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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Does Colorado charge excise tax (or sales tax) on propane and other liquefied petroleum gas sold for home heating and other non-vehicle uses?
No state fuel excise tax. Propane and other liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used for home heating or other non-vehicle purposes is not 'special fuel,' so the special-fuel excise tax does not apply; a ve…
Did tax software's automatic annuity death-benefit subtraction prove that a Virginia taxpayer qualified for the refund?
No. Virginia's approval of tax-preparation software meant the program met processing requirements, not that every tax calculation was correct. The annuity subtraction required a qualifying insurance-c…
Can a Georgia city buy water-treatment machinery tax-free and furnish it to its construction contractor without triggering use tax?
Yes. The city could buy water-treatment machinery tax-free when it paid the seller directly by warrant on appropriated funds. Equipment furnished to a contractor remained exempt if it retained its tan…
Can a building-material invoice to an exempt governmental entity also name its contractor or subcontractor as the c/o party?
Yes. Naming a contractor or subcontractor as c/o does not defeat the exemption if the governmental entity remains the billed purchaser and every other direct-purchase requirement is satisfied.
Would out-of-state employees who commuted to Virginia and rented an apartment become Virginia residents?
No, based on the proposed facts. They would retain their out-of-state homes, families, licenses, registrations, banking ties, and intent to return, and would spend no more than 183 days in Virginia. B…
Did leasing homes outside Virginia establish a new domicile when the taxpayer retained Virginia property, licensing, and registration ties?
No. Even if the taxpayer began abandoning Virginia in 2009, she did not establish a new permanent or indefinite domicile in either state where she temporarily leased housing during 2010. She retained …
Did Virginia's 2% Land Preservation Tax Credit transfer fee apply to a sale by individual owners, and could alleged telephone advice excuse it?
Yes. The 2% fee applied to any transfer arising from a sale of Land Preservation Tax Credits by any taxpayer, not only to pass-through-entity transactions. Form LPC-2 said the same. Virginia would not…
Could an advertising business reduce a consumer-use-tax assessment without records supporting its tax-paid, resale, and sampling objections?
No. Virginia assessments are presumed correct, and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving an error. The advertising business received extra time but supplied no records supporting its claims that pu…
Did Virginia definitively decide that a paper mill's winders, slicers, conveyors, packaging stations, and shipping equipment were subject to machinery-and-tools tax?
No definitive item-by-item ruling was made. The stated facts did not show that packaging or shipping equipment was directly used in paper manufacturing, and the winders and slicers also did not appear…
Was a business that bought replacement parts and resold them to mining companies a BPOL wholesaler rather than a retailer or service provider?
Yes. The business took title to replacement parts, paid vendors, and resold the parts to mining companies that incorporated them into industrial processing operations. Virginia treated those sales as …
Did a corporate general partner's voting control make three partnerships part of its BPOL affiliated group under the brother-sister test?
No. The brother-sister test counted ownership held by individuals, estates, or trusts, not the corporation's interest as general partner. Although four shareholders owned all of the corporation, their…
Could a gasoline station avoid sales tax it failed to collect on prepaid telephone cards because it did not know the sales were taxable?
No. Virginia had treated the initial retail sale of telephone calling cards as taxable tangible personal property since July 1, 2004. A dealer that failed to collect the tax remained liable for it, an…
Could New Mexico levy a joint senior checking account used by a taxpayer's mother when he was listed only for emergencies and did not spend its funds?
Yes. Marcus Scott and his 82-year-old mother were both named owners of a multiple-party senior checking account with right of survivorship. Although her retirement and Social Security income funded th…
Could New Mexico assess extra weight-distance tax by comparing PC Miler with ProMiles and choosing whichever mileage was higher in each period?
No. JKL Transportation consistently used industry-standard PC Miler to route trips, invoice customers, pay drivers, and report New Mexico mileage. The Department compared those complete records with P…
Did a county's proposed direct-purchase procedures qualify building materials for its courthouse project for Florida's governmental exemption?
Yes, the stated procedures met the direct-purchase requirements because the county ordered, paid for, took title to, insured, and assumed risk for the materials and issued the required certificates. T…
What did Virginia Tax Bulletin 14-1 say about the enhanced federal EITC and other fixed-date conformity adjustments for 2013 returns?
Virginia extended conformity to the enhanced federal Earned Income Tax Credit for tax years 2013 through 2017, allowing eligible individuals to compute the Virginia credit without a special adjustment…
Are downloaded prewritten software, electronic updates, and monthly cloud subscriptions subject to Georgia sales tax?
No. Prewritten software and enhancements available only by electronic download were not tangible-property sales, and cloud subscriptions were neither taxable services nor transfers of tangible propert…
Is documentary stamp tax due on a deed placing partnership property held in the partners' names into the partnership's LLP name?
No, if the partnership existed before the purchase, partnership assets bought the property, and it was continuously treated as partnership property. The deed then only established record title in the …
Must a Florida linen-rental company collect sales tax on an automatic recurring inventory-maintenance fee?
Yes. The automatic recurring fee guaranteed that linen inventory stayed at the agreed level and was charged even without a specific replacement, so it was part of the taxable rental price.
Could an Illinois resident claim an other-state credit after that state recharacterized wages from an S corporation as the shareholder's distributive income?
Not for the wage portion. The shareholder lived and worked in Illinois, his employment base of operations appeared to be Illinois, and the S corporation reported all of his W-2 compensation as Illinoi…
Is a copper-coated IUD taxable, or exempt as a drug or medicine like birth control pills?
It is exempt as a drug or medicine under Tax Law section 1115(a)(3). This opinion corrects an earlier 2010 ruling: the copper-coated intrauterine device works like a contraceptive drug (its copper rel…
What documentary stamp tax applies when three equal owners deed unencumbered Florida property to an LLC they own equally?
Only nominal documentary stamp tax applied because the parcels were unencumbered, no other consideration was paid, and each transferor kept the same one-third ownership through the LLC.
Were bidis cigarettes that had to be listed in the Virginia Tobacco Directory, making the retailer's contraband-cigarette penalty valid?
Yes. The Portsmouth Circuit Court found that bidis met Virginia's statutory definition of cigarettes and that the unlisted bidis were contraband cigarettes. The retailer failed to prove otherwise, so …
Could a Zuni Navy veteran receive Native American veterans' settlement funds for years without records showing New Mexico tax withholding?
No. Andrus Lesansee was an enrolled Zuni Pueblo member who remained domiciled on tribal land while serving in the Navy from 1981 through 1985, satisfying those settlement-fund conditions. A 1985 Leave…
How is the federal credit for prior year minimum tax recomputed to determine the Nebraska minimum tax credit on a 2013 fiduciary (estate or trust) return?
Recompute the federal prior-year minimum tax credit for the estate or trust using Nebraska's adjustments, then apply a 29.6% factor. Revenue Ruling 23-13-2 tells fiduciaries filing a 2013 Nebraska Fid…
How is the federal alternative minimum tax recomputed to determine the Nebraska minimum tax on a 2013 fiduciary (estate or trust) income tax return?
Recompute the federal fiduciary AMT using Nebraska's adjustments. Revenue Ruling 23-13-1 tells estates and trusts filing a 2013 Nebraska Fiduciary Income Tax Return (Form 1041N) to recalculate the alt…
Did Virginia's Taxpayer Bill of Rights automatically apply to audits and assessments of taxes administered by cities and counties?
No. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights protected processes administered by the Virginia Department of Taxation, not taxes that local officials administer, such as real estate, tangible personal property, and…
How much South Carolina sales tax is due when a dealer sells a motor vehicle or trailer to an out-of-state resident (per SC IL #14-2)?
When a South Carolina dealer sells a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer to a nonresident who will register and license it in their home state, S.C. Code § 12-36-930 limits the South …
How is the federal credit for prior year minimum tax recomputed to determine the Nebraska minimum tax credit on a 2013 individual income tax return?
Recompute the federal prior-year minimum tax credit with Nebraska's adjustments, then apply a 29.6% factor. Revenue Ruling 22-13-3 tells 2013 individual filers to recalculate the federal credit for pr…
How is the federal alternative minimum tax recomputed to determine the Nebraska minimum tax on a 2013 individual income tax return?
Recompute the federal AMT using Nebraska's adjustments. Revenue Ruling 22-13-2 tells 2013 individual filers to recalculate the alternative minimum tax (AMT) from their federal return (Form 6251, or th…
Can a PRIVATELY owned hotel next to Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center still qualify as a 'qualified hotel project' entitled to a 100% state tax rebate for 10 years, even though a private company (not the city) owns the hotel itself?
Yes. The Comptroller ruled that a Houston convention-center hotel PRIVATELY owned by an LLC can still qualify as a 'qualified hotel project' entitled to the 10-year, 100% state sales/use and hotel occ…
Is the federal excise tax on jet fuel included in the price Colorado sales tax is calculated on, or is it backed out?
It depends who the federal excise tax (FET) is levied on. Colorado sales tax is figured on the price charged, but a DIRECT federal tax — one levied on the purchaser — is backed out of the base, while …
Did a governmental owner's proposed direct-purchase procedures qualify materials for a seawall public-works project for sales-tax exemption?
Yes. The owner could buy the materials tax-exempt because it would issue the purchase orders, receive vendor invoices, pay vendors directly, take title at delivery, bear risk of loss, and issue Certif…
What historical filing method did SC Revenue Ruling 14-1 require for same-sex married couples before later court decisions?
In 2014, the ruling required same-sex spouses who filed married federal returns to prepare separate South Carolina returns as single or, if eligible, head of household, using pro forma federal returns…
Did buying through a GSA Schedule make a federal systems contract an indefinite-delivery contract whose task orders received separate true-object tests?
No. The GSA Schedule was only the procurement vehicle; the separate system contract controlled the taxable transactions and was not shown to be an indefinite-delivery contract. Because that 2002 contr…
On a new car, which amounts are taxed -- the trade-in credit, manufacturer's rebate, doc fee, DMV title/registration fees, and the extended warranty?
A trade-in credit reduces the taxable price (it's not taxed) if the dealer takes the trade-in for resale. A manufacturer's rebate does NOT reduce the taxable price -- the full sale price is taxed even…
Was a hosted software subscription accessed only through the Internet subject to Florida sales and use tax?
No. The customer accessed the hosted software only through the Internet, received no tangible software or other tangible personal property, and had no possession or control of the vendor's server.
Were optional Internet-delivered document services and separately stated customer-specific programming taxable when a business also sold printed materials?
No. Optional electronic-document viewing and PDF-transfer services were independent from printed-material sales, delivered through the Internet without tangible property, and exempt. Separately stated…
Did moving to a foreign country establish a new domicile when the taxpayer retained an available Virginia home, voter registration, and driver's license?
No. Although the taxpayer and her husband established a home and employment in another country, their Virginia residence remained available, and she obtained Virginia voter registration and renewed a …
Could a registered one-way freight hauler keep the reduced weight-distance rate without records proving 45% empty miles and mileage by weight class?
No. RAC Transport's registration as a one-way hauler did not establish eligibility in each reporting period. The reduced rate required at least 45% of a vehicle's New Mexico mileage to be traveled emp…
If I use a grantor trust's swap power to trade tangible personal property I own for trust property of equal value, is that subject to NY sales or use tax?
Yes. Even though a grantor (defective) trust is ignored for income tax, the trust and the settlor are separate taxpayers for sales tax. Swapping tangible personal property to the trust in exchange for…
Is buying a commercial charter vessel subject to NY sales/use tax if it's in NY under six months a year, or if its hailing port reads 'New York, NY'?
The purchase is exempt from NY sales and use tax if the vessel is a commercial vessel used primarily in interstate or foreign commerce -- meaning 50% or more of the receipts from its activities come f…
Could an equipment painter deduct services resold by its customers when one buyer gave the wrong NTTC type and two correct certificates arrived late?
No. Skelsey-Smith's heavy-equipment painting services were resold in the customers' ordinary course of business and the resales were taxed, but the deduction still required timely Type 5 NTTCs. Romero…
Are ticket sales for a nonprofit's dining events subject to NY sales tax, and does calling the charge a 'Suggested Donation' change that?
Yes -- this organization must collect sales tax on its dining-event tickets. An otherwise-exempt organization that holds food-and-drink events with enough regularity, frequency, and continuity is trea…
Is a single-sign-on platform that consolidates and lets users search third-party research a taxable NY information service?
Yes. Although it offers single sign-on, the platform's primary function is to collect, consolidate, and present research from multiple providers -- with search, sorting, and saving tools -- which is t…
Can someone who holds only a remainder interest in a home - where a parent has a life estate and lives there - still qualify for New York's historic homeownership rehabilitation credit?
Yes, at least on two of the credit's requirements. New York held that a remainder interest is an ownership interest under EPTL § 6-5.1, satisfying Tax Law § 606(pp)(5)(A)(ii), and that residing at the…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-14(1)C: Do purchased patents, prototypes and know-how qualify for the QETC facilities, operations and training credit as research and development property or as qualified research expenses?
Purchased patents, trade secrets and know-how are intangible and do not qualify as research and development property for the QETC credit; only tangible prototypes and designs used in research and deve…
Did a hotel preserve its sales-tax appeal and overstate the 90-day exemption for continuously contracted railroad room blocks?
No relief was granted. The hotel's letter arrived within 90 days but was not a complete appeal because it supplied no documentation or legal grounds, so the application was time-barred. Virginia never…
Which equipment was subject to Virginia local machinery-and-tools tax, and what factual issues did the county have to reconsider?
Virginia found the coal silo was not used in manufacturing, while fire-suppression equipment built into the kiln system was taxable machinery and tools. It sent the case back to the county to verify t…
Could a part-year resident receive Virginia's standard deduction after failing to substantiate the larger itemized deductions claimed on her federal return?
Yes. Virginia disallowed the unsupported itemized deductions, but the substantiated amount was below both the federal and Virginia standard deductions. Following the IRS approach used when reviewing f…
Could a retailer rely on a 1997 public document to avoid tax on telephone calling cards sold after Virginia changed the law in 2004?
No. Effective July 1, 2004, Virginia's statutory definition of tangible personal property expressly included telephone calling cards on their initial sale. That change displaced the exemption stated i…
Did foreign software-license revenue and related technical services qualify for Virginia's corporate foreign-source-income subtraction?
Yes. Software was intangible property for Virginia income-tax purposes, and the taxpayer's foreign contracts granted customers licenses to use proprietary software. Development, integration, training,…
Did an Illinois motor carrier have to withhold Illinois tax from nonresident truck drivers who lived and principally worked in another state but sometimes drove in Illinois?
The submitted facts were not enough for a single answer. No Illinois withholding applied if the driver regularly performed assigned motor-carrier duties in two or more states and federal law reserved …
Are a jeweler's charges for certificates of authenticity for its own pieces subject to NY sales tax?
No. Issuing a certificate of authenticity is an information service, but it falls within the exclusion for information that is personal or individual in nature and is not substantially incorporated in…
Which of an organization's four downloadable products qualify as tax-free e-books in NY, and do multiple-device use or a time-limited license change that?
Only one of the four (the study-guide curriculum) qualifies as an e-book and is therefore not taxable as an information service under Department policy -- and that stays true even though it can be rea…
When a Georgia business is reorganized into a new entity under Section 351, can its unused job tax credit carryforward be transferred to the successor entity?
Yes. Although a sale, merger, acquisition, or bankruptcy does not create new job tax credit eligibility in a successor, O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40(g) lets any unused job tax credit be transferred and continue…
Can an airline get a refund of Colorado sales tax on jet fuel it buys (and fuels up) in Colorado but burns on international flights?
No refund. Colorado sales tax applies to jet fuel sold and pumped into an aircraft's tanks in Colorado, even if the fuel is later burned on an international flight. Sales tax is a transactional tax fi…
Could taxpayers keep a $4.4 million conservation-easement valuation when Virginia's independent appraisal valued the easement at about $500,000?
No. Virginia found that the Department's independent appraisal more accurately accounted for the floodplain, creek setback, wetlands, access limits, and other development constraints. It upheld the ap…
Could a real-estate company exclude gross proceeds from selling Florida business property from its corporate-income-tax sales factor?
No. Florida required the gross proceeds in the standard sales factor because the sold commercial property was used in the taxpayer's business and located in Florida. The taxpayer did not prove materia…
Could a corporation exclude all related-party royalty and interest payments from Virginia's add-back merely because the affiliate filed income-tax returns in other states?
No. Virginia limited the exception to the portion of the payments corresponding to the portion of the affiliate's income subjected to tax in other states, as shown by the affiliate's apportionment and…
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