State Tax Rulings
Free state tax letter rulings and advisory opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
No rulings match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Could a tile installer deduct resale-service receipts using an incomplete Type 2 NTTC and a correct Type 5 NTTC obtained after the 60-day audit deadline?
No. Hector Martinez's Type 2 NTTC was the wrong series and was incomplete, while his correct Type 5 NTTC was executed after the mandatory 60-day audit deadline. The AHO upheld $28,268.57 tax and $3,96…
What Virginia tax interest rates applied during the fourth quarter of 2016?
Virginia's fourth-quarter 2016 rates were 6% for tax underpayments and 6% for tax overpayments. The reduced rate for qualifying assessments in administrative appeals was 1%. Certain local delinquency …
Were separately stated fees for loading aviation fuel into an aircraft subject to Illinois Retailers' Occupation Tax?
It depended on who controlled the loading arrangement. If the aircraft operator contracted with the fuel seller to buy and load fuel and the seller selected the loader, the into-plane fee was taxable …
Was a Florida equipment lease a taxable written obligation to pay money for documentary stamp tax purposes?
No. The agreement was a true equipment lease because payment depended on the lessor providing the equipment and allowing quiet enjoyment during the term. That conditional obligation was not subject to…
Did employment, a driver's license, and living in a camper in another state end the husband's Virginia domicile in 2013?
No. The husband worked and obtained a license in another state, but lived in a Virginia-registered camper, became a student, and retained a Virginia home, spouse, voter registration, vehicles, family,…
Did resale certificates obtained years after an audited sale prove that an IT provider's data-warehouse appliance sale was exempt?
No. The seller obtained the certificates more than three and nearly four years after the sale, so they were not accepted in good faith at the transaction. Virginia also could not validate the buyer as…
Did long-term work, housing, licensing, and marriage abroad establish that this taxpayer had left Virginia domicile by 2012?
Yes. Nearly two decades of employment abroad, leased homes, a foreign driver's license and vehicle registration, and marriage to a citizen of that country outweighed the taxpayer's retained Virginia l…
Could taxpayers avoid Virginia's three-year refund deadline by carrying a late-claimed overpayment forward as a credit?
No. Virginia applies the same three-year limitation to refunds and overpayment credits. The Department had no record of the 2011 return before January 2016, and a signed April 2012 copy plus preparer …
Could this couple deduct carried-forward Virginia 529 contributions and subtract gain from publicly traded Virginia-company stock?
Virginia allowed the 529 deductions because records showed unused contributions from two contracts remained available for 2012 and 2013. It denied the capital-gain subtraction because the publicly tra…
Was a prepaid grocery-delivery membership covering three months of shipping and handling subject to Illinois sales or use tax?
No. The membership prepaid shipping and handling for future grocery orders but did not itself transfer tangible personal property. IDOR treated it as an intangible, so the membership receipt was not s…
Were public-university employees exempt from Virginia motor-vehicle rental tax when they paid personally for business-travel rentals?
No. The exemption applied when the Commonwealth or a political subdivision rented and directly paid for the vehicle. An employee's personal credit card or cash payment was not payment by the Commonwea…
Did a company prove exempt fence-installation labor or agricultural use of a tractor and loader in its Virginia use-tax audit?
No. Installation labor was bundled with fencing materials and no corrected invoice supported a separate exempt amount. The company also did not prove that it owned the cattle or farm, purchased cattle…
Did Illinois's historical full exemption for biodiesel blends above 10% include 10.1% through 10.9%, and how were those sales and overpayments reported?
Yes. Through December 31, 2018, blends containing more than 10% but no more than 99% biodiesel were fully exempt, including 10.1% through 10.9%. Until Form ST-1 changed, those decimal blends could be …
Did an equipment lease become a conditional sale when customers could not return the equipment and had to make a 10% balloon purchase or trade up?
Yes. The addendum eliminated the return option and required the customer either to buy the equipment for 10% of original cost or roll remaining payments into a new equipment lease. IDOR found that the…
Are herbal aloe beverages marketed with health claims taxable in Connecticut, or exempt as food products?
Exempt. The herbal aloe products — ready-to-drink, liquid concentrate, and powder-for-water — are exempt from Connecticut sales and use tax as food products for human consumption under Conn. Gen. Stat…
Did timely Type 6 construction NTTCs protect architectural design-build receipts when the pre-2012 transactions technically required Type 5 resale certificates?
Yes. SMPC's architectural services were resold by general contractors in taxable design-build contracts, so the transactions qualified for the service-for-resale deduction. Although the pre-2012 work …
Could an Illinois landscape contractor buy temporary project materials tax-free when working for a government or other exempt entity?
Generally no. A landscape contractor could buy property tax-free for permanent incorporation into exempt-entity real estate by giving the supplier the required certification. But silt fencing, ditch c…
Did a Virginia-created resident trust owe Virginia fiduciary income tax when its trustee, beneficiary, and securities were outside Virginia?
No, on the stated facts. The trust was a Virginia resident trust because a Virginia domiciliary created and funded it, but it lacked sufficient current nexus after his death because the trustee, benef…
Could a taxpayer use the federal claim-of-right method on his 2015 Virginia return after repaying income reported in 2014?
Yes. Virginia follows an individual's federal IRC § 1341 election. The taxpayer claimed the credit in the repayment year, attached the Virginia and federal computation schedules, and reported the bene…
Did the husband's unemployment after military retirement mean this Virginia couple did not have to file a 2012 resident return?
No. The husband received more than $50,000 of retirement income, the wife had wage income, and unemployment compensation was taxable. The couple had to file a Virginia resident return and received 30 …
Is a long-term lease of aircraft to a Colorado operator that the FAA authorizes as an on-demand charter/air-taxi service exempt from Colorado sales and use tax under either aircraft exemption?
Likely taxable — neither aircraft exemption appears to fit. A long-term aircraft lease (over 3 years) is treated as a taxable sale, with tax on the lease payments. The first exemption (§ 39-26-711) is…
Were asphalt-terminal throughput charges taxable rentals of equipment or real property, or nontaxable handling services?
They were nontaxable services. The terminal operator supplied and controlled the equipment, employees, and facility, while the customer never possessed the equipment or controlled the product-storage …
Did third-party lenders' financing of car dealerships' software licenses relieve the software seller of New Mexico gross receipts tax?
No. Market Scan sold taxable software licenses directly to customers, while its recommended lenders made separate financing loans that they were free to decline. Market Scan did not prove that the len…
Were cathodic corrosion-protection contracts taxable property sales or real-property-improvement contracts?
It depended on each installation. Deeply buried or concrete-integrated systems intended to remain tended to be real-property improvements, while suspended or easily removable systems tended to be taxa…
Could a full-time state employee deduct cattle-operation losses when six federal profit-motive factors weighed against the ranch?
No. David Gonzales devoted substantial time to cattle and possible appreciation favored him, while drought-related losses were neutral, but six factors weighed against a profit motive. The AHO upheld …
A company buys software, hosts it on its own servers outside Tennessee, and has its Tennessee employees access it remotely to do their work and to support its affiliates. Are its software purchases or its affiliate support fees subject to Tennessee sales and use tax?
No to both questions. (1) The fees the company charges its Affiliates for support services are NOT taxable, because those services aren't specifically enumerated under Tennessee law — and it is the co…
When did Illinois tax a telecommunications late fee, and could the Department decide whether the fee on this customer's bill was taxable?
A late fee separately stated from telecommunications charges was not subject to Telecommunications Excise Tax, while a fee not separately stated was taxable. For sales tax, a true finance charge was e…
Did gain from a qualified Virginia technology company's sale of internet domain names qualify for the capital-gain subtraction?
No. Even if the LLC was a qualified technology business and the gain was long-term, the subtraction applied to gain from the taxpayer's equity or subordinated-debt investment in the business. Internet…
Was a federal Civil Service Retirement System annuity exempt from Virginia income tax like Social Security benefits?
No. Virginia's subtraction covered Social Security and benefits included federally solely under IRC § 86, not CSRS annuities. Any CSRS amount included in federal adjusted gross income remained in Virg…
Could Virginia residents claim an other-state income-tax credit for New Hampshire's Business Enterprise and Business Profits Taxes?
No. The Business Enterprise Tax was based on business expenditures, and the Business Profits Tax was not a broad-based individual net-income tax. Neither was substantially similar to Virginia's indivi…
Who determines actual property value for Virginia recordation tax when the purchase price, appraisal, and assessment differ?
The circuit-court clerk makes the factual valuation, and Virginia generally defers unless the result is unreasonable. A recent assessment strongly indicates fair market value, but the clerk may consid…
Did a lower purchase price and appraisal automatically require recordation-tax refunds when the clerk used the property's assessed value?
Not automatically. A recent assessment strongly indicated fair market value, and an appraisal alone did not prove the clerk unreasonable. Virginia asked the clerk to reconsider all reliable evidence; …
Did compensation in the New Hampshire Business Enterprise Tax base make it a qualifying income tax for Virginia's other-state credit?
No. The tax base included compensation, interest, and dividends paid or accrued, making it a tax on business expenditures rather than a broad-based individual income tax substantially similar to Virgi…
What did Virginia advise a town about BPOL authority, tax bases, appeals, out-of-state receipts, and receipt situs?
A county generally could not duplicate a town's BPOL tax without town permission. A locality could use gross receipts or Virginia taxable income but had to use one base for all business classes. Appea…
Did a corporation substantiate Virginia's foreign-source-income subtraction for overseas software licensing and related technical services?
No. Technical-service fees qualified only when incidental to qualifying foreign property licensing, but the corporation did not provide the requested software and trademark license contracts despite e…
Was a minority corporate officer personally liable for unpaid Virginia sales and withholding taxes handled by the treasurer?
No. Although he was an officer and later knew of the delinquencies, the evidence did not show authority to take over the treasurer's tax duties or prevent the failures. The struggling corporation coul…
Was a corporate secretary personally liable after learning of unpaid Virginia sales and withholding taxes and taking control of some payments?
Yes. After learning of the delinquencies, the officer directed and made company and personal payments, signed checks, and had joint discretion over corporate bills. Virginia found duty, knowledge, aut…
Do deferred retirement payments made to retired partners of a professional-services LLC out of current partnership earnings qualify for Illinois's retirement-income subtraction modification?
Yes. The Illinois Department of Revenue concluded that payments to retired LLC members that meet the requirements of IRC Section 1402(a)(10) - excluded from net earnings from self-employment - qualify…
Can a New York taxpayer subtract gambling losses (up to winnings) from income as a subtraction modification, instead of itemizing?
No. There is no basis in the Tax Law for a subtraction modification for gambling losses. Because New York starts from federal adjusted gross income (which includes full gambling winnings), losses can …
Are a hotel-industry providers online reputation and survey products taxable information services?
It splits. All four products are information services because the company collects, compiles, and analyzes data and gives hotels access to it. The online reputation product (Product A) is taxable: its…
When were a retailer's separately identified shipping charges excluded from Illinois sales tax?
Shipping was nontaxable when it was separately identified and the buyer could obtain the goods without paying a delivery charge, such as through qualifying free delivery or pickup, while the product p…
A Tennessee company assembles a manufacturer's products from parts the manufacturer supplies, drop-ships them, and also provides technical support and warranty support. Which of those charges are subject to Tennessee sales and use tax?
It depends on the charge. (1) The company's fees for ASSEMBLING the manufacturer's products — including the related Materials Fees and Shipping Fees — ARE taxable as fabrication of tangible personal p…
Does the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax (MCTMT) apply to the wages an employer pays to federal work-study students?
No. The MCTMT does not apply to the part of an employer's payroll expense attributable to wages paid to federal work-study students. MCTMT payroll expense uses the IRC definition of wages, which exclu…
Is natural gas converted by a supermarkets fuel cell to electricity exempt from sales tax?
Partly. The supermarket does production activities (baking, cutting/packaging meat, slicing deli items) and sells those goods, so it produces tangible personal property for sale. Gas, electricity, and…
Could a hotel purchaser value acquired business property at its resale proceeds instead of the city's percentage-of-original-cost method?
No. Virginia law directed most business tangible property to be valued using percentages of original cost, meaning the capitalized cost when first purchased new, not a later buyer's allocated purchase…
Did new evidence show that a taxpayer who moved to Virginia in late October 2012 was only a part-year resident?
Yes. New documentation showed that the taxpayer left his job and prior-state domicile and moved to Virginia in late October 2012. Virginia treated him as a part-year resident, requested Form 760PY wit…
Could a merchant mariner exclude 2012 wages from Virginia tax without proving domicile in another state?
No. Working outside Virginia did not establish a new domicile. The husband retained a Virginia home with his wife, vehicles, a driver's license, and other ties, and provided no evidence of permanent d…
Should one-time tornado fence repairs stay in a manufacturer's audit sample, and did its new-gauge project qualify as research and development?
The tornado repairs were isolated and unrelated to normal meter manufacturing, so Virginia removed them from the sample and taxed them separately. The new-gauge project qualified as research and devel…
Is raising chickens for research/vaccine eggs (not food) a farming activity eligible for the sales tax exemption?
Yes. The petitioner raises chickens to produce fertilized, specific-pathogen-free eggs sold to vaccine manufacturers and research and educational institutions; the eggs are never sold for human consum…
Are wood shavings a commercial dog breeder buys to bed breeding dogs and their puppies exempt from sales tax?
No. The wood shavings are taxable. Even though the breeder sells the puppies, neither sales-tax exemption applies. The Tax Law section 1105-B exemption for production supplies covers only listed activ…
Did Virginia's Internet-service equipment exemption cover wireless service and equipment used for retail, wholesale, and telephone activity?
Wireless transmission itself did not defeat the exemption. Equipment directly serving retail Internet subscribers could qualify, while wholesale carrier service, telephone service, pager service, and …
Did a purchase price near half the assessed value and a lower appraisal automatically reduce Virginia recordation tax?
Not automatically. A recent assessment strongly indicated fair market value, and an appraisal alone did not prove the clerk unreasonable. Virginia requested a review of all reliable evidence; any stat…
Could a taxpayer challenge Virginia's 2008 and 2012 income-tax assessments after the 90-day administrative appeal periods expired?
No. The 2008 and 2012 assessments were issued in April 2011 and August 2013, making the appeal deadlines July 2011 and November 2013. The taxpayer did not appeal until February 2015, so Virginia could…
Did frequent moves and uncertain startup employment prove that this taxpayer established permanent domicile outside Virginia in 2012?
No. The taxpayer described his startup job and residence in another state as uncertain, moved frequently, used a Virginia address on his federal return, retained and renewed a Virginia license, and ke…
Did Virginia tax wages earned during a roughly 150-day Virginia work stay by a West Virginia domiciliary resident?
No. The taxpayer established West Virginia domicile and stayed in Virginia for only about 150 days, below the actual-resident threshold. Virginia's reciprocal agreement exempted her Virginia wages as …
Was Florida documentary stamp tax due when Maryland and Delaware mergers transferred conduit-entity interests holding Florida real property?
No, under the transactions presented. The merger laws transferred property by operation of law in a manner comparable to Florida's merger statute, so the related transfer documents were not subject to…
Did Virginia's new commissary exemption cover sales by third-party vendors in local, regional, and state correctional facilities?
The exemption covered tangible property and prepared-food sales in local correctional commissaries established by a sheriff, including commissaries operated under third-party contracts. It did not cov…
Is a fleet repairer's 'management fee' — charged for online access to its maintenance database/reports — subject to Colorado sales tax, and does it matter that the fee is separately stated from parts and labor?
It turns on whether the fee is optional. A fleet maintenance company's 'management fee' gives clients online access to its maintenance database — application service provider (ASP) software, which Col…
Is an SSL certificate subscription — which authenticates a website owner's identity and lets browsers verify the certificate is valid — subject to Texas sales and use tax as tangible personal property, data processing, an information service, or a telecommunications service?
Not taxable. The Comptroller ruled that SSL Certificates — the bundled authentication service, digital certificate, and resolution (validity-check) service sold by subscription — are not tangible pers…
Did a downloaded API make cloud-based biomedical analytics taxable in Illinois even when the API was incidental to the service?
Yes, under IDOR's service-transaction analysis. Remote-only cloud software was not taxable under the Department's 2016 guidance, but the company confirmed that its API was downloaded to the customer's…
How these rulings are useful
- See how the rule applies: A letter ruling shows how a state revenue department actually applied the tax law to a specific business and set of facts.
- Plan with confidence: Find a ruling with facts close to yours before you charge, remit, or claim an exemption.
- Binding only on the requester: A ruling is binding on the department only for the taxpayer who asked. It is persuasive, not a substitute for your own ruling or professional advice.
- Research across states: Compare how different states treat the same issue, from SaaS and food exemptions to nexus and contractor purchases.