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.
When were a meal-plan provider's sales to schools, colleges, fraternities, and sororities taxable in Virginia?
Treatment depended on who consumed or resold the meals. Sales to a for-profit school using meals in its overall services were taxable. If the school separately resold meals, the provider could accept …
Did transferring a recreational aircraft from four individuals to their newly formed, identically owned LLC trigger Illinois Aircraft Use Tax?
Yes. IDOR said transferring the aircraft from the four individual owners to their newly formed LLC was taxable under the Aircraft Use Tax Law because the aircraft moved from one legal entity to anothe…
Could Mark Kilcoyne defeat a 2008 New Mexico personal income tax assessment by arguing that taxes were voluntary, attempting to name a Department employee as trustee, and presenting no evidence?
No. Kilcoyne presented no evidence to rebut the assessment and relied instead on arguments that paying tax was voluntary and that a purported trust could make a Department employee responsible for the…
When a Tennessee advertising agency develops a brochure through consultation, research, design, and production phases, which of those phases and charges are taxable, and which are exempt under Tennessee's 2009 advertising-materials law?
It's an 8-part split ruling that draws a line between three categories created by Tennessee's 2009 advertising-materials law: PRELIMINARY artwork and pure advertising services (the consultation, resea…
When a company sells its trade accounts receivable to an affiliated company at a discount to maintain loan collateral, is that discount an 'intangible expense' that has to be added back when calculating Tennessee franchise and excise tax — and pre-approved to be deducted again?
No — the discount isn't an 'intangible expense' at all, so the affiliate add-back rule doesn't apply to it. The Department ruled that when a company sells its trade accounts receivable (arising from o…
Could Virginia estimate an auto repair shop's sales from local business-license assessments when the shop filed no sales-tax returns?
Yes, provisionally. The shop filed no sales-tax returns and did not provide reliable sales records, so Virginia accepted the auditor's use of local business-license assessments as the best information…
What is South Carolina's tax interest rate for the period ending March 31, 2013 (per SC IL #12-20)?
3%. SC Information Letter #12-20 sets South Carolina's interest rate on tax underpayments and overpayments at 3% for the period October 1, 2011 through March 31, 2013. Interest is compounded daily, ex…
How are South Carolina counties ranked for the job tax credit for 2012, and which counties qualify for the fee-in-lieu and tax moratorium (per SC IL #12-19)?
SC Information Letter #12-19 publishes South Carolina's county rankings for the job tax credit for 2012, together with the counties that qualify for a reduced minimum investment under the fee in lieu …
What are South Carolina's latest per capita income figures used to qualify for tax incentives (per SC IL #12-18)?
SC Information Letter #12-18 publishes the state and county per capita personal income figures the Department uses to test qualification for various South Carolina income, sales and use, and property …
Were bakery items sold by outlets with seating exempt when packaged and recorded for off-premises consumption?
Yes. Bakery products in any quantity were exempt when packaging showed off-premises intent and the POS separately recorded the exempt sale. Coffee beans, ground coffee, and K-cup portion packs were al…
Did a manufacturer's utilization study require a city to reduce machinery-and-tools values for economic obsolescence?
No. The city's depreciated-cost method complied with Va. Code § 58.1-3507(B), and the taxpayer's utilization-based economic-obsolescence analysis alone was not a bona fide independent appraisal. Virgi…
When did a taxpayer on out-of-state and foreign job assignments successfully abandon Virginia domicile?
Virginia treated him as domiciled here through 2007 but not beginning in 2008. He had abandoned his former state in 2005 by resigning and moving to Virginia, obtaining a Virginia license and mailing a…
Could a Virginia military resident claim the full basic-pay subtraction and also subtract combat pay already excluded from federal income?
No. The extended-active-duty basic-pay subtraction was reduced dollar-for-dollar when basic pay exceeded $15,000 and fully phased out at $30,000. Combat-zone and qualified-hazardous-duty pay could be …
Were a seasonal campground's seven-month campsite leases subject to Virginia retail sales tax as transient accommodations?
No. Each seasonal lease ran for the campground's entire seven-month April-through-October operating period, identified fixed start and end dates, and was never signed for fewer than 90 days. Virginia …
Must a lessor report sales tax when litigation or a guarantor later pays part of a lease debt written off as bad debt?
Yes. When a dealer takes a sales-tax bad-debt credit and later collects all or part of that account through litigation or a third-party guarantor, Va. Code § 58.1-621 requires the recovered amount to …
Could a contractor buy U.S.-embassy construction materials tax-free when they were temporarily stored at a Virginia receiving point?
Potentially, but only under the contractor-specific exemption. The contractor had to show the materials were used solely in the foreign country, were temporarily stored in Virginia pending shipment, a…
Did Virginia retail sales tax apply when a long-term vehicle lessor passed local personal property tax to its lessees?
Virginia Tax did not decide the passed-through charge under retail sales tax. A long-term highway vehicle lease remained subject to Virginia motor-vehicle sales and use tax rather than retail sales ta…
Which water-damage restoration charges are taxable in New Jersey, and when can rebuilding qualify as an exempt capital improvement?
Drying, water extraction, repairs, mold removal, and restoration or cleaning of household goods were taxable services. New construction that rebuilt destroyed property could be an exempt capital impro…
Was a lump sum paid to a federal retiree in place of higher pension payments exempt from Illinois income tax?
No. Although the retiree's regular federal pension qualified for Illinois's retirement-income subtraction, the replacement lump sum had been subjected to FICA and Medicare taxes, indicating federal wa…
Did Illinois's $15 family-transfer vehicle tax rate apply to a transfer from a stepparent to a stepchild?
No. IDOR rescinded ST 12-0054-GIL and clarified that the $15 family-transfer rate was limited to a transferor's spouse, mother, father, brother, sister, or child; the statute did not extend that rate …
How did Virginia's 2012 International Trade Facility Tax Credit guidelines treat jobs, investment, and applications?
Under these historical guidelines, a qualifying international trade facility with at least a 10% Virginia port cargo increase could elect either $3,500 per qualified full-time employee or 2% of qualif…
How did Virginia's 2012 Barge and Rail Usage Tax Credit guidelines calculate and administer the credit?
Under these historical guidelines, a qualifying international trade facility could claim $25 for each TEU, or each 16 net tons of noncontainerized cargo, moved by barge or rail above the prior-year vo…
What did Virginia's original Insurance Premiums License Tax guidelines require, and are they still operative?
The original guide moved Insurance Premiums License Tax administration from the SCC's Bureau of Insurance to the Tax Department for taxable years beginning in 2013, while the Bureau retained licensing…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-12(7)C / 12(32)S: Does a parent corporation keep the Empire Zone benefits of a certified subsidiary it absorbs in an IRC section 332 liquidation?
Yes, with a step. When a certified subsidiary is liquidated into its parent under IRC section 332 and the parent keeps running the same facility and employees in the zone, the parent stays eligible fo…
Could a qualifying citrus processor use Florida's single-factor apportionment method and source product sales by ultimate destination?
Yes. The company did business inside and outside Florida, met the statutory citrus-processor definition, and could timely elect single-factor apportionment. It could source sales by ultimate destinati…
Did a Virginia investment LLC with no employees or Virginia property have to withhold tax for its nonresident member?
No. The LLC held intangible investments and royalty interests but had no employees, Virginia real estate, or tangible property. The Department found that it was not carrying on a Virginia trade or bus…
Did a Virginia investment limited partnership with no employees or Virginia property owe withholding for a nonresident owner?
No. The limited partnership held intangible investments and royalty interests but had no employees, Virginia real estate, or tangible property. The Department found that it was not carrying on a Virgi…
Could an acquiring Virginia corporate group switch from separate returns to consolidated or combined filing after a merger?
Consolidated filing was denied. The acquired group's value was below Virginia's 45% merger-of-equals threshold, and an ordinary merger was not an extraordinary circumstance justifying a change. The ac…
Were cable television converter boxes locally taxable as business tangible personal property in Virginia?
No. The Tax Commissioner held that customer converter boxes were used in the cable television business and that Virginia's 1984 statutory change classified them as intangible property rather than loca…
Did fees from foreign consulting contracts qualify for Virginia's foreign-source-income subtraction as incidental technical fees?
Not on the record provided. The sample contract primarily required consulting services and custom deliverables billed from expected fees and expenses, not a license of preexisting intellectual propert…
Was a deed of trust held by a federal land credit association exempt from Virginia state and local recordation tax?
Yes. Although no Virginia statutory exemption applied, 12 U.S.C. § 2098 exempted mortgages held by a federal land credit association from federal, state, municipal, and local taxation. The originator …
Are a commercial printer's purchases of mailing and reply envelopes subject to sales tax, or are they purchases for resale?
They are purchases for resale, not taxable. A commercial printer that prints individualized statements and stuffs them (with reply envelopes when requested) into outer mailing envelopes is making a re…
Which charges for paper and electronic medical-record copies were subject to Florida sales tax?
Electronic delivery and all associated charges were not taxable. For paper copies, most search, preparation, certification, handling, labor, and per-page charges were taxable; no-records, notary, and …
Was a capsule-form dietary supplement marketed for weight control exempt from Florida sales tax?
Yes. The product was labeled and reviewed as a dietary supplement, and Florida treated dietary, herbal, vitamin, and mineral supplements as exempt food products.
Was a liquid concentrate made from coffee, natural flavoring, and sweeteners exempt from Florida sales tax as food?
Yes. The submitted liquid coffee concentrate qualified as an exempt food product because Florida's food definition and rule include coffee and coffee substitutes.
What Virginia tax interest rates applied during the first quarter of 2013?
For January 1 through March 31, 2013, Virginia's tax underpayment and overpayment rates remained 5%. The reduced rate for a qualifying disputed assessment after nine months without a Department determ…
Does an operator of an Internet data center qualify for the NY sales-tax exemption on its equipment and related services?
Yes. A business that operates an Internet data center -- a facility specifically designed and built to provide a high-security environment for servers hosting websites, and that provides uninterrupted…
Could a 99%-owned partnership receive Virginia film credits at the entity level without putting those credits on its parent's consolidated return?
Yes, if the stated requirements were met. A partnership 99% owned by the production subsidiary could qualify as the designated credit recipient because it would file a Virginia return and be named in …
Did a partnership that invested its Illinois Lottery winnings avoid replacement tax as either a lottery pool or an investment partnership?
No. Because the entity did more than collect and distribute lottery winnings—it invested them—it remained a partnership under the Illinois Income Tax Act. And because lottery winnings made up more tha…
Did listing a room through a screened, members-only home-sharing website avoid Illinois Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax?
Not automatically. IDOR would not decide the described home-sharing rentals without transaction-specific facts. Truly exclusive rooms rented only to private-club members and not to the public were out…
Did Virginia's processing of an unauthorized 2005 combined return permit the affiliated group to change from separate filing?
No. Processing the 2005 combined return, moving payments, and changing registration records did not constitute Tax Commissioner approval. The affiliates were treated as not having filed their required…
How did a certified division expansion calculate project income for Florida's Capital Investment Tax Credit?
The division had to keep separate books, prepare a project-only pro forma income calculation under GAAP and Florida rules, exclude other divisions' income, and apply the division's Florida apportionme…
Were utilities passed through by a tax-exempt church landlord to its for-profit tenant taxable as rent?
Yes. The utility-charge exemption required the landlord to have paid sales tax on the utilities. Because the exempt church paid none, the separately billed pass-through remained taxable rental conside…
How did Illinois tax a medical-records service that delivered records electronically or as mailed paper copies?
Electronic viewing, downloading, or transmission of medical records was not a transfer of tangible personal property. Paper medical records delivered with the service could create Service Occupation T…
If a company has advertising materials printed out of state and ships them to its own Tennessee distribution center before sending them on to retail locations across the country, does it owe Tennessee use tax on all of them, just the ones that end up in Tennessee, or none at all?
Only the materials that end up distributed within Tennessee are taxed. The Department ruled that printed advertising materials manufactured out of state and shipped to the Taxpayer's Tennessee distrib…
Did an out-of-state drug developer's Virginia personnel and clinical trials exceed P.L. 86-272's income-tax protection?
Virginia could not give a categorical no-nexus answer. Ordinary sales solicitation appeared protected, and merely seeking health-plan coverage could be ancillary. But some medical-science, regulatory,…
Were subscription access to a web portal, third-party billing, and text-messaging packages taxable in Virginia?
The portal subscription was not taxable because it provided Internet-delivered access without tangible personal property. Customer-specific third-party billing was also an exempt service even if paper…
Did South Carolina extend tax filing and payment deadlines for victims of Hurricane Sandy (per SC IL #12-17)?
Yes. Following the IRS, the South Carolina Department of Revenue extended the same tax relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy, postponing various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting …
Could good-faith purchasers keep transferred Virginia land-preservation credits after the easement value was reduced?
No. The credit could be based only on the conservation easement's substantiated fair market value. After the donor and Virginia agreed to reduce the value, the Department could assess transferees who …
For a wireless carrier's points-based loyalty program, does issuing loyalty points reduce the taxable sales price of the monthly service fee, and how is tax calculated when points are redeemed for discounted phones, accessories, or other rewards?
Issuing points doesn't reduce tax, but redeeming them does — and only standalone redemptions for nontaxable items avoid tax entirely. The Department issued five rulings on a wireless carrier's points-…
When a wireless carrier replaces a customer's lost, stolen, or broken phone under a bundled replacement program, does the carrier owe Tennessee sales tax on the replacement phone — and does it matter whether the claim is handled as a warranty repair or as an insurance claim?
It depends on which half of the program covers the claim. The Department ruled that a wireless carrier's Phone Replacement Program is really two different arrangements bundled together: a warranty/ser…
Could New Mexico uphold a Weight Distance Tax assessment against Casias Trucking when its mileage audit averaged odometer data across every month, ignored seasonal slowdowns, used questionable starting readings, and rejected fuel receipts?
No. Casias Trucking kept poor records and admitted reporting only half its mileage, but it still rebutted the assessment's presumption of correctness. The Department extrapolated mileage from title an…
Were engines, parts, and equipment bought for later Florida installation on fixed-wing aircraft over 15,000 pounds exempt from sales tax?
Yes. The vendor did not have to install the parts or install them immediately. The items qualified if ultimately installed in Florida on eligible aircraft; fleet operators should document the exemptio…
Are surgical bone-graft and bone-void-filler products that get implanted in a patient's body exempt from Tennessee sales tax as prosthetic devices?
Yes — both products are exempt from Tennessee sales and use tax as prosthetic devices. The Department ruled that Product #1, a synthetic bone-graft scaffold placed in gaps between bones to promote fus…
Could Cordero Transport use New Mexico's reduced one-way-hauler Weight Distance Tax rate without vehicle-specific records proving that at least 45% of each truck's mileage was traveled empty of all load?
No. Cordero Transport lacked the vehicle-specific mileage, route, origin, destination, and loaded-versus-empty records required to prove that any truck traveled at least 45% of its mileage empty of al…
Could a Virginia S corporation file a unified nonresident return for only the shareholders who elected to join?
No. Virginia treated unified filing as a discretionary administrative convenience subject to Department conditions. One condition required all nonresident owners without other Virginia-source income t…
How did Virginia marina dealers collect and report sales tax on dyed diesel sold for pleasure watercraft?
Under the historical 5% rules, a dealer could include sales tax in the per-unit pump price if it posted notice, or calculate and separately state 5% of the selling price. Either way, it had to remit t…
Could veterinarians use Virginia's agricultural exemption for animal-health products bought for their practices?
Generally no. Veterinarians were professional-service providers and the users or consumers of supplies bought for their practices, not farmers producing agricultural goods for market. Their special ex…
When were medicated and non-medicated suture materials exempt from Virginia sales tax?
Both medicated and non-medicated sutures were medical devices, not exempt drugs. They could be sold tax-free when specifically purchased by or for an identified individual, or to a qualifying nonprofi…
Was a separately charged safe provided only with armored-car service taxable as a rental in Virginia?
No tax applied to the customer charge under the stated facts. Customers could obtain the monitored safes only with the company's secure-transportation service, lost access after depositing valuables, …
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.