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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Are a couple Yonkers residents or New York City residents when their house sits entirely in Yonkers but the front yard and mailing address are in the Bronx?
They are Yonkers residents, subject to the Yonkers resident income tax surcharge. Residency follows the dwelling's location and the couple's domicile; the residential structure sits wholly in Yonkers …
Were triathlon athlete participation fees exempt when the organizer charged spectators taxable admission to controlled viewing areas?
Yes. The athlete participation fees were exempt so long as the organizer charged and collected sales tax on spectator admission to controlled areas at the events.
On a long-term motor-vehicle lease, does the lessee owe Colorado sales or use tax on the lessor's monthly charge for an optional, separately stated maintenance agreement?
No. Because the maintenance agreement is optional and separately stated, the lessee does not owe Colorado sales or use tax on the lessor's monthly maintenance charge. Instead, the lessor (or its third…
Is a separately stated charge to install a custom-made, freestanding closet organizer into a customer's home included in the Colorado sales/use tax calculation?
Yes, on these facts. The separately stated 'installation' charge for a custom-made closet organizer is included in the sales/use tax calculation. The product is made to order and isn't finished until …
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 …
Are online hotel-booking services that can't set the room price 'room remarketers' that must collect New York hotel sales tax?
No. The two services let travelers reserve hotel rooms (including in New York) through their websites and collect a non-refundable deposit (typically 10%) and certain fees, which they keep as their ch…
Is a monthly fee to operate and maintain a sewage treatment plant subject to New York sales tax?
Yes. The company's daily work at sewage treatment plants -- inspecting the plant, reviewing records, testing the treated water, oiling and adjusting pumps and equipment, maintaining logs and pump stat…
Is a monthly fee to operate and maintain a sewage treatment plant subject to New York sales tax?
Yes. The company's daily work at sewage treatment plants -- inspecting the plant, reviewing records, testing the treated water, oiling and adjusting pumps and equipment, maintaining logs and pump stat…
Is a charge to bring a mobile video-gaming theater (a game-equipped trailer) to a customer's event taxable in New York?
Yes, when the trailer is delivered to a New York location. The business brings a 32-foot trailer with five widescreen TVs and consoles (Wii, Xbox, PlayStation) to events like children's birthday parti…
Does a company owe sales tax on short-term rentals of furnished single-family homes, condos, and apartments that aren't part of a hotel?
No. The company rents eight furnished single-family units (homes, condos, an apartment) -- some owned, some leased, one managed -- none part of a hotel, motel, or lodging facility, for stays of two ni…
Are a broker's fees and material reimbursements taxable when the broker buys building materials for a contractor?
It depends on whether the broker is a true agent. If the broker acts as the contractor's agent, the purchase is treated as a retail sale directly from the vendor to the contractor: sales tax is due on…
Which of a broadcast studio's twelve charges to a TV-station customer are subject to New York sales tax?
Only the charges tied to tangible property are taxable; the electronically delivered production services are not. The studio rebroadcasts a Japanese station's content in the U.S. and bills twelve sepa…
Is removing and testing a piece of a building for asbestos, and reporting the results, taxable in New York?
Yes, generally. Removing a piece of a building (brick or wall), sending it to a lab for asbestos analysis, and reporting the results is taxable as the maintenance, servicing, or repair of real propert…
Could a multi-park operator use its proposed matrix to calculate county surtax on single-park, multi-park, and multi-state admissions?
Yes. The Department accepted the proposed matrix under the operator's specific facts because multi-park admissions covered locations in different surtax counties and the park of use could be unknown w…
Did Virginia accept a taxpayer's appraisal and order a recordation-tax refund for land conveyed subject to a leasehold interest?
Not yet. Virginia rejected land-use assessment as the recordation-tax measure but found that a qualified appraisal could be relevant to fair market value. The county clerk had to reconsider the underl…
Could Denise Thomas deduct property-inspection receipts using a Type 2 NTTC received about two months after the Department's 60-day deadline?
No. Thomas performed taxable property-inspection services and did not possess an NTTC by the Department's May 12, 2015 deadline. The buyer delivered a Type 2 NTTC in August, about two months late. Sec…
Were baked goods from a home-based cottage-food bakery exempt when sold for off-premises consumption or at vendor events?
Generally yes. Off-premises bakery sales and vendor-event sales were exempt food products, unless the event charged admission. Products normally regarded as candy remained taxable.
Did a contractor installing blinds, shutters, and flooring pay Use Tax on materials or collect sales tax from the customer?
The contractor paid Use Tax on its cost of materials permanently affixed to real estate and did not owe Retailers' Occupation Tax on construction-contract receipts. The customer owed no Use Tax, and a…
Is a subscription fee for streaming or accessing digital content over the Internet subject to Connecticut sales and use tax?
Yes. A recurring subscription fee for streaming or otherwise accessing digital content over the Internet is subject to Connecticut sales and use tax when sold to a Connecticut customer, because provid…
Is a mobile point-of-sale device that sells paid premium content a taxable coin-operated device in Kansas?
Yes — it is a taxable coin-operated device. Because the mobile point-of-sale device grants customers paid access to premium content (news, videos, sports, games — 'amusement and diversion'), the Depar…
Must a company that prints and mails a client's monthly statements to Georgia recipients collect Georgia sales tax, when the client is located out of state?
Not on these facts. The printed monthly statements are 'direct mail' — specifically 'other direct mail' (bills and statements) — and their sale is generally taxable. But Georgia sources 'other direct …
Can a pallet-sorting company claim Georgia's manufacturing machinery exemption on the sortation machine it buys?
No. The company removes, sorts, and resells used pallets without altering them, and its NAICS code (541614, logistics consulting) is not a qualifying manufacturing classification. Because merely sorti…
Could a husband under age 70 claim his older wife's unlimited Virginia prepaid-tuition deduction by saying he bought the contracts as her agent?
No. The husband created and owned the prepaid tuition contracts and made the contributions in his own name, so the under-70 purchaser's $4,000-per-contract limit applied. Marriage alone did not prove …
Were custom closet systems lightly secured to walls taxable retail property or real-estate improvements, and were installation charges taxable?
They were generally taxable retail products because anti-tip brackets and finishing nails allowed removal without meaningful damage, indicating the systems remained tangible personal property. Design …
Could one owner combine two single-member LLCs on one Virginia pass-through return after electing S-corporation treatment for both?
No. Electing S-corporation treatment made each single-member LLC a separate, non-disregarded pass-through entity for Virginia filing purposes. Federal grouping of their activities for passive-loss ana…
Is a nonresident employee's compensation taxable by Illinois when she travels through a multi-state territory for an Illinois-based employer but her base of operations (her home) is in another state?
No. Because the employee's services are not localized in any single state and her base of operations is her home in another state, none of her compensation is allocated to Illinois -- even though she …
Does an out-of-state manufacturer create Illinois corporation income tax nexus just by having its leased rail cars pass through, wait in, or sit empty in Illinois while delivering goods?
The Department would not issue a formal ruling on whether nexus exists because the question is too fact-specific, but it explained that merely shipping or delivering goods into Illinois by leased rail…
Were participant fees for coached rowing lessons subject to Illinois sales, use, or service taxes?
Generally no, if the rowing program transferred no tangible personal property to participants. IDOR said the listed Illinois sales, use, and service taxes would not apply to the lesson fees on that co…
Did a District of Columbia resident who commuted to a Virginia job and earned only wages owe Virginia income tax for 2013?
No. Virginia had no reciprocal income-tax agreement with the District of Columbia, but the taxpayer qualified for the separate daily-commuter filing exclusion. He lived in D.C., worked exclusively in …
Did a military home of record in another state prevent Virginia from treating a service member as domiciled in Virginia for 2012?
No. The service member's home of record did not outweigh his long-term Virginia home, driver's license, vehicle registrations, resident returns, family residence, and decision to remain after retireme…
Could a Virginia resident exclude short-term National Guard pay as extended active-duty pay or under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act?
No. The taxpayer was a Virginia resident, did not show qualifying active military status under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and did not prove extended active duty exceeding 90 days. The Nation…
Can a Texas data center count third-party staffing agency employees toward the 20-qualifying-job requirement needed to keep its data center sales tax exemption, and what counts as the required 'shared employment responsibilities'?
It depends on the actual contract terms. The Comptroller ruled that a qualifying data center MAY count third-party contract employees toward its 20-qualifying-job requirement (Tax Code Section 151.359…
Were a stand-alone electronically delivered ERP upgrade and its maintenance and support services subject to Florida sales tax?
No. The major upgrade was a stand-alone software product delivered electronically without tangible property, and its related maintenance and support were also nontaxable. Timely tax refunds had to be …
How did Illinois tax bundled computer hardware, canned software, maintenance, labor, updates, and delivery charges?
Canned software was generally taxable regardless of delivery method; qualifying licenses and custom software could be nontaxable. A maintenance bundle with unseparated canned-software upgrades was ful…
Were a materials seller's flat delivery charge, added fuel fee, and dumpster fee included in Illinois taxable gross receipts?
A separately identified delivery charge was excluded when customers could pick up the goods and the seller documented that option. The added fuel fee was taxable as a business cost even if separately …
Would IDOR verify a private publisher's Illinois motor-vehicle title, tax, lease, fee, and procedure guide?
No. IDOR would not approve a private legal publication and directed the publisher to statutes, rules, and official materials. To reduce errors, it supplied historical corrections on Form RUT-50, Chica…
Could a vehicle lessor obtain an Illinois tax refund when a long-term lessee moved out of state or ended the lease early?
No. Illinois taxed the original sale of the vehicle to the lessor, not the long-term lease, so the lessee's later move, retitling, or early termination did not change the tax. Monthly reimbursement by…
How did IDOR implement Public Act 98-628's alternate selling price for qualifying motor vehicles leased longer than one year?
For qualifying vehicles and defined leases over one year, tax remained imposed on the sale to the lessor but selling price became the lease-contract consideration plus later vehicle charges. Early ter…
Did Virginia accept a taxpayer's appraisal and immediately refund recordation tax calculated from a higher county assessment?
Not immediately. Virginia treated the county assessment as strongly presumed accurate but directed the circuit-court clerk to reconsider actual fair market value using the taxpayer's appraisal and all…
Did a copy of a federal return prove that Virginia's 2011 assessment used the wrong federal adjusted gross income?
No. Virginia relied on the higher federal adjusted gross income reported by the IRS because the taxpayer supplied no objective proof that the IRS data was wrong. The assessment was upheld, but the tax…
A nonprofit client holds a 'state sales/use tax only' exemption certificate — does that exemption also cover special district, city, and county taxes on construction materials?
It reaches state-administered local taxes too, but not home-rule. Construction and building materials a contractor buys for a structure owned and used by a charitable organization (or government or sc…
Could a vehicle dealer exclude a federal gas-guzzler tax passed through in the vehicle price from the Illinois sales-tax base?
No. Because the federal excise tax was legally imposed on the automobile manufacturer rather than the consumer, IDOR treated the passed-through amount as a nondeductible business cost included in the …
Was an Illinois print broker's direct-mail job for an out-of-state customer exempt as interstate commerce?
IDOR would not decide from the limited facts. It said property actually delivered from Illinois to an out-of-state point and not returned could qualify with supporting records, but pieces delivered or…
Was a Virginia sales-tax appeal timely when the 90th day fell on Sunday but the envelope was postmarked Tuesday?
No. The 90th day fell on Sunday, so Virginia extended the filing deadline only through Monday, the Commonwealth's next business day. The taxpayer's appeal was postmarked Tuesday—one day late—so the De…
Could a qualified funeral trust contest Virginia fiduciary assessments after filing its first appeal letter beyond the 90-day deadline?
No. Virginia required a complete administrative appeal within 90 days of each assessment. The trustee's first appeal correspondence arrived well after the deadline even for the most recent assessment,…
Could a winery receive Virginia's 2014 Farm Wineries and Vineyards Tax Credit after filing its application after April 1, 2015?
No. Virginia required the 2014 credit application and supporting documents by April 1, 2015. Because the credit had a $250,000 annual cap that could require pro-rata allocation among timely applicants…
Did paying the full balance with a 2014 part-year return eliminate Virginia's estimated-tax underpayment addition and accrued interest?
No. Paying the balance with the return did not replace the required timely withholding or estimated installments during 2014. The couple did not satisfy the prior-year or annualized-income exceptions,…
Could unfamiliarity with Virginia law or website language save a 2010 refund claim filed after the limitations period?
No. Virginia held that the automatic extension still required filing by the extended due date and timely payment of the estimated balance. Because the taxpayers did neither, the refund period ran from…
Did paying income tax to a former state excuse a full-year Virginia resident from filing a 2012 Virginia return?
No. The taxpayer lived and worked in Virginia throughout 2012, so another state's withholding and return did not remove the Virginia filing duty. He was responsible for updating his employer's withhol…
Did the 2009 military-spouse law automatically end a spouse's existing Virginia domicile without personal presence in the service member's state?
No. The military-spouse amendment was not retroactive and did not let the taxpayer simply elect her spouse's domicile. Because she had established Virginia domicile and did not acquire personal presen…
A company pays third-party vendors for software the vendors build and host to convert and translate data between two incompatible records-management systems. The company and its clients never access or control that software. Are those charges subject to Tennessee sales and use tax?
No. The charges the company pays its records-management vendors are not subject to Tennessee sales and use tax, because the vendors are providing the nontaxable service of converting digital products.…
Did a powdered product intended to be mixed with liquid qualify for Illinois' 1% state food tax rate?
It appeared to qualify on the limited facts. Beverage powders and dry mixes were not soft drinks, and the product was not for immediate consumption, so IDOR said it appeared taxable at the 1% state fo…
When were drugs, medicines, and beauty or hygiene products supplied by a nonprofit hospital or clinic exempt or taxable?
A charitable hospital or clinic with a valid exemption number did not owe Retailers' Occupation Tax on products supplied in furtherance of care while the person was a patient. Later sales of non-drug …
Were Virginia vacation-home rentals for fewer than 90 continuous days subject to retail sales tax, including seasonal rentals?
Yes. Virginia treated vacation homes regularly offered for fewer than 90 continuous days as taxable transient accommodations, whether the provider was a business or individual and whether an entire ho…
Could a Virginia resident reduce an estimated 2012 nonfiler assessment by filing the actual return with income and deductions?
Yes, through filing the actual return. Virginia could estimate liability from IRS information when the resident did not file or supply records. The taxpayer received 30 days to submit a 2012 Virginia …
Did storing resale inventory in a Virginia fulfillment center require out-of-state online sellers to register for Virginia sales tax in 2015?
No, under the 2015 statute and stated facts. The sellers owned resale inventory stored in independent Virginia fulfillment centers but had no Virginia offices, employees, locations, warehouses, agents…
If a certified Texas data center occupant expands into a new, physically separate building on the same campus, does that new space count as part of the original certified data center for tax-exemption purposes?
No, the new building doesn't count as part of the existing certified data center. The Comptroller ruled that Tax Code Section 151.359's data center exemption applies only within the single building ce…
As the owner of a data center campus, does the Comptroller treat a tenant's expansion data halls in a newly built, separate building as part of the same already-certified qualifying data center?
No. In a companion ruling to the one issued to its tenant, the Comptroller told the CAMPUS OWNER the same thing: a tenant's planned expansion data halls, to be built in a separate new building on the …
Did Illinois tax fees for electronic or hardcopy medical-record copies?
Electronic viewing, downloading, or transmission of medical records was not a transfer of tangible personal property. Hardcopy records did involve property transferred with a service and generally cre…
How did Illinois tax a custom-sign seller that separately billed freight and installation for signs attached to buildings or concrete-set poles?
IDOR did not give one result for every sale. It said sign vendors could owe Retailers' Occupation Tax, Service Occupation Tax, or Use Tax depending on the facts; a vendor acting as a construction cont…
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