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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Is Synvisc (hylan G-F 20), a knee-osteoarthritis injection, exempt from NY sales tax?
Yes. Synvisc (hylan G-F 20) is a hyaluronan-based fluid a physician injects into an osteoarthritic knee, where it supplements the joint's natural synovial fluid, relieves pain, and restores the knee's…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-12(1)C / 12(2)S: Is a cash payment-processing service subject to sales tax, and does using it make merchants vendors or give them New York franchise-tax nexus?
No on both. A cash payment-processing service that lets customers pay online purchases or bills with cash at a local store is not an enumerated taxable service, so it is not subject to sales and use t…
Were design and printing charges for labels affixed to a seller's packaged food products subject to Florida sales tax?
No. The labels accompanied food products, were used once as packaging, remained affixed to the products or containers, and supplied product information. The seller could give both the designer and pri…
Were membership dues paid to a private equity country club exempt as mandatory homeowners-association payments?
No. The country club was a separate private membership club, not the homeowners association, and its facilities were not the community's common areas or elements. The dues paid for use of the club fac…
How did Virginia's advance to December 31, 2011 federal conformity affect 2011 income tax returns?
Virginia advanced its fixed conformity date from December 31, 2010 to December 31, 2011 for tax years beginning in 2011. It still required specified adjustments for bonus depreciation, five-year NOL c…
Is a pharmacy's charge for a pharmacist's comprehensive review of a patient's medication records subject to Colorado sales tax, even though the patient may receive a printed report or medication chart?
Likely not taxable. A pharmacist's comprehensive medication-record review and face-to-face consultation looks like a non-taxable professional SERVICE — like advice from a doctor or accountant — even i…
How did same-sex civil-union partners adjust employer health-coverage wages on Illinois's historical federal 'as-if-married' return?
Under the historical 2012 procedure, partners completed a pro-forma federal return as if federal law recognized their civil union as a marriage. They excluded from pro-forma taxable wages any employee…
Does Kansas sales tax apply to charges for hosted software, SaaS, or application service provider (ASP) services?
No. Charges for hosted software, software as a service (SaaS), or application service provider (ASP) services are not subject to Kansas sales tax. None of the services taxed under K.S.A. 79-3603 cover…
Were a manufacturer's wholesale sales of affiliate-made chemicals a separate BPOL-taxable business, and could out-of-state receipts be deducted?
Yes. Sales of chemicals made by affiliates outside the city were a significant wholesale activity, not merely ancillary to manufacturing at the city plant, so a wholesale BPOL license was required. Re…
How did Florida require a qualifying business to compute project income for a Capital Investment Tax Credit project held in a separate corporation?
The project corporation had to prepare a separate-company pro forma federal return, compute Florida taxable income under GAAP and Chapter 220, and apportion using only its own property, payroll, and s…
Could a multinational franchisor stop filing Florida consolidated returns after disproportionate international growth and major changes in business lines?
Yes. The changes made continued consolidated filing impractical, subject to four conditions: a specified effective date, no items escaping separate returns, no reentry into a Florida consolidated grou…
Could an acquired Florida parent-subsidiary group stop filing consolidated returns after joining a new affiliated group with no Florida consolidated election?
Yes. The ownership change ended the old affiliated group, and the acquired taxpayer became bound by the purchaser group's filing election. Permission applied from the specified tax year and required t…
If a QEZE partnership restructures by inserting two single-member LLCs between itself and its existing owners, without changing who ultimately controls it, will it lose its empire zone tax benefits - and would a later change in the Department's position apply retroactively?
No, the QEZE certification and EZ tax benefits survive. Because inserting two disregarded-entity SMLLCs as intermediate owners doesn't change who ultimately owns, controls, or benefits from the petiti…
Were a retailer's nonrefundable layaway service fee and fee charged only when the customer canceled subject to Illinois sales tax?
The nonrefundable layaway service fee was taxable. IDOR treated it like a handling charge and a cost of doing business passed to the customer, so it remained in taxable gross receipts. A cancellation …
How was base employment calculated for the additional replacement-tax investment credit when the prior taxable year had only nine months?
Use the nine months and divide by nine, if that short period was the taxpayer's taxable year. Regulation 100.2101 defined base employment as the average monthly Illinois employment during the taxable …
Did a federally chartered relief organization and its local units have to collect Florida sales tax on their sales of goods and services?
No. As federal instrumentalities, the organization and its local units were immune from Florida's collection obligation. That immunity did not exempt the items themselves, so customers owed Florida us…
Did Illinois's municipal gas occupation tax apply to alternative gas suppliers or only public utilities?
IDOR did not answer the classification question. Taxes authorized by 65 ILCS 5/8-11-2 were administered by municipalities that elected to impose them, not by the Illinois Department of Revenue. IDOR t…
Is a nonresident professional athlete's signing bonus allocated to Utah using the same duty-day formula as salary, and will Utah accept an athlete's own duty-day calculation?
It depends on how the bonus is structured, but usually yes. Under Utah Admin. Code R865-9I-44 ("Rule 44"), a nonresident professional athlete's signing bonus is allocated to Utah using the same duty-d…
How is the 2011 federal credit for prior year minimum tax recomputed to determine the Nebraska minimum tax credit on a 2011 estate or trust (fiduciary) return?
Recompute the federal prior-year minimum tax credit for Nebraska, then take 29.6% of it. Revenue Ruling 23-11-2 tells 2011 estate and trust (fiduciary) filers to recalculate the federal credit for pri…
How is the federal alternative minimum tax recomputed to determine the Nebraska minimum tax on a 2011 fiduciary (estate or trust) income tax return?
Recompute the federal fiduciary AMT using Nebraska's adjustments. Revenue Ruling 23-11-1 tells estates and trusts filing a 2011 Nebraska Fiduciary Income Tax Return (Form 1041N) to recalculate the alt…
Did a secondhand dealer need registration in the county where it appraised gold collateral for a third-party lender when acquisition occurred after default elsewhere?
No. The dealer did not purchase the necklace when it was pledged in County A. It held the collateral at its registered County B store and acquired it only upon borrower default there, so County B was …
How is the 2011 federal credit for prior year minimum tax recomputed to determine the Nebraska minimum tax credit on a 2011 individual income tax return?
Recompute the federal prior-year minimum tax credit for Nebraska, then take 29.6% of it. Revenue Ruling 22-11-2 tells 2011 individual filers to recalculate the federal credit for prior year minimum ta…
Were mandatory country-club membership fees paid through homeowners associations exempt from Florida admissions tax?
No. The club, not a homeowners association, owned and controlled the golf, tennis, clubhouse, and related facilities, and the property was not association common area. Mandatory membership did not cha…
Were college textbook rental fees taxable when the bookstore allowed a student to buy the book during or after the rental?
IDOR did not classify the bookstore's rental agreement or specifically decide its late and nonreturn charges. A true lease generally had no buyout or only a fair-market-value option; Illinois did not …
How could an Illinois-registered drop shipper document a resale sale to an out-of-state purchaser that lacked Illinois nexus and registration?
The Illinois-registered seller had to collect tax or document an exemption for its Illinois delivery. To treat the sale to the out-of-state purchaser as resale, it needed a valid resale certificate co…
Does a nonprofit charitable hospital that runs a hotel owe Connecticut room occupancy tax on the rooms it rents?
It depends on the guest. A nonprofit charitable hospital operating a hotel owes Connecticut room occupancy tax on rent from the general public, but not on rent from 'Priority Guests' — patients, their…
Could taxpayers challenge Virginia assessments more than 90 days after they were issued while seeking IRS reconsideration?
No. The taxpayers filed their administrative appeal well after Virginia's 90-day deadline, so the Commissioner found no basis for relief. Virginia could assess from the IRS's final figures after the t…
Were electronically delivered digital certificates subject to Virginia retail sales and use tax?
No. The provider's customers registered online, received and installed the digital certificates electronically, and received no tangible personal property. Virginia treated the lump-sum certificate, a…
How is the 2011 federal alternative minimum tax recomputed to determine the Nebraska minimum tax on a 2011 individual income tax return?
Recompute the federal AMT using Nebraska's adjustments. Revenue Ruling 22-11-1 tells 2011 individual filers to recalculate the alternative minimum tax (AMT) from their federal return (Form 6251, or th…
Did a Florida county's proposed courthouse direct-purchase procedures qualify construction materials for the governmental sales-tax exemption?
No. Although the county would order and pay vendors directly and take title and risk of loss, the documents did not clearly require vendors to invoice the county directly and omitted Certificates of E…
Is a company's fee for analyzing job applicants' questionnaire answers and delivering an online probability-of-success ranking report to HR departments subject to Utah sales tax?
No. A company that runs job applicants through its own proprietary psychometric questionnaire and analysis, then gives client HR departments online access to a probability-of-success ranking report, i…
Which land-clearing and mulch-production equipment qualified for Virginia industrial-processing or forest-harvesting exemptions?
Mobile grinders, loaders, trucks, and related parts used at temporary clearing sites did not qualify for industrial processing, and grinding or chipping was not exempt forest harvesting. Equipment at …
Did regularly dispatching local contractors for Illinois retail repairs likely create income-tax nexus, and could voluntary disclosure limit prior years?
IDOR did not issue a final nexus determination because all facts would need audit review. It nevertheless said that a business built around regularly dispatching Illinois contractors for repair servic…
Did an Illinois school district owe sales tax when it sold textbooks to students and later bought them back, and could it instead structure a tax-free rental?
The described buy-sell-buyback transactions were taxable retail sales. The school district had to register, remit Retailers' Occupation Tax, and buy resale inventory using certificates rather than its…
How can taxpayers check whether an older South Carolina advisory opinion was modified or superseded (per SC IL #11-21)?
Use the citator attached to SC Information Letter #11-21. It helps you determine what effect newer South Carolina advisory opinions have on previously published ones — whether an opinion was modified,…
Could a transformed corporate parent discontinue Florida consolidated filing because separate returns better reflected its changed business?
Yes, beginning with the 2010 year, subject to four conditions. Items could not escape separate returns, the group could not reenter Florida consolidation before 2015, and federally realized but deferr…
Was a remotely hosted email-marketing platform taxable as canned software or nontaxable as an online service in Illinois?
IDOR did not decide whether this hosted platform was taxable. It said application-service-provider, hosted-software, and web-based-software treatment should be resolved through formal rulemaking rathe…
How did Illinois describe sales, nexus, local sourcing, and lease tax rules in response to a Series LLC classification survey?
IDOR did not answer the Series LLC survey yes or no or say that each series was a separate Illinois sales-tax entity. It said Illinois sales and use tax generally looked at transactions between legal …
Did a permit-required replacement wastewater pipeline and its associated structures qualify for Florida's pollution-control sales-tax exemption?
Yes. The fixed-location manufacturer used the replacement system solely to control pollution from its operations and to meet DEP permit requirements. The entire required pipeline system qualified even…
Did a company become liable for its acquisition target's unpaid gross receipts tax after buying the target's stock, assets, and key government-lab contract?
Yes. Orion was a successor because it bought WATS's stock and all assets, continued its core contract, assumed operating debts, and received its goodwill. The transferred value exceeded the tax debt, …
Could Virginia consider a consumer-use-tax appeal mailed after the 90-day assessment deadline?
No. The March 10, 2011 assessment had to be appealed by June 8, but the legible appeal was mailed July 13. Virginia strictly enforced the 90-day limit and barred consideration despite written notices …
Did GPS proof that a truck burned fuel inside an off-highway geofence automatically qualify that fuel for an Illinois Motor Fuel Tax refund?
No blanket approval was available. Each refund claim needed verifiable purchase and use documentation showing a nontaxable purpose and a practical calculation and itemization of the fuel amount. Gasol…
Were stand-alone prepaid wireless phone cards worth $5 or less exempt from Illinois's prepaid wireless 9-1-1 surcharge as minimal service?
No. The $5-or-less minimal-service election applied only when a minimal amount of prepaid wireless service was sold with a prepaid wireless device for one non-itemized bundled price. Stand-alone prepa…
How did Illinois tax an optometrist's government-paid and privately paid medical-appliance charges, including shipping above actual cost?
Direct Medicare or Medicaid payments could be exempt when properly documented with an active E number, but patient and private-insurance portions were taxable. IDOR said most optometrists were registe…
Could a cupcake shop with four customer tables charge Illinois's lower off-premises food rate on cupcakes sold by the dozen for later consumption?
Generally the high rate applied to all food sales because the store provided seating. The presumption could be rebutted only if the on-premises area was physically partitioned from the off-premises sa…
Did intercompany job-cost entries create taxable equipment leases when no cash or written rental agreement changed hands?
Yes. The owner's transfer of equipment possession to sister companies, combined with due-to, due-from, and job-cost entries, supplied consideration for taxable leases even without cash payments or wri…
Which sales at a university dining facility open to the public may be exempt from Illinois Retailers' Occupation Tax?
Only a narrow category. A school cafeteria confined to students and employees was exempt, but when a dining facility was open to the public, all sales were generally taxable. Illinois allowed the univ…
Did an out-of-state inventory-software company have Illinois nexus when warehouses used its program and it earned a per-pallet spread?
Unresolved. Illinois declined to make a nexus determination in a GIL or PLR, saying those facts are often best gathered by an auditor. It explained that canned software was generally taxable regardles…
Did an out-of-state internet retailer create Illinois sales-tax nexus by sharing a loyalty program with affiliated Illinois stores and accepting online returns there?
Unresolved. Illinois declined to make a nexus determination in a GIL or PLR because it said the necessary facts are often best gathered by an auditor. It instead summarized the 2011 framework: an Illi…
Does an Illinois charitable foundation with an E number avoid Retailers' Occupation Tax on continuous website and fundraising-event sales of logo merchandise to the public?
Generally no. Federal 501(c)(3) status alone does not create an Illinois sales-tax exemption, and an Illinois E number primarily exempts qualifying organizational purchases—not the organization's own …
How does Illinois tax custom printed matter transferred by graphic-arts servicemen, including registered and unregistered de minimis servicemen?
Illinois declined to issue the requested Private Letter Ruling but explained the general rules. Special-order or custom print items generally fall under Service Occupation Tax, while stock or standard…
How did Illinois distinguish a taxable conditional sale from a true equipment lease, and who owed tax in each case?
Illinois declined to rule on the requester's hypothetical contract-sale and funding arrangements, but explained the general distinction. A lease with a nominal or one-dollar purchase option, or a guar…
Are the labor to dispose of drilling dirt and the purchase of fly ash used in that disposal subject to Kansas sales tax?
The disposal service is not taxable, but the materials are. The Department ruled that the service to dispose of dirt excavated while drilling a deep disposal well is not a taxable service. However, an…
When amended corporate returns revealed 1995-1996 underpayments and 1997-1999 overpayments, did interest on the earlier tax continue until the 2008 amendments or stop as each later overpayment was applied?
Interest stopped to the extent each later overpayment was applied. After a federal audit, BNSF's amended New Mexico returns showed additional 1995-1996 tax and overpayments for 1997-1999. Section 7-1-…
Are software licenses that only grant remote access to software hosted outside Kansas subject to Kansas sales or use tax?
Not taxable. The Department ruled that purchases of software licenses and support services are not subject to Kansas Retailers' Sales Tax or Consumers' Compensating Use Tax when the licenses only gran…
Can a manufacturer claim a Colorado sales/use tax exemption on coal and shredded tires that serve as both kiln fuel and as a chemical ingredient in the finished product?
Partly exempt. A manufacturer may exempt the portion of its coal and shredded-tire purchases that becomes a component of its product — silica and alumina from coal ash, and iron from the tires' steel …
Are the components of a leased residential rooftop solar photovoltaic system exempt from Colorado sales and use tax under the renewable-energy components exemption?
Mostly exempt. The components of a leased residential solar photovoltaic system — modules, racks, inverter, wiring — are exempt from Colorado state and state-administered local sales and use tax under…
Could entities use separate accounting for Illinois property sales without showing how the statutory formula distorted their income?
No, not on the petition submitted. Section 304(f) allowed separate accounting only when the statutory method did not fairly represent Illinois activity. Regulation 100.3390 required clear and cogent e…
Could entities use separate accounting for Illinois property sales without showing how the statutory formula distorted their income?
No, not on the petition submitted. Section 304(f) allowed separate accounting only when the statutory method did not fairly represent Illinois activity. Regulation 100.3390 required clear and cogent e…
Are paid 'membership' dues at an owner-operated public golf course taxable as social or athletic club dues in NY?
No. Tax Law 1105(f)(2) taxes dues paid to a 'social or athletic club,' but this golf course isn't one. The owner retains sole control over the facility and all its operations; the 'members' have no ow…
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