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 Colorado sales or use tax due when a lessee pays $1 to take title at the end of a Lease Intended as Security (LIS) agreement?
It depends on the structure, and the Department didn't decide. Whether tax is due when a lessee pays $1 to take title at the end of a 'Lease Intended as Security' (LIS) turns on whether the arrangemen…
What are South Carolina's latest state and county per capita income figures used for tax incentives (per SC IL #09-6)?
$31,884 statewide. SC Information Letter #09-6 publishes the most recently available per capita personal income figures for South Carolina — $31,884 for the state, plus a figure for every county — whi…
My country club has both stockholder-members and non-stockholder members, with dues, initiation fees, and stock purchase charges — are membership dues and fees subject to New York sales tax?
Taxable. A golf/country club's membership dues, stock-purchase fees, assessments, initiation fees, and minimums are all subject to sales tax as social-or-athletic-club dues under Tax Law §1105(f)(2), …
Which items and transactions qualified under Virginia's historical hurricane preparedness sales tax holiday guidelines?
These expired guidelines exempted listed hurricane supplies costing $60 or less per item and listed generators, power cords, inverters, and inverter cables costing $1,000 or less during the May 25-31 …
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-09(6)C: How do Empire Zone benefit periods and QEZE credits work for a parent and subsidiary filing combined, and when a certified subsidiary merges into the parent?
Each entity keeps its own benefit period, and a merger collapses them to one. A certified subsidiary gets its own 10-year QEZE benefit period and computes its credits on its own numbers, applied again…
If my company sells human- or animal-tissue surgical implant products to hospitals, is that sale exempt from New York sales tax as a prosthetic aid?
Exempt. A processor's human- and animal-tissue soft-tissue implant products sold to hospitals qualify as tax-exempt prosthetic aids under Tax Law §1115(a)(4), because they replace missing or malfuncti…
Were third-party printing costs for free, regularly mailed local business directories exempt from Florida sales tax?
Yes. The directories were free circulated publications, issued annually or semiannually, composed primarily of advertising, and distributed to homes by mail.
Could a nonprofit health-care organization buy laboratory supplies tax-free when testing for an affiliated for-profit services company?
Yes. The supplies remained exempt because the nonprofit consumed them in customary medical, research, and educational activities, transferred no consequential property, held a valid exemption certific…
My company licenses mortgage brokers access to our loan-origination software hosted entirely on our own out-of-state servers, with no download and no code ever touching the subscriber's computer — is our subscription fee subject to New York sales tax, and does the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act protect us?
Taxable. A mortgage-technology company's subscription fees for its "Encompass Anywhere" Internet-hosted loan origination and processing software are subject to New York sales tax as a sale of prewritt…
How much Florida documentary stamp tax applies when mortgaged condominiums owned by one or both spouses are deeded to a trust benefiting both spouses?
A jointly owned condominium transferred to a trust whose lifetime beneficiaries are the same husband and wife owes only the minimum $0.70 documentary stamp tax because beneficial ownership does not ch…
Is a condominium association's mandatory unspent food-and-beverage minimum subject to Florida sales tax as an admission charge?
No. The condominium association's mandatory 'unspent minimum' was not a taxable admission because owners had to pay it as a condition of owning or occupying their property, nonpayment could create a l…
How can taxpayers find South Carolina advisory opinions by subject (per SC IL #09-5)?
Use the index attached to SC Information Letter #09-5 to find South Carolina advisory opinions. It indexes the advisory opinions issued by the Department from 1987 through March 2009, and it explains …
How can taxpayers check whether an older South Carolina advisory opinion was modified or superseded (per SC IL #09-4)?
Use the citator attached to SC Information Letter #09-4. It helps you determine what effect newer South Carolina advisory opinions have on previously published ones — whether an opinion was modified, …
Can a 501(c)(3) university get a sales tax refund on purchases its employees make and then get reimbursed for?
No. A charitable institution's sales tax exemption/refund only covers purchases 'made to' the institution — meaning payment goes directly from the institution's own funds to the vendor. When an employ…
Does a 501(c)(3) organization's Kansas income-tax exemption also exempt its employees' wages from Kansas withholding and individual income tax?
No. Kansas recognized the organization's federal 501(c)(3) determination and treated the organization itself as exempt from Kansas income tax, but that did not exempt employee wages. If federal withho…
When are a Florida equipment seller's delivery and setup charges subject to sales tax?
Setup charges on equipment sold or rented were taxable even if separately stated or optional, and a combined delivery-and-setup fee was fully taxable. Delivery of rented equipment was taxable because …
Could a Florida school board use its sales-tax exemption to purchase materials directly for a school construction project?
Yes, provided the reviewed procedures were included in the final contract without conflicting terms. The school board would issue purchase orders, receive vendor invoices, pay vendors directly, take t…
Did a city's proposed direct-purchase procedure allow it to buy construction materials tax-exempt for a Florida public works project?
Yes, if the reviewed provisions were included in the final contract and no conflicting terms were added. The city—not the contractor—would issue purchase orders with its exemption number, receive invo…
Did a county's proposed direct-purchase procedure make construction-material sales exempt for a Florida public works project?
Yes, if the reviewed provisions appeared in the final contract without conflicting terms. The county would issue purchase orders, receive invoices, pay vendors directly, take title at job-site deliver…
How did Florida apply gross receipts tax and sales tax to an electric utility's net-metering bills?
The utility calculated both taxes on the net amount billed after crediting the customer's excess generation. In the ruling's example, $100 of utility electricity minus a $25 net-metering credit produc…
What South Carolina tax consequences followed a federal Internal Revenue Code § 338(h)(10) election under the 2009 guidance?
The federal election automatically applied for South Carolina income tax, but the deemed asset sale created no sales tax or deed recording fee. Income allocation, credits, and personal-property basis …
Could beneficiaries subtract federally taxable lump-sum death benefits received from annuity contracts on their Virginia income-tax return?
Yes. Virginia said the subtraction applied because each payment came from an annuity contract between an annuitant and insurer, was paid to the beneficiary in a lump sum, and was subject to federal in…
How did Virginia tax a stone-countertop business that fabricated counters for retail sale and also installed them in buildings?
Virginia treated stone countertops adhered to permanent cabinets as real-property fixtures. For installed jobs, the business was a contractor and taxable user of the materials, not a reseller; because…
Did an advertising company prove that CD presentation, video testimonial, and photography invoices qualified for Virginia's advertising exemption?
No. The company offered general assertions, a website, and an appreciation letter, but did not tie the disputed CD, video, and photography work to a documented public advertising campaign. Because the…
Did a notice of intent preserve a Virginia tax appeal when no complete appeal was filed within the cited 90-day period?
No. The November 3, 2008 assessment required a complete appeal by February 2, 2009 under the 90-day rule quoted in the ruling. A notice of intent did not supply the required grounds and relevant facts…
Could a restaurant use Virginia's reduced food sales-tax rate and avoid tax and interest because it had not collected the full rate?
No. The restaurant was excluded from the reduced food rate because more than 80% of its food receipts came from food for immediate consumption. It owed the uncollected tax itself, and Virginia said th…
Could a Virginia business breeding canines for pharmaceutical companies buy feed, medicines, and vaccines under the agricultural exemption?
No. The canine breeder was not raising crops, statutory livestock, or another farming activity listed in Virginia's agricultural exemption. The medicines and vaccines also were sold directly to the br…
Did a corporate group's actual consolidated-return election control when Virginia had mistakenly granted permission to file a combined return?
Yes. The group was entitled to make an initial filing-status election, so no permission to change was needed. Its actual consolidated-return election and consistent filing method controlled, and Virgi…
Which worker-benefit payments could a staffing firm exclude from BPOL gross receipts when workers received Forms W-2 or 1099?
Qualifying benefits paid to workers treated as employees could be excluded, including W-2 employees and workers the firm treated as employees despite issuing Form 1099. Benefits paid to true independe…
Was Cadworks Home Design & Draft a mere continuation liable for the predecessor drafting company's unpaid New Mexico gross receipts tax?
Yes. Shane Umphress had been the predecessor's secretary, director, and employee, then continued the same drafting business at its location, assumed its lease and existing jobs, used its equipment and…
Did a school board's proposed direct-purchase program exempt materials used in a Florida construction-manager public works contract?
Yes, if the reviewed provisions were included in the final contract without conflicts. The school board would issue purchase orders, receive invoices, pay suppliers directly, take title at F.O.B. job-…
How does a prepaid debit card company apportion its Colorado income from card sales and transaction fees — by cost of performance or by market?
By market, not cost of performance. The Department ruled that a prepaid/debit card company qualifies as a 'financial institution' because it earns more than 50% of its income from activities a financi…
Which Ohio, Michigan, and Texas business taxes could a corporation deduct when computing Kansas corporate income tax?
Kansas disallowed taxes imposed on or measured by income, and fees in lieu of income tax, while allowing the other listed business taxes. The Ohio franchise tax's net-worth portion was deductible but …
What Kansas sales-tax and motor-fuel-tax liability does a wholesale fuel supplier have when a licensed distributor or end user defaults on payment?
A sale to another licensed motor-fuel distributor was neither a taxable retail sale nor subject to motor-fuel tax at that stage, so the supplier was not liable if that licensed distributor defaulted. …
How did Florida tax a manufacturer selling fabricated components to a related real property contractor for installation inside and outside Florida?
The manufacturer could buy its inputs for resale and owed no tax on fabrication cost because it made the components for arm's-length sale, not for its own use. Sales delivered to the real property con…
We're the public benefit corporation that manages Roosevelt Island. On a mixed-use development (the Octagon Project), we'll be named mortgagee on financing that's really funded by a private lender, and later assign our interest to that lender. Is that mortgage -- and any later assignments, supplements, or modifications of it -- exempt from mortgage recording tax as long as it's really us presenting it for recording?
Exempt, if RIOC is named mortgagee and presents the mortgage for recording. The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC), a public benefit corporation and political subdivision created by the sta…
Are a company's print-and-mail service and its electronic data services (file transfer, address correction, database search) subject to Colorado sales tax?
Mostly non-taxable services, but the Department made no specific determination. A company's electronic data services—automated file transfers (VPN/SSL), USPS address corrections, and database-search/u…
How is Colorado sales and use tax applied when related companies sell building materials to one another, and a contractor installs them into real property?
A contractor is the consumer of building materials it incorporates into real property and pays sales tax when it buys them; the building owner pays no sales or use tax on those materials. A manufactur…
Was an entire homeowners' monthly assessment taxable when it funded both recreational amenities and general community services?
No. Only the portion paying for access to and use of amusement facilities was taxable. The club allocated tax using amusement-related direct and indirect expenses divided by total expenses.
What Virginia tax interest rates applied during the second quarter of 2009?
Virginia's April 1-June 30, 2009 rates were 6% for tax underpayments and 6% for tax overpayments. The 6% underpayment rate also applied through July 15, 2009 for specified estimated-tax computations b…
My company provides automated voice-calling services to airlines, banks, and other businesses using proprietary software we keep entirely in-house — is our calling-service fee or our own software subject to New York sales or use tax?
Not taxable. An automated voice-message provider's fees for placing calls to customer-designated recipients aren't subject to New York sales tax, because the service isn't among the enumerated taxable…
Under the 2009 South Carolina guidance, who could claim the refundable college tuition income-tax credit and how was it calculated?
A qualifying student or the person entitled to claim that student as a federal dependent could claim 25% of qualifying tuition after scholarships, subject to the ruling's historical eligibility rules …
What is South Carolina's tax interest rate for the period ending June 30, 2009 (per SC IL #09-3)?
4%. SC Information Letter #09-3 sets South Carolina's interest rate on tax underpayments and overpayments at 4% for the period April 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009. Interest is compounded daily, except…
What did Virginia's 2009 retroactive legislation do to minimum taxes for noncorporate telecommunications companies and electric suppliers?
The legislation restored Virginia's minimum taxes for noncorporate telecommunications companies and electric suppliers for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2004. Pass-through entities re…
Are industrial-design and mechanical-engineering design fees subject to Kansas sales tax when an agency also delivers proofs, prototypes, or finished products?
Design-service fees and proofs of concept were not taxable because Kansas did not enumerate industrial, engineering, graphic, or advertising design as taxable services. But when the agency also sold f…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-09(5)C: How are a social network's online advertising receipts (CPC and CPM) allocated to New York for the Article 9-A business allocation percentage?
By where the audience is. A website operator's online advertising receipts are allocated to New York based on the New York audience, not where its servers or staff sit. Cost-per-click (CPC) receipts a…
My company sells FDA-classified copper IUDs to both patients and medical providers — do they qualify for New York's sales tax exemption for drugs and medicines?
No, not as drugs — but yes, functionally exempt for patients. The ParaGard copper IUD does not qualify for New York's drugs-and-medicines sales tax exemption because the FDA classifies it as a medical…
Is a fee paid to transfer a retired rental vehicle to a Kansas dealer for a potential buyer's inspection included in the taxable vehicle selling price?
Yes, if the customer who paid the transfer fee later buys the vehicle. The fee reimbursed transportation to the licensed Kansas selling dealer or functioned as a delivery charge, and inspection was in…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-09(4)C: Is a corporation dissolved by proclamation that merely holds New York real property as a nominee still subject to Article 9-A franchise tax?
No, not after dissolution. A corporation dissolved by proclamation that merely remains the record title holder of New York real property as a nominee for others, and is otherwise completely inactive, …
Was dyed diesel used by a Florida head boat taking paying anglers beyond the three-mile territorial limit exempt from sales tax?
Yes. Although the head boat was a recreational charter or party boat rather than a statutory commercial fishing vessel, it transported passengers for hire in interstate or foreign commerce when it sai…
When a taxpayer files an amended New York income tax return to claim a refund based on federal changes, does interest on the overpayment start running from the date of the original return or the date of the amended return?
Interest runs only from the date the amended New York return was filed, not from the original return's filing date. Under Tax Law § 688(a)(3), no interest is allowed for any day before an amended retu…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-09(3)C: Does a newly formed AMD/Foundry subsidiary qualify as a 'new business' under sections 14(j), 210.12(j), and 210.19(c)?
Yes for two tests, no for the third. The newly formed corporation will qualify as a 'new business' under Tax Law sections 14(j)(1) and 210.12(j) because it is not substantially similar in ownership to…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-09(2)C: Is a foreign non-life insurer with no New York premiums taxable under Article 33 solely because it is a limited partner in a fund doing business in New York?
It depends on the fund. A foreign non-life insurance corporation not licensed in New York and with no New York premiums can still be subject to the Article 33 insurance franchise tax if it is a limite…
My company retrieves and delivers copies of individual patients' confidential medical records to requestors on behalf of medical facilities — is that record-retrieval fee subject to New York sales tax?
Untaxed. Fees for retrieving and furnishing an individual's own specifically identified, confidential medical or insurance records to an authorized requestor are not a taxable information service or s…
My out-of-state satellite Internet provider furnishes required equipment to New York customers through third-party dealers, and I've never paid New York sales tax on the equipment purchase itself — do I owe New York use tax on that equipment?
Mostly exempt in practice. An out-of-state satellite Internet provider owes New York use tax (not sales tax) on customer premises equipment it furnishes to New York customers as an integral part of it…
Did a registered out-of-state dealer owe Florida sales tax when it drop-shipped goods by common carrier for nonresident buyers with no Florida nexus?
No, under the ruling's stated assumptions. When the registered dealer, the unregistered nonresident buyer, and the goods were outside Florida at the time of sale, and the dealer used a common carrier …
Are fees for professional continuing-education seminars, webcasts, recorded CD-ROM seminars, and extra course materials subject to Kansas sales tax?
Credited professional continuing-education seminar charges were not taxable, including live telephone or webcast attendance with course materials. A bank could also buy a recorded CD-ROM tax-free when…
Is the income a securities market maker earns from its specialist and market-making trading taxed as business capital or as investment capital under New York's corporate franchise tax?
It is business capital. A registered securities dealer that acts as a market maker or specialist holds those securities as dealer property for sale to customers, so the income is business income (appo…
I rent scaffolding, hoisting equipment, and temporary walkways to contractors for construction projects and separately charge for disassembly — is any of this taxable, and can I buy my equipment tax-free for resale?
Taxable rental, exempt equipment purchase. Rentals of scaffolding, hoisting equipment, safety netting, and temporary walkways are always subject to sales tax as a rental of tangible personal property,…
We install closed circuit television/security camera systems for commercial buildings — is our installation charge a taxable sale, or can it qualify as an exempt capital improvement?
It depends on the component. A closed circuit television installer's charges for in-wall/ceiling wiring and cable installed like a building's electrical system can qualify as an exempt capital improve…
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.
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- 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.