New York State Tax Rulings
Free plain-English summaries of state tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued in New York, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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If a customer won't sign a capital improvement certificate (Form ST-124) and asks to be charged tax, must the contractor collect sales tax on the installation work?
Yes. Without a timely, properly completed Form ST-124, the contractor must collect and remit sales tax on both the installed property and the installation charges. Because the contractor already paid …
Are a concrete-pumping company's charges to contractors subject to New York sales tax when its own crew operates the pump trucks?
Not when the job is a capital improvement. Because the company keeps dominion and control of the trucks and supplies the operators, it is providing a service, not renting equipment. Pumping concrete t…
Does an out-of-state seller whose products are sold and shipped through an online marketplace (and stored at a New York fulfillment center) have to register for and collect New York sales tax?
Generally no. The seller is a 'marketplace seller.' When the marketplace provider collects and remits New York sales tax on the sales it facilitates, and publicly commits to do so, the seller need not…
Is the equipment a contractor rents for asbestos abatement and demolition exempt from sales tax when the job is a capital improvement to a New York State-owned building?
No. Equipment a contractor rents to perform asbestos abatement and demolition is a taxable purchase, even when the job is a capital improvement to a State-owned building. The equipment never becomes a…
Does the owner of a single-family vacation rental have to charge New York sales tax on the rent when he provides no housekeeping or linen service during the stay?
No. New York taxes occupancy only in a 'hotel,' and a building is a hotel only if it provides housekeeping, linen, or other customary hotel services. Because this owner offered none of those during a …
Are the weekly per-employee fees a company charges to train, supervise, and run payroll for a hotel's own housekeeping staff subject to New York sales tax?
No. Because the hotel's own employees perform the cleaning and the company only supervises them and handles payroll as the hotel's agent, the company is not performing a taxable cleaning or maintenanc…
Does New York sales tax apply to the 'buyer's premium' (the commission an auction house charges the winning bidder) on top of the hammer price?
Yes. New York treats the buyer's premium as part of the sales price of the auctioned property, so the whole charge, hammer price plus commission, is a taxable receipt. A vendor cannot deduct its own s…
Can a manufacturer sell uninstalled building panels (materials) tax-free if the customer hands over a Form ST-124 Certificate of Capital Improvement?
No. A sale of uninstalled panels is a taxable retail sale of tangible personal property under Tax Law § 1105(a), and a Form ST-124 (Certificate of Capital Improvement) cannot be used to buy building m…
Are the fees from a web-based job search and posting platform taxable as software, information services, or are they exempt advertising?
Not taxable. The platform is free to the customers who embed it (no consideration = no taxable sale of software), and the pay-per-click and job-posting fees the operator earns are charges for an adver…
Does an out-of-state online retailer become a New York sales-tax vendor just by storing inventory at, and buying fulfillment services from, an unaffiliated fulfillment company in New York?
No. If the retailer isn't otherwise a vendor, buying fulfillment services from an unaffiliated provider and storing inventory at that provider's New York warehouses does NOT make it a vendor required …
For an event planner, which purchases can be bought tax-free for resale, when does providing food make the whole event a taxable catering charge, and what happens if it arranges catering as the customer's agent?
It depends on food and agency. At no-food events, the planner can buy/rent TPP and taxable services for resale (with Form ST-120) when separately stated and proportionate, and collect tax on the resal…
Are hosted, web-accessed investment, trade, and compliance management platforms taxable as prewritten software, or nontaxable information services?
Taxable. The firm's three hosted investment-management products are taxable prewritten software: clients pay annual fees for the right to use, control, and direct software platforms for risk analysis,…
For a multi-level-marketing company, is a distributor's annual 'active status' renewal fee taxable, and what about fees for a mobile app sold alone or bundled with a dashboard and website?
The $25 annual renewal fee for 'active' distributor status is NOT taxable — it buys the right to keep distributing products and earn a discount, not taxable property or services. But the mobile app fe…
Are fees for outdoor adult and children's health and nature classes held in New York City public parks subject to sales tax?
No. Outdoor health and nature classes taught in public parks are not subject to New York State sales tax (teaching such classes is not an enumerated taxable service), and they are not subject to New Y…
Is a service that disassembles, removes, and disposes of a company's used office furniture during a move or remodel subject to New York sales tax?
Yes. Disassembling, removing, and disposing of used office furniture from a New York building is taxable as maintaining/servicing real property under Tax Law § 1105(c)(5). Trash and garbage removal is…
Is installing a permanent gutter protection (gutter guard) system onto a house's existing gutters a tax-exempt capital improvement?
Yes. Installing a permanent gutter protection system onto existing gutters is a capital improvement and not subject to sales tax. It meets all three prongs of Tax Law § 1101(b)(9)(i): it prolongs the …
Are paid 'discount memberships' that let customers buy at a discount subject to New York sales tax, and what happens when an exempt organization buys one?
A paid membership that entitles the holder to buy goods or services at a discount is generally taxable, because it's treated as a prepayment for discounted property or services. But when the buyer is …
Is replacing a hot water hydronic coil and altering the ductwork in a heating system a tax-exempt capital improvement, or a taxable real-property repair?
Capital improvement — not taxable to the customer. Although replacing a heating-system coil is normally a taxable repair of real property, here the coil replacement required fabricating new ductwork a…
Are admission fees to an escape room or 'mystery room' interactive game subject to New York sales tax?
Yes. Charges to enter and use an escape room or mystery room to play an interactive game are taxable admissions to a place of amusement under Tax Law § 1105(f)(1). An employee playing a part in charac…
Does a pharmacy charge New York sales tax on human prescription drugs (like allergy medicine) that are dispensed for use on an animal?
It depends on the buyer and the animal. Human-use prescription medication dispensed for an animal is EXEMPT only when sold to a licensed veterinarian, or a farm-production-eligible person, for use on …
Does a 35-foot motor coach qualify for New York's sales-tax omnibus exemption if the operator holds a certificate of authority?
No. New York's omnibus exemption (Tax Law § 1115(a)(32)) requires the bus to weigh at least 26,000 pounds AND measure at least 40 feet long, and be used to transport persons for hire under a DOT/feder…
For a service delivered to a New York customer but invoiced to an out-of-state address, does New York sales tax follow the delivery location or the billing address?
The delivery location. New York sales tax is a destination tax: if a seller has nexus and delivers a taxable service in New York, it must collect tax at the combined State and local rate where deliver…
Does a New York jeweler have to charge sales tax on repairing, cleaning, resizing, or engraving customers' own jewelry and watches?
Yes. Receipts from repairing, cleaning, polishing, resizing, gemstone setting, battery and crystal replacement, and similar work on a customer's own jewelry or watch are taxable as servicing/repairing…
Are fees a website charges professionals to be listed in its online directory taxable as an information service, or are they exempt advertising?
Not taxable. Fees charged to representatives for listing their profile and contact information in an online directory are excluded from New York sales tax as advertising services, not a taxable inform…
Is propane delivered to a New York homeowner's tanks — for a detached garage, the house, and a back-up generator — exempt from sales tax if no business is run on the property?
Partly. Propane used for residential purposes — heating the home, heating a detached garage with no business activity, and running a back-up generator for the home — qualifies for New York's zero perc…
Is a powdered coffee-based beverage mix, sold unheated in grocery stores and online to be mixed with water at home, subject to New York sales tax?
Generally no. A coffee-based beverage mix sold unheated for off-premises consumption — in grocery stores or online — is exempt food and beverage under Tax Law § 1115(a)(1); it is not a soda, fountain …
If a New York marina buys floating cement docks and installs them with its own employees, is the purchase a tax-exempt capital improvement or taxable tangible personal property?
Taxable. Because the marina bought the floating cement docks uninstalled and installed them using its own employees, it purchased only tangible personal property — not a capital-improvement installati…
Can a Manhattan parking garage satisfy New York's recordkeeping rules by giving customers electronic receipts and keeping digital records instead of paper?
Yes, if requirements are met. The Department concluded that a Manhattan parking garage MAY use a software app to issue electronic receipts and keep digital records instead of paper — provided the reco…
Is the electricity and natural gas a landlord buys for residential apartment buildings eligible for the reduced (zero) New York State sales tax rate, and how is eligibility established?
Eligible for the reduced State rate. The Department concluded that electricity and natural gas used for residential purposes in a landlord's apartment buildings qualify for the reduced (0%) State sale…
When someone assumes an existing long-term car lease, is sales tax due again on the remaining payments even though the original lessee already prepaid all the lease's sales tax?
Taxable again. The Department concluded that when someone ASSUMES an existing long-term motor-vehicle lease, that assumption is a new, separate taxable sale — possession of the vehicle transfers to th…
Is a tree-and-shrub consulting/inspection service (inventory and health report) taxable in New York, or is it exempt when done as part of a capital improvement?
Taxable, with one exception. The Department concluded that a tree-and-shrub consulting service — inventorying trees/shrubs and producing a custom report on their species, condition, health, risk, and …
Is a personalized one-on-one astrological birth chart reading delivered online a taxable information service in New York?
Not taxable. The Department concluded that personalized, one-on-one astrological birth chart readings sold to premium customers are NOT a taxable information service under Tax Law § 1105(c)(1). Althou…
Are a veterinarian's purchases of blood products (red blood cells, plasma, cryoprecipitate) for use in surgery exempt from New York sales tax?
Exempt only for farm use. The Department concluded that a veterinarian's blood products (red blood cells, plasma, cryoprecipitate, cryopoor) are 'drugs and medicines' that are exempt from sales tax un…
Does a UK business owe New York sales tax on US motor parts that are consolidated by a New York entity before export, when the parts are bought for resale?
Exempt as resale. The Department concluded that a UK business buying US motor parts that are shipped to a New York entity for consolidation and export does make its purchases in New York — the consoli…
Is a labor-only service of moving a customer's own furniture from one spot to another within its premises subject to New York sales tax?
Not taxable. The Department concluded that a company providing only physical labor to move a customer's own furniture (tables, chairs) from one on-premises location to another — to help prepare for a …
Are an out-of-state bakery's pre-packaged brownies, cookies and bars taxable in New York, does a keepsake gift tin change that, and must it file returns even with no taxable sales?
Mixed. The Department concluded that an out-of-state bakery's pre-packaged, individually wrapped baked goods (brownies, cookies, bars) shipped unheated to New York customers are generally exempt food …
Is a prescription-only portable electrotherapy device (a TENS/muscle stimulator) exempt from New York sales tax as medical equipment?
Exempt. The Department concluded that the petitioner's Multi-Mode Stimulator — a prescription-only (FDA Class II) portable electrotherapy/TENS device used to treat pain, muscle spasms, and similar con…
Did a New York resident who bought a car in Maine (and paid Maine sales tax) owe New York use tax when she registered it in New York, with no credit for the Maine tax?
Use tax was due. The Department concluded that a New York resident who bought, registered, and paid sales tax on a vehicle in Maine still owed New York compensating use tax when she registered it in N…
Are sales and installation of custom interior storm-window inserts a tax-exempt capital improvement, or taxable installation of tangible personal property?
Taxable. The Department concluded that the petitioner's custom window inserts ('interior storm windows') are NOT a capital improvement, because they fail the second prong of the three-part test — they…
Which charges for a web-based foreign-exchange trading platform are taxable as software, and which (support, secure tokens, benchmarking reports) are treated differently?
Mostly taxable. The Department concluded that the petitioner's web-based foreign-exchange trading platform is prewritten software, so its receipts for Annual License Fees, Transaction Charges, and mos…
Are chocolate-covered marshmallow twists candy or confectionery subject to New York sales tax, even if the package doesn't say 'candy' and they aren't a holiday shape?
Taxable. The Department concluded that the chocolate-covered marshmallow twists are candy and/or confectionery subject to New York State and local sales tax under Tax Law § 1105(a). Marshmallows alone…
How does the sales tax refund statute of limitations apply to a PrompTax filer — does filing the quarterly return within three years protect monthly PrompTax payments made earlier?
Time-barred. The Department concluded that a refund claim for overpaid sales tax cannot exceed the tax paid in the three years immediately before the claim was filed (Tax Law § 1139(c)). A PrompTax pa…
Is a company's service of driving railroad crews to their work sites subject to New York sales tax as a transportation service?
Taxable if intrastate. The Department concluded that a company hired by railroads to drive their employees to work sites provides a taxable 'transportation service' under Tax Law § 1105(c)(10) — its v…
Are managed cybersecurity offerings — network security monitoring and a cybersecurity advisory/consulting service — taxable in New York as protective services?
Taxable. The Department concluded that both of the petitioner's offerings — its network security monitoring service (NSMS) and its professional advisory service (PAS) — are taxable protective services…
Are energy-enhancing gels and chews packaged and labeled as dietary foods and health supplements subject to New York sales tax?
Exempt. The Department concluded that energy-enhancing gels and chews that are packaged, labeled and sold as dietary foods and health supplements are exempt from New York State and local sales and use…
Where is the sale of imported commercial lighting fixtures taxed when various carriers deliver them, and how are the receipts apportioned for corporation tax — when the fixtures are sold installed or uninstalled?
It depends on delivery and installation. For commercial lighting fixtures imported from Europe and sold WITHOUT installation, New York sales tax follows the destination/transfer point: delivery by com…
Is a web portal that customers and applicants log into to prepare and process applications taxable as prewritten software, and are the related setup and support services taxable?
Mostly taxable. The Department concluded that charges to access and use the petitioner's web portal are the sale of prewritten software subject to sales tax (Tax Law § 1105(a), § 1101(b)(5)/(6)), beca…
Does a travel planner who organizes group trips for solo female travelers owe New York sales tax on her fee, and is the fee subject to personal income tax?
No sales tax, but yes income tax. The Department concluded that a New York resident's fees for travel planning and concierge services (organizing group trips for solo female travelers) are not subject…
Is a mobile and web analytics service — tracking users on a customer's site and showing the data in a dashboard — taxable in New York as software or as an information service?
Taxable. The Department concluded a mobile/web analytics platform is a taxable information service under Tax Law § 1105(c)(1) — not the sale of software — because the customer's primary purpose is to …
When an auction house gives a winning 'irrevocable bidder' a negotiated fee that reduces what they pay, does that reduce the sales tax due on the item?
No. A negotiated 'Fee' an auction house applies to reduce a winning irrevocable bidder's payment does NOT reduce the sales-tax base. Sales tax is on the full receipt — the hammer price plus buyer's an…
Does a New York business owe sales tax on a hosted business e-mail / Microsoft Exchange subscription it buys from an out-of-state provider?
No. The Department concluded that a subscription to a secure hosted Exchange e-mail service is not subject to New York sales tax. Even though e-mail can count as taxable telephony/telegraphy under Tax…
Does a New York company that hauls away food waste / organics for composting have to charge sales tax, and does it owe tax on a roll-off dumpster service it buys?
Yes — both are taxable. Because the food waste has no value to the customer or to the hauler, removing it is taxable 'trash and garbage removal' (a real-property service under Tax Law § 1105(c)(5)), a…
When a fabricator sells custom curtain walls to a contractor who installs them on a New York building, is it a tax-free capital improvement — and is the fabricator taxed only on its raw materials?
Mixed. Installing the curtain walls IS a tax-exempt capital improvement (it meets the three-prong test in Tax Law § 1101(b)(9)). BUT the fabricator's sale of the curtain walls to the contractor is a t…
Is an e-cigarette that passes vapor through a sealed capsule of granulated tobacco subject to New York's tobacco products tax, sales tax, and the 20% vapor products tax?
Taxable on all three fronts. The Department concluded that the product — a battery, a liquid/gel vapor cartridge, and a sealed capsule of granulated tobacco leaf — is subject to New York's tobacco pro…
How is a bonus and restricted stock units paid in February 2019 sourced for a taxpayer who became a New York part-year resident in October 2018?
Both are New York State and City income for 2019. The 2018-performance bonus was not 'fixed and determinable' when the taxpayer became a resident in October 2018 (it depended on full-year performance …
Are a beneficiary's distributions from an inherited New York City teacher tax-deferred annuity (403(b)) exempt from New York State and City income tax?
A lump-sum distribution the beneficiaries take from the inherited TRS NYC tax-deferred annuity (TDA) is exempt from New York State and City income tax. If they instead roll it into an inherited IRA, t…
Must a New York company withhold New York State income tax from fees it pays to a non-employee member of its board of directors who is a foreign citizen and resident?
No. The company is not subject to the withholding requirement under Tax Law § 671 for these payments. New York's withholding rules apply to wages paid to an 'employee,' and that term (borrowed from fe…
Is an Air National Guard member's pay for federal Title 32 homeland-defense duty during the COVID-19 emergency excluded from New York taxable income?
Yes. The pay may be excluded. Although the duty was ordered under Title 32 of the U.S. Code (not Title 10), the member served within New York at the Governor's direction as part of the state's coronav…
If a charitable donation is fully deductible federally but exceeds my lower New York adjusted gross income, can I carry the unused amount to later New York returns?
No. There is no provision in the New York Tax Law allowing a carryover of charitable donations to later years. Because the donation created no federal carryover (it was fully deducted federally), New …
Are a retired federal employee's periodic (non-lump-sum) Thrift Savings Plan distributions exempt from New York State income tax?
Yes. Distributions other than a lump sum from a federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) funded by the employee and the federal government qualify for the federal-employee pension subtraction under Tax Law §…
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These are official tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued by New York's revenue authority in response to questions from specific taxpayers about how the tax law applies to their facts. A ruling is binding on the department only for the taxpayer who requested it and cannot be relied on by anyone else, but it is strong evidence of how the state reads the law. Every ruling above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original source.