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 Virginia bound by my federal Schedule C, and who has the burden when the Department disallows my deductions on audit?
No -- Virginia is not bound by your federal Schedule C. This is one of a series of materially identical Virginia Schedule C desk-audit determinations. Here the Department disallowed the taxpayer's Sch…
Is Virginia bound by my federal Schedule C, and who has the burden when the Department disallows my deductions on audit?
No -- Virginia is not bound by your federal Schedule C. This is one of a series of materially identical Virginia Schedule C desk-audit determinations. Here the Department disallowed the taxpayers's Sc…
Is Virginia bound by my federal Schedule C, and who has the burden when the Department disallows my deductions on audit?
No -- Virginia is not bound by your federal Schedule C. This is one of a series of materially identical Virginia Schedule C desk-audit determinations. Here the Department disallowed the taxpayer's Sch…
Is Virginia bound by my federal Schedule C, and who has the burden when the Department disallows my deductions on audit?
No -- Virginia is not bound by your federal Schedule C. This is one of a series of materially identical Virginia Schedule C desk-audit determinations. Here the Department disallowed the taxpayer's Sch…
My company was coded as a retailer but now sells mostly wholesale -- does Virginia force me onto the single sales factor, and must I amend my federal return to fix the Virginia one?
No on both counts. Virginia's single-sales-factor apportionment applies only to a 'retail company' whose PRIMARY activity falls in NAICS retail Sectors 44-45. Where the taxpayer showed about 68% of it…
Does a Virginia hotel have to charge sales tax on a separately stated credit card surcharge and on cancellation fees for rooms and events?
Credit card fees: yes. Cancellation fees: usually no. A hotel's separately stated credit card surcharge added to taxable room rentals, banquets, and catering is itself taxable, because the 'true objec…
If a corporate officer is personally assessed for a company's unpaid sales tax and withholding, what happens to the appeal when it's filed after the 90-day deadline because they had moved?
Too late -- the appeal was rejected. A corporate officer was personally assessed 'converted' penalties equal to his company's unpaid sales/use and withholding taxes. He appealed, but filed his applica…
Does an infusion-therapy provider owe Illinois sales tax on the prescription drugs it administers to patients, and at what rate?
An infusion-therapy provider is a "serviceperson" subject to Illinois's Service Occupation Tax on the prescription drugs it transfers to patients as part of treatment -- not exempt -- but qualifying p…
Does an oilfield water-delivery company owe New Mexico gross receipts tax at its office city's rate, or at the rate where it actually delivers the water?
At the delivery locations — the company won, and roughly $1.17 million in assessments was abated. Select Water Solutions sells and delivers water through connected pipeline and hose systems to oil-and…
How does Kansas House Bill 2481 change transient guest tax and short-term rentals for the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
For the 2026 FIFA World Cup (held in Kansas City), House Bill 2481 makes temporary changes that run May 15 through July 25, 2026. It bars cities and counties from capping the number or duration of sho…
If a waste disposal company requires customers to use its own dumpsters as part of the service, is providing the dumpster a taxable lease or part of a nontaxable service?
It's part of the service, not a taxable retail lease. Since the dumpster has little to no value to the customer without the waste-removal service and can't be rented separately, its "true object" is t…
Are late fees for overdue lease or rental payments subject to Illinois sales tax?
Yes. A late charge or penalty added because a customer paid past the due date becomes part of the seller's or lessor's taxable gross receipts in Illinois -- and since Illinois began taxing most tangib…
Which med-spa treatments, products, and memberships are subject to Tennessee sales and use tax?
It splits three ways. Prescription drugs for human use are exempt: IV nutrition therapy, injectable neurotoxins (Botox), dermal fillers, the chemical solution in medium-to-deep skin peels, and hyperba…
I'm a U.S. citizen living in Illinois with retirement savings from a former Swedish employer -- can I subtract those distributions from my Illinois income once I start taking them?
Likely not under the specific subtraction described. A private Swedish employer pension doesn't fit within the U.S. Internal Revenue Code sections (402-408) that Illinois's retirement-income subtracti…
Are sales of products to Amtrak exempt from Illinois sales tax, and what records does a retailer need to keep to prove it?
Yes -- sales of tangible personal property to Amtrak are exempt from Illinois state and local Retailers' Occupation Tax and Use Tax under federal law, even though Amtrak can't get a standard exemption…
Does New Mexico's motor vehicle excise tax exemption for a vehicle 'acquired for subsequent lease' apply to someone who is not in the business of leasing vehicles?
No. New Mexico's motor vehicle excise tax exemption for a vehicle 'acquired for subsequent lease' (NMSA 1978, Section 7-14-6(F)) reaches only a person who holds or leases vehicles in the ordinary cour…
Do I have to charge Illinois sales tax when I sell Deal-of-the-Day vouchers for golf tee times or pro-shop merchandise?
No -- selling a Deal-of-the-Day voucher itself is never subject to Illinois sales tax, because the voucher is intangible property. Whether tax applies when the voucher is REDEEMED depends on what it's…
Should Illinois's cannabis purchaser excise tax and local cannabis taxes be added on top of the retail price, and do they get taxed again themselves?
Yes, cannabis purchaser excise tax and local (municipal/county) cannabis taxes are separately stated additional charges on top of the retail price -- and none of those tax add-ons become part of the s…
Must a wholesaler include inventory it stores in Virginia awaiting sale in its corporate income tax property factor, or can it exclude it because it says it does not 'use' the inventory here?
Include it. A multistate wholesaler stored purchased coal in a Virginia stockyard until it had enough to fill a sales contract, then shipped it out of state. It later sought a refund, arguing it did n…
Does a Missouri college have to collect sales tax when it sells electronic textbooks that students can only access through its online learning management system?
No. Electronic textbooks are not taxable in Missouri because they are delivered in digital, not tangible, form, and Missouri sales tax only applies to tangible personal property (or software delivered…
If a county-and-city-created economic development entity hires contractors to renovate its facility using public grant money, do the contractors have to pay sales tax on the building materials they buy?
No, as long as the purchases are paid for with county/city (public) funds. Because the entity is an instrumentality of a political subdivision and furnishes the contractor an exemption certificate, pu…
If my Missouri business takes a customer's order at my headquarters but has the product drop-shipped directly from a vendor in Arkansas to that Missouri customer, do I need to collect and remit sales tax based on my headquarters location?
Yes. Because the order was taken at Applicant's Missouri headquarters, Missouri sources the sale (and the applicable local sales tax rate) to that headquarters location, even though the goods never ph…
If I buy a pre-engineered steel building kit just to store and maintain my farm machinery and land-management equipment, do I owe Missouri sales tax on it?
Yes. Missouri's farm machinery and equipment sales tax exemption does not cover building materials used for a nonproduction area, and a building used only to store and maintain equipment is a nonprodu…
I'm a dual US/UK citizen living in Illinois receiving a private UK employer pension -- can I subtract it from my Illinois income like an earlier Department letter suggested might be possible?
Not under the specific subtraction the taxpayer asked about. Illinois's retirement-income subtraction under 35 ILCS 5/203(a)(2)(F) only covers amounts tied to particular U.S. Internal Revenue Code sec…
Does the required dyed diesel fuel tax notice have to appear on the front of an invoice, or can it be on the back if the front references it?
A generic front-of-invoice reference to "warnings on the reverse side" is not enough -- the Department concluded that referencing EPA/IRS warnings on the back, without mentioning the Illinois Departme…
Can a direct pay permit holder claim a use-tax refund based on an estimated accrual percentage, and must the Department run an audit to find the overpayment?
No refund. A manufacturer with a Virginia direct pay permit computed its use tax using an 'estimated accrual percentage,' later decided it had overpaid, and asked for a refund. The Commissioner denied…
When a customer makes a large up-front payment to sign a car lease in Colorado, which local sales taxes apply to that payment and how does the dealer report them?
The up-front payment a customer makes when signing a Colorado motor-vehicle lease is sourced the same way as the monthly payments — to the lease's 'primary property location,' not the dealer's locatio…
Can the Virginia Tax Commissioner hear an appeal of local tangible personal property (car) tax assessed on an individual's personal vehicle?
No -- the Department has no jurisdiction. A car owner whose personal vehicle had been stolen appealed the county's tangible personal property (car) tax to the Tax Commissioner. The Commissioner issued…
When a Virginia refund depends on an amended federal return, does the one-year clock run from when you filed the federal amendment or from when the IRS accepted it?
Denied -- filed too late. When a Virginia refund depends on a change to your federal return, you have one year from the 'final determination date' to file the amended Virginia return. For a change mad…
What statewide per-capita-income figure should South Carolina taxpayers use for incentive tests after April 14, 2026?
Use $63,179 as the most recently available South Carolina statewide per-capita-income figure published by the Department on April 14, 2026. The figure matters when an income, sales and use, or propert…
If I charge a fee to autograph a poster a customer already owns, is that fee subject to Illinois sales tax?
Signing a poster the CUSTOMER already owns and brings to you is a pure service with no transfer of tangible personal property, so it's not subject to Illinois sales tax by itself. But if you sell the …
How does Illinois's new 2025 lease tax interact with Chicago's Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax on a leased motor vehicle?
Motor vehicle leases aren't covered by Illinois's new 2025 lease-tax law at all -- vehicles keep their pre-2025 tax treatment (dealers owe Retailers' Occupation Tax, lessors owe Use Tax, lessees owe n…
What South Carolina tax guidance is listed in the Department's advisory-opinion index through March 31, 2026?
SC Information Letter 26-11 is a research index, not a substantive tax ruling. It catalogs South Carolina Department of Revenue advisory opinions issued from 1987 through March 31, 2026 under administ…
How should taxpayers use South Carolina's advisory-opinion citator, and what legal changes does the citator not track?
Use the citator as a research aid to see which South Carolina advisory opinions the Department identifies as modified, obsolete, superseded, modifying, or superseding through March 31, 2026. Do not tr…
I receive Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security payments, plus a private Canadian employer pension -- which of these can I subtract from my Illinois income as retirement income?
It depends on how each payment is federally categorized, which Illinois doesn't independently decide. Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security payments appear analogous to U.S. Social Security under t…
Does Virginia's occasional sale exemption let a police department sell service handguns and service animals to retiring officers without collecting sales tax?
It depends on how often they sell. Virginia's 'occasional sale' exemption can exempt a police department's sales of service handguns (to retiring officers) and service animals (to their last handler) …
Can the Virginia Tax Commissioner hear an appeal of a local business tangible personal property (BTPP) tax assessment, and what must the taxpayer do first?
The Tax Commissioner dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Local business tangible personal property (BTPP) tax is assessed and administered by the locality, and there are two separate local …
Our multistate unitary group thinks Illinois's standard single-sales-factor throwback formula grossly overstates our Illinois income -- can we petition to use an equally weighted three-factor formula, or drop throwback sales, instead?
Not on this showing. Illinois lets a taxpayer petition for an alternative apportionment method under IITA § 304(f), but only by proving the standard formula produces a genuinely distorted result -- no…
Is software sold with a click-through license taxable in Illinois, and does it matter whether the software is downloaded or purely cloud-based?
It depends on delivery and license terms: software delivered purely through the cloud with nothing downloaded is generally not taxable (it's a nontaxable service), but software that includes any local…
If I separately state my delivery charge on the invoice for concrete I sell and deliver in Missouri, do I have to charge sales or use tax on that delivery charge?
No. As long as the delivery charge is usual and customary and is separately stated on the invoice apart from the price of the goods, Missouri law excludes it from taxable gross receipts, so no sales o…
Is a company that processes card payments for online merchants — and briefly takes 'flash title' to the goods — a retailer that must collect Colorado sales tax?
No. A company whose real role is processing card payments for international e-commerce merchants is not a Colorado retailer, marketplace facilitator, consignee, auctioneer, or seller — even under its …
My out-of-state company has no offices or employees in Illinois, but we own inventory that sits in an Illinois contract packager's warehouse before being shipped to customers nationwide -- does that create Illinois income tax nexus?
The Department won't give a binding yes/no on nexus outside of an audit -- it's too fact-specific for a letter ruling. But it did flag that owning a stock of merchandise sitting in an Illinois warehou…
Are a cell-tower company's receipts from site agreements with wireless carriers deductible from New Mexico gross receipts tax as receipts from leasing real property?
No. Three cell-tower companies sought roughly $6.17 million in gross receipts tax refunds, arguing their tower-site agreements with wireless carriers were leases of real property deductible under NMSA…
Who owes Illinois tax on the parts used in a free "goodwill" vehicle repair that a manufacturer directs its dealer to perform?
It depends on who initiates the free repair. If a dealer does a goodwill repair entirely on its own, the dealer owes Use Tax on its own cost for the parts. But if a manufacturer directs the repair and…
Who must collect Louisiana sales tax when a short-term vehicle rental is arranged through a peer-to-peer sharing platform?
The platform is a Louisiana dealer and must collect and remit state and local sales tax on vehicle rentals it facilitates. Beginning July 1, 2025, a qualifying marketplace facilitator may remit throug…
Did Virginia's 2020 and 2022 budget (appropriation) acts unconstitutionally raise the cigarette and tobacco taxes? (Companion ruling to P.D. 26-11.)
No refund. This March 4, 2026 determination is one of four materially identical rulings (with P.D. 26-11, 26-13, and 26-14) rejecting a cigarette stamping agent's argument that Virginia's 2020 and 202…
Can Virginia double the cigarette and tobacco tax inside a budget (appropriation) act, and is the resulting tax refundable? (Companion ruling to P.D. 26-11.)
No refund. One of four materially identical March 4, 2026 rulings (with P.D. 26-11, 26-13, and 26-15) denying a cigarette stamping agent's refund claim -- here for June 2020 through June 2024. The Com…
Is Virginia's cigarette and tobacco tax increase unconstitutional because it was passed inside the state budget (appropriation) act? (Companion ruling to P.D. 26-11.)
No refund. This is one of four materially identical rulings the Commissioner issued on March 4, 2026 (with P.D. 26-11, 26-14, and 26-15), rejecting a cigarette stamping agent's claim that Virginia's c…
Can Virginia disallow a corporation's net operating loss carryforward for lack of documentation, and how are NOLs inherited in a bankruptcy reorganization treated?
A taxpayer win. A consolidated corporate group carried forward a net operating loss (NOL) from years before its 2009 bankruptcy reorganization. The Department disallowed the NOL deduction on audit for…
Was Virginia's cigarette and tobacco tax increase invalid because it was enacted through the state budget (appropriation) act instead of a standalone tax bill -- and can a stamping agent get a refund?
No refund. The Virginia Tax Commissioner upheld the 2020 and 2022 Appropriation (budget) Acts that doubled the cigarette tax (1.5¢ to 3¢ per cigarette, i.e. 30¢ to 60¢ per pack) and the tobacco produc…
When must a Virginia company add back royalties paid to a related intangible holding company, and when do the subject-to-tax, unrelated-member, conduit, consolidation, or valid-business-purpose exceptions apply?
Mostly upheld. A franchisor's operating company paid royalties to a related intangible holding company (IHC) and tried to fully exclude them from Virginia's related-party intangible-expense add-back. …
Are residential elevators, stairlifts, and patient lifts taxed at Illinois's reduced 1% medical appliance rate, or the standard 6.25% rate?
No -- residential elevators, vertical platform lifts, stairlifts, and overhead patient lifts are taxed at Illinois's standard 6.25% state sales tax rate (plus applicable local taxes), not the reduced …
As a New Mexico part-year resident, can I claim a credit for taxes paid to another state on income I already allocated to that other state?
No. When part-year residents allocate part of their income to another state (here Virginia) on a New Mexico PIT-B return, that income is not allocated to New Mexico, so the tax paid to the other state…
If I sell and install grave monuments that get permanently attached to a concrete foundation and become part of the cemetery property, do I need to charge my customers sales tax?
It depends on how you sell the monument. If you install it as part of the sale and it becomes a permanent part of the real property, you're acting as a contractor and don't charge the customer sales t…
If I'm a nonresident who holds a Missouri professional license (like an MFT license) and I provide telehealth services remotely to a handful of Missouri clients from my out-of-state office, do I have to file a Missouri individual income tax return?
No. A nonresident who holds a Missouri professional license but performs all services remotely from an office outside Missouri, with no other Missouri-based activity, has no Missouri-source income and…
Can I use a timely amended return for an open year to fix apportionment or net operating loss numbers from earlier years that are now closed to amendment?
No. Columbia Associates tried to increase the net operating loss (NOL) it carried into 2021 by using corrected apportionment factors for its 2016–2018 and 2020 loss years — but it never amended those …
Does an online seller of medical dosing kits need to charge Missouri sales tax when selling those kits to physicians' offices and to pharmacies?
It depends on the buyer. Sales of the Kits to physicians' offices are generally taxable (no resale exemption applies) unless the Kits are dispensable only by a licensed pharmacist on prescription; sal…
What South Carolina tax interest rate applies from April 1 through June 30, 2026, and is the same rate paid on eligible refunds?
The listed rate for South Carolina tax underpayments and overpayments from April 1 through June 30, 2026 is 6%. Interest is compounded daily, except that simple interest applies to underpayments of de…
Are a MedSpa's hormone therapy, Botox, and wellness services subject to Illinois sales tax, and how do bundled memberships get taxed?
The Department declined to answer each of the MedSpa's 12 specific service-by-service questions individually, and instead reiterated the general framework: a pure service with no tangible personal pro…
When a retailer pays royalties to its own intangible holding company, can the unrelated-member, subject-to-tax, or conduit exceptions excuse Virginia's related-party intangible-expense add-back?
Mostly denied, with a partial remand. A retailer-franchisor paid trademark royalties to its wholly owned intangible holding company (IHC) and tried to escape Virginia's related-party intangible-expens…
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.
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