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 corporate secretary and store manager personally liable for the company's unpaid Virginia sales and withholding taxes as a responsible officer?
No. Although she was a 50% owner, corporate secretary, and store manager, the evidence showed her husband alone controlled bookkeeping, tax preparation, filing, and payment. She lacked the required ta…
How do Colorado sales and use taxes apply to selling, renting, installing, and monitoring security and surveillance systems?
Security equipment (cameras, surveillance, alarms) is taxable tangible personal property; bundled services like installation, monitoring, and shipping are excluded only if they're optional AND separat…
Can a working farm buy a pellet gun used only to control varmints exempt from New York sales tax?
Yes, on these facts. A pellet gun is taxable tangible personal property, but Tax Law section 1115(a)(6)(A) exempts property used predominantly (more than 50% of the time) in the production of goods fo…
Are custom satellite imaging analysis reports made for a single client subject to New York sales tax?
No. The petitioner sells two products: standard reports (it collects tax on those) and custom reports tailored to one client about a specific facility, provided only to that client. Furnishing informa…
What does Illinois say about sales/use tax nexus, motor vehicle leasing and short-term rentals, the interim-use/demonstrator exemption, and sales to exempt organizations?
This GIL doesn't answer a single yes/no question; it's the Department's response to a multi-state tax survey, declining to fill out the questionnaire but summarizing Illinois law on several sales-tax …
Are non-customized digital market reports subject to Colorado sales tax as tangible personal property?
Yes, likely taxable. Colorado treats digital goods as tangible personal property, and a market report that is NOT customized for a particular customer is the sale of goods, not a nontaxable service — …
Could Peabody deduct trainload coal sales as chemicals sold in lots over eighteen tons when an Arizona power plant burned the coal to generate electricity?
No. Although Peabody sold coal in lots far exceeding eighteen tons and combustion involved a chemical reaction, the AHO held that Section 7-9-65 was not intended to restore a repealed coal-sale deduct…
How was Michael Trujillo's personal income tax assessment changed after better records supported a bank-deposits calculation instead of audit extrapolation?
The parties agreed to abate $90,413.48. The original audit used extrapolation because Trujillo kept poor records and imposed a fraud penalty. During the protest, his new CPA produced better documentat…
What extended filing deadline did Virginia apply to 2016 C-corporation income tax returns after the federal extension changed?
Virginia granted C corporations a seven-month filing extension beginning with taxable year 2016, so calendar-year returns on extension were due November 15. The original April 15 deadline did not chan…
Which of a software company's products and services — licenses, SaaS, support, training, hardware — are subject to Colorado sales tax?
Mostly not taxable, with hardware the main exception. Electronically delivered software, SaaS/hosting, accounting, conversion, training, consulting, and travel reimbursements are not subject to Colora…
Is a permanent prostate implant that treats BPH a tax-exempt prosthetic aid in New York?
Yes. The product is a permanent adjustable transprostatic implant, sold with its single-use delivery housing as one indivisible unit, used to treat Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) by partially repl…
How can taxpayers check whether an older South Carolina advisory opinion was modified or superseded (per SC IL #17-12)?
Use the citator attached to SC Information Letter #17-12. It helps you determine what effect newer South Carolina advisory opinions have on previously published ones — whether an opinion was modified,…
Could a corporation reduce Virginia's related-party factoring-expense add-back by bad debts and cash discounts because a prior audit accepted that method?
No. Virginia treated the full related-party factoring expense as an intangible expense subject to add-back unless a statutory exception applied. The corporation did not show that the earlier auditor k…
What is South Carolina's most recent statewide per capita income figure used for tax incentive eligibility (per SC IL #17-11)?
South Carolina's most recently available statewide per capita income figure is $39,465, per SC Information Letter #17-11. This matters because a number of South Carolina income, sales-and-use, and pro…
Could a business appeal a county's BPOL refund denial directly to the Virginia Tax Commissioner before obtaining a final local determination?
No. The county's refund-denial letter directed the business to file a local administrative appeal and was not a final determination. The business had to complete that county appeal first, unless it re…
Could a Virginia resident claim a Virginia credit for Maryland tax withheld from wages earned while commuting to work in Maryland?
No. The Virginia-Maryland reciprocal agreement exempted a Virginia resident's Maryland wages from Maryland income tax when the taxpayer was not a Maryland resident. The taxpayer had to request a Maryl…
Could Virginia residents claim a credit for Pennsylvania tax paid on wages when the two states have a reciprocal agreement?
Not on the existing record. If the husband was only a Virginia resident commuting to Pennsylvania, reciprocity made the wages exempt there and the remedy was a Pennsylvania refund, not a Virginia cred…
Could a retiree use Virginia's simplified pension method without records proving that prior contributions were taxed by another state?
No. The simplified method could calculate the qualifying portion only after the taxpayer proved that federally deductible contributions had actually been taxed by another state. A Form 1099-R and the …
Did a couple living abroad avoid all Virginia filing duties after proving they changed domicile but continued to own Virginia rental property?
No. Virginia accepted that the couple had established domicile abroad and were not Virginia residents in 2013. But their Virginia rental properties produced Virginia-source income, so they still had t…
Could a divorced spouse make Virginia collect a joint-return assessment only from the former spouse after he paid the related federal debt?
No. Filing a joint Virginia return made each spouse individually liable for the entire state tax debt as well as jointly liable together. Their later divorce and the husband's payment of the federal d…
Could a Virginia resident working abroad for a U.S. government contractor use the federal foreign earned income exclusion and fall below Virginia's filing threshold?
Yes. The husband worked in the foreign country for all of 2012 as an employee of a U.S.-based government contractor, not as a federal employee. Virginia accepted the IRC § 911 exclusion; after it redu…
Did foreign tax withholding statements prove that a payment was pension income eligible for Virginia's foreign retirement-income tax credit?
No. Virginia's credit required pension or retirement income from past foreign employment that was included in federal adjusted gross income and taxed by both jurisdictions. The couple's spreadsheet an…
Are printed or electronic market reports, online database access, and client-specific research studies subject to Georgia sales tax?
Recurring Basic Reports are taxable when delivered to Georgia clients on paper or disc; a lump-sum package remains fully taxable when those reports are bundled with web access and consulting. The same…
Does Illinois sales tax apply to software delivered by URL that customers can download and duplicate without limit?
Likely no exemption: the Department explained that a software license escapes Illinois Retailers' Occupation Tax only if it meets five specific criteria in 86 Ill. Adm. Code 130.1935(a)(1), and told t…
Are membership fees and golf-bay play charges at a golf-entertainment venue subject to Colorado sales tax?
No. At a golf-entertainment venue, the membership fees, the charges to play in the golf bays, and the line-skip passes are all nontaxable services, not taxable rentals of tangible personal property. T…
Did extensive growth and changes in a corporate group's business focus and product lines justify Florida deconsolidation?
Yes. The group's substantial growth and major expansion of its activities, business focus, and product lines established good cause to stop filing consolidated Florida returns. The approval imposed co…
Did major restructuring, acquisitions, sales growth, and expanding markets justify ending a Florida consolidated-return election?
Yes. The group's substantial restructuring, acquisitions, exponential sales growth, and expanding markets established good cause to stop filing consolidated Florida returns. Permission was conditioned…
How would a consolidated Florida taxpayer calculate income and tax generated by a project for the Capital Investment Tax Credit?
The taxpayer had to prepare a project-only pro forma return, apply GAAP and Florida taxable-income rules, apportion that income using only project-related factors, and apply the 5.5% rate stated in th…
How do New York sales taxes apply to selling/renting trade-show displays and the many related event services?
New York sales tax is a destination tax, so the displays and most related services are taxable to the extent they are delivered to the customer in New York. The outright sale or rental of displays is …
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…
A utility's customers buy electricity tax-exempt as manufacturers or nonprofits, and some have multiple meters or sites. Do they need a separate exemption certificate for each location?
Yes — one certificate per location, but not per building or per meter. The taxpayer sells electricity to manufacturers (who buy energy fuels at a reduced 1.5% rate or exempt) and to not-for-profits (w…
Could an acquired taxpayer stop filing Florida consolidated returns when its old affiliated group ceased to exist?
Yes. The unrelated parent's acquisition caused the taxpayer's former affiliated group to cease existing under the federal group rules Florida follows. The taxpayer and subsidiaries could no longer fil…
What did the 2017 Kansas laws change for cigarettes, e-cigarettes, consumable material, and tobacco licensing?
Kansas Notice 17-12 summarizes 2017 amendments to the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Act made by House Bill 2230 and Senate Bill 13. House Bill 2230 added definitions for 'conspicuous location or plac…
How did House Bill 2212 change how often Kansas retailers must file and remit sales tax?
Kansas Notice 17-11 explains that Section 9 of House Bill 2212 (2017) amended K.S.A. 79-3607 to raise the annual-tax thresholds that determine how often a retailer must file and remit Kansas sales tax…
When are Kansas withholding returns and W-2s and 1099s due after House Bill 2212?
Kansas Notice 17-10 explains that House Bill 2212 (2017) advanced two Kansas withholding deadlines from the last day of February to January 31. Section 6 amended K.S.A. 79-3298 to move the date by whi…
Do I need to make Kansas estimated tax payments on nonwage business income again after Senate Bill 30?
Kansas Notice 17-09 explains that because Senate Bill 30 (2017) amended K.S.A. 79-32,117 to make nonwage business income subject to Kansas income tax again (see Notice 17-03), taxpayers who receive th…
Who can claim the Kansas low income students scholarship tax credit, and how much is it?
Kansas Notice 17-08 explains that Senate Bill 19 (2017) amended the tax credit scholarship program, which gives a credit equal to 70% of contributions to a scholarship granting organization that funds…
Does Kansas allow a child and dependent care tax credit, and how much is it?
Kansas Notice 17-07 explains that New Section 1 of Senate Bill 30 (2017) created a Kansas credit for child and dependent care expenses for resident individuals, starting with tax year 2018. The credit…
How did Senate Bill 30 expand Kansas itemized deductions and add a medical expense deduction?
Kansas Notice 17-06 explains that Section 6 of Senate Bill 30 (2017) amended K.S.A. 79-32,120 to phase in an expansion of Kansas itemized deductions and to add a new medical expense deduction, startin…
Can individuals use a federal net operating loss deduction on their Kansas return after Senate Bill 30?
Kansas Notice 17-05 explains that Section 5 of Senate Bill 30 (2017) amended K.S.A. 79-32,117(b)(iii) so that, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2016, an individual is no longer required to a…
How did Senate Bill 30 change the Kansas low income exclusion that zeroes out tax liability?
Kansas Notice 17-04 explains that Section 4 of Senate Bill 30 (2017) amended K.S.A. 79-32,110 to lower the low income exclusion -- the taxable-income level at which certain individuals have zero Kansa…
How did Kansas change individual income tax rates and withholding for 2017 and 2018?
Kansas Notice 17-02 explains that the 2017 Legislature, in Senate Bill 30, increased individual income tax rates retroactively for tax year 2017 and increased them further for 2018 and later years, am…
Is a building in a qualifying census tract for the historic rehabilitation credit when the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has approved it, even though the tract's median income later looked too high?
Yes. The determination by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) that the building is in a qualifying census tract for the rehabilitation-of-historic-properti…
Does Virginia's three-year refund deadline also prevent a taxpayer from applying an old income-tax overpayment as a credit to a later year?
Yes. The court held that receiving an overpayment by check and applying it as a credit are functionally the same recovery. Because the taxpayer claimed his 2011 overpayment more than three years after…
Could Martin Moore challenge an old gross receipts tax assessment by protesting the later warrant of levy after he had not timely protested the assessment itself?
No. Moore received the gross receipts assessment but did not protest it, pay it, or furnish security. After 90 days he became delinquent, and the Department could collect by levy. His later protest co…
Which equipment at a rotogravure printing plant was directly used in manufacturing and subject to Virginia local machinery-and-tools tax?
Virginia split the equipment by use. Cylinder coating and engraving equipment, walking surfaces, handrails, and noise enclosures were not taxable machinery and tools. Bindery printers used inside prod…
Did a taxpayer prove he was only a part-year Virginia resident when his return and records showed substantial Virginia ties?
No. His part-year return listed Virginia residence for the entire year while assigning all income outside Virginia, and he failed to document the claimed State A domicile. A Virginia address, driver's…
Did the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act exempt a military spouse who formed extensive Virginia ties and stayed after the service member retired?
No. The Act protected a spouse present solely because of military orders, but did not prevent the spouse from voluntarily acquiring Virginia domicile. Her Virginia voter registration, home purchase, s…
Would sending documents to the IRS overturn Virginia assessments based on the IRS's current audit adjustments?
No. Virginia would not look behind the IRS's current final adjustments, and merely submitting rebuttal documents to the IRS did not show the Virginia assessments were wrong. If the IRS later changed t…
Could a retiree subtract the full amount of pension contributions attributed to years worked in other states without records of their state tax treatment?
No. Virginia's subtraction covered only federally deductible employee contributions that another state had actually taxed, not employer contributions or investment earnings. The retiree's basic-annuit…
Would unused Virginia coalfield credits survive a Chapter 11 reorganization, entity conversions, and two short tax years?
Generally yes. Credits stayed with subsidiaries that remained legal entities, including entities converting to pass-through status, and could flow to the new parent consolidated group. The ruling also…
What Virginia returns did a temporarily assigned employee owe when she worked and kept housing in Virginia but moved among several states?
She had to file a 2012 nonresident return for Virginia-source work and a 2013 resident return because the evidence indicated Virginia domicile. If she could prove she moved and changed domicile to Sta…
Could an acquiring corporate group switch from separate to combined Virginia returns by adopting the target group's filing method without advance permission?
No. The acquiring parent and its existing affiliates had already elected separate Virginia returns, so the acquired group had to follow that method absent timely permission to change. The target repre…
Did an exemption from federal self-employment tax prevent Virginia from taxing income included in federal adjusted gross income after an IRS audit?
No. Federal self-employment tax is separate from income tax, and Virginia taxed the income because it was included in federal adjusted gross income. Virginia accepted the current IRS audit result, but…
Could Virginia consider an administrative tax appeal filed more than 90 days after the assessment notice was mailed?
No. Virginia mailed the assessment on March 29, 2016, making the 90-day administrative appeal deadline June 27. Because the taxpayer did not file until August 4, the Tax Commissioner could not reach t…
Was a Pennsylvania-domiciled college student a full-year Virginia resident when he kept Virginia housing and moved here permanently after graduation?
Yes on the available evidence. Even if Pennsylvania domicile continued until July, the taxpayer likely maintained a Virginia place of abode from college in January through May and again after moving p…
Could a retailer use Oklahoma sales tax paid on fixtures shipped by common carrier to offset Virginia use tax?
No. Oklahoma treated delivery to a common carrier for shipment outside the state as an exempt interstate sale, even though the retailer hired the carrier. The Oklahoma tax was therefore paid in error …
Could a Virginia retailer credit Oklahoma sales tax paid on fixtures that a common carrier picked up in Oklahoma and delivered to Virginia?
No. Oklahoma treated the common carrier's possession as shipment outside the state, so the fixture sales were exempt interstate transactions even though the retailer hired the carrier. The Oklahoma ta…
Could a repair business receive an audit credit for sales tax paid to vendors without invoices from the audit period proving the payments?
No. Vendor lists, general claims that vendors charged tax, and sample invoices from outside the audit period did not prove sales tax was paid on the specific resale purchases under audit. Virginia uph…
Could a retailer use exemption certificates obtained after an audit and unsupported bag claims to remove sales and purchases from the assessment?
Mostly no. Certificates dated after the audit, missing registration data, or using the wrong nonprofit form did not prove good-faith exempt sales. Virginia removed only the identified political-subdiv…
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