment contract and Form 130-U should document it. A blanket…
What does Illinois Private Letter Ruling ST 18-0007-PLR conclude about Liquor Tax?
The Department ruled that the taxpayer's flavored malt beverage (14% alcohol by volume) must be taxed as wine at $1.39 per gallon under the Liquor Control Act, not as beer at $0.231 per gallon, based …
A company sells licensed professionals a single-price membership that bundles document-drafting software, an online community, and education. Is the membership fee subject to Utah sales tax?
Yes. Because the single-price membership bundles taxable items (the document-drafting software and downloadable education) with nontaxable services (the online community, in-person and online-only edu…
Was Virginia required to prove residency and wage sourcing from the employer before assessing a nonfiler who refused to provide requested records?
No. Virginia could use federal information, a Virginia address, and reported wages to investigate and make a best-information assessment when the taxpayer did not respond. The taxpayer carried the bur…
Could Virginia hear a BPOL appeal based on a city employee's letter that did not identify itself as a final local determination?
No. A Department appeal generally requires a signed, dated final local determination from the commissioner, chief assessing officer, or an expressly designated signer, plus the prescribed notice. Beca…
Could Virginia decide BPOL payroll-apportionment disputes when the 2012 appeal was late and the county had not issued a valid final determination for later years?
No. The 2012 administrative correction request was filed after its three-year deadline and used a route reviewable in circuit court, not by the Department. For 2013 through 2016, the county's letter l…
Did equipment at medical practices acquired and operated by a nonprofit hospital qualify for Virginia's hospital property-tax exemption?
Yes. The nonprofit hospital acquired, owned, and managed practices that provided health programs and medical services to the public, satisfying the dominant-purpose test. The hospital classification e…
In a toll-road operator's revenue-sharing deal with TxDOT, are the roadside gantries and toll-collection equipment exempt from Texas sales tax as improvements to a state agency's realty?
Split ruling. The physical gantry structures a toll-road operator installs over the highway are exempt from Texas sales tax as improvements to TxDOT's exempt real property, but the toll-collection equ…
Can a lab that tests blood plasma samples for infectious diseases before its client manufactures medicine claim Texas's manufacturing exemption on its testing equipment and supplies?
No. A laboratory that tests source-plasma samples for infectious diseases on behalf of pharmaceutical manufacturers cannot claim Texas's manufacturing sales tax exemption on its testing equipment and …
Is the requirement that a taxpayer forfeit current capital loss and net operating loss carryforwards a valid condition for accepting an offer in compromise, and which losses does it cover?
Yes. Condition 5G of Form DTF-4.1, requiring forfeiture of current capital loss and net operating loss carryforwards, is a valid exercise of the Commissioner's discretion under Tax Law § 171(15). It c…
What does Illinois Private Letter Ruling ST 18-0006-PLR conclude about Manufacturing Machinery & Equipment?
Illinois ruled that a recycling company's sorting, separating, and baling equipment used to process scrap into marketable recycled commodities qualifies for the Retailers' Occupation Tax/Use Tax manuf…
Was tangible property acquired after 2003 by a nonprofit hospital LLC taxable merely because the city had not adopted a new exemption ordinance?
No. Virginia treated the pre-2003 nonprofit-hospital provision as a classification exemption that continued after the constitutional and statutory changes. Property later acquired by a qualifying nonp…
Could Virginia accept a 2017 Qualified Equity and Subordinated Debt Credit application postmarked after the April 1 deadline?
No. Form EDC for a prior-year investment had to be filed by April 1. The application was postmarked April 17, 2018. Because the credit was capped and allocated among timely applicants, Virginia enforc…
Did a taxpayer prove she was a District of Columbia resident rather than a Virginia resident for 2015?
No. The taxpayer supplied no evidence establishing a District of Columbia domicile, while her Virginia resident returns before and after 2015 supported continued Virginia domicile. The assessment rema…
Could a Virginia resident claim all joint mortgage-interest and property-tax deductions when payments came from an account shared with a nonresident spouse?
No. A resident filing separately from a nonresident spouse had to account separately for deductions or allocate untraceable items by each spouse's income. Because the payments came from commingled fun…
Which replacement items for interstate auto-hauler trucks qualified for Georgia's common-carrier exemption, and what certificate did the seller need?
Cluster chains, replacement wheel straps, and ratchet wheel-strap tie-downs qualified because they became integral parts essential to an auto hauler's transport function. Tie-down bars, height sticks,…
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