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 fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Are a catalog producer's advertising-agency-type services taxable in Kansas, and how are its printing purchases and its customers' locations treated?
The company's services are not taxable, but it owes tax on everything it buys. The Department ruled that a catalog producer operating like an advertising agency has its services treated as…
Does a massage therapist who provides lymphatic compressive therapy need a sales tax permit to buy the bandages used in the treatment, and are those bandages tax-exempt?
No exemption, and no resale certificate. Bandages a massage therapist buys and applies while performing lymphatic compressive therapy are taxable purchases — the therapist is the end user/consumer…
Did making an otherwise revocable trust temporarily irrevocable from December 1 through January 31 avoid Florida's January 1 annual intangible tax?
No. The brief period when the grantor agreed not to exercise trust powers did not remove those powers or change the trust's revocable character. Because the Florida grantor retained income,…
Did one purchase order combining five quotes for all doors and millwork on a building job receive one $5,000 discretionary surtax cap?
Yes, if the purchase order specified the quantities and a definite final delivery date. Combining five vendor proposals did not prevent one sale, and the doors and millwork for a single job met the…
Are horse and horsemanship training services subject to Kansas sales tax?
No. The Department ruled that horse and horsemanship training services are not subject to Kansas sales tax. Because the provider is furnishing a nontaxable service, it must pay sales tax on all…
Did Louisiana apply a throwback rule to a Louisiana corporation's sales into a state where P.L. 86-272 prevented income taxation?
No. Louisiana had not enacted UDITPA's throwback approach, so its corporation income- and franchise-tax statutes did not return those sales to Louisiana merely because the destination state could…
Were single-patient anesthesia, infusion, and apheresis products exempt when federal law required an Rx-only or physician-order legend?
Yes. One-time-use medical products required by federal law to bear “Rx only” or the physician-order caution legend were exempt. The exemption did not extend to prescription-legend devices intended…
Are the gross receipts from an internet information service that converts paper documents into an electronic file subject to Kansas sales tax?
No. The Department ruled there is no imposition in the law to tax the described service — an internet business process that converts physical (paper) forms or documents into an electronic file that…
Does Kansas recognize a single-member limited liability company as a separate legal entity for sales and compensating (use) tax purposes?
Yes. The Department ruled that Kansas recognizes single-member limited liability companies as legal entities for purposes of Kansas sales and compensating taxes. It pointed to the sales-tax…
Do repairs to a power plant's electricity-generating engines and an upgrade of its control (SCADA) system qualify for Kansas's manufacturing machinery and equipment exemption?
The production equipment is exempt; the building is not. The Department ruled that because the internal combustion engines are used to generate electricity for resale, the repair service and repair…
Is a monthly retainer fee an advertising/marketing agency charges to reserve staff and account-management time subject to Texas sales tax?
No. A monthly retainer fee that a marketing/advertising services company charges clients to reserve account-management staff time (not tied to any specific taxable service) is a charge for an…
For Texas franchise-tax apportionment, what do 'location of payor' and 'legal domicile' mean, and are they the same for taxable capital and earned surplus?
The definitions are the same for both taxable capital and earned surplus apportionment. Under Franchise Tax Rule 3.549(b)(7), the 'location of payor' is the payor's legal domicile. Under Rule…
If I retire in New Mexico and cash out a 401(k) I built up while living in another state, does New Mexico tax the whole thing?
Yes — the protest was DENIED. DeWayne Maloy worked for Hertz from 1982 to 1997 in Texas, Oklahoma, and (from October 1994) New Mexico, building up a 401(k) along the way. In 1997, while a New Mexico…
If a customer gives me an exemption certificate that turns out to have been altered, do I lose my deduction, or does good-faith acceptance protect me?
Good faith protected the seller — the protest was GRANTED and the refund ordered. Duke Engineering & Services provided nuclear engineering services to Johnson Controls, which resold them to Los…
What South Carolina per-capita income figure did RIB 01-12 publish for the corporate-headquarters credit?
It published $24,321 as the most recently available South Carolina per-capita income figure for testing the personal-property component of the headquarters credit.
How did RIB 01-11 use South Carolina county per-capita income figures for the job tax credit?
It published a county-by-county income table for applying the job-count and compensation thresholds used to determine whether a service business was a qualified service-related facility.
What documents are covered by South Carolina's June 2001 advisory-opinion index?
It is a subject index of South Carolina advisory opinions and informational bulletins issued from 1987 through June 30, 2001, not substantive tax guidance.
Can a business that repairs tangible personal property accept a resale exemption certificate on the repair services and parts it sells to other retailers?
Yes. The Department ruled that a business repairing tangible personal property may accept a resale exemption certificate when it sells repair and maintenance services and parts to other retailers.…
Did a Tennessee manufacturer owe sales or use tax on returnable shipping devices used to deliver its products?
No. The returnable shipping devices qualified as exempt containers because they held the product until delivery to the customer and were incidental to the product sale. Reuse by the manufacturer and…
When a corporation restructures its employees into a partnership's general-partner entity to satisfy an employee stock purchase plan requirement, is that arrangement an exempt staff-leasing arrangement or a taxable one?
The proposed arrangement did NOT qualify for the staff-leasing exemption. Even though the company met two of the three Rule 3.364 conditions (including the new-business exception), its own contract…
Is oilfield 'swabbing' — running cable and rubber cups down a well to remove hydrostatic water and start/restart production — a taxable service in Texas?
It depends on the specific downhole task. Swabbing done to start or restart a well — running cable with rubber cups to remove hydrostatic water, even with incidental sand or paraffin — is a…
What did South Carolina's June 2001 advisory-opinion citator cover?
It identified opinions believed affected by later advisory opinions through June 30, 2001, but did not account for changes from statutes, regulations, or court decisions.
Is a $1,500 assessment added to a country club member's required stock equity subject to Texas sales tax, and does it matter whether membership stock is later resold by the departing member or by the club itself?
Likely taxable, based on the facts given. A country club's assessment added to a stockholding member's required equity is generally treated the same as the sale of that mandatory membership stock,…
Is electricity used to treat wastewater from a residential community exempt from Texas sales tax, and does it matter whether a third-party treatment company or the landlord itself buys the electricity?
It depends on who buys the electricity. Treating wastewater is a nontaxable service, so the manufacturing exemption under Tax Code § 151.318 doesn't apply to the electricity used to power that…
Was a university's combined transportation and parking fee taxable, and could it allocate the fee between taxable parking access and nontaxable services?
The fee was taxable to the extent it granted students a license to use university parking, even when spaces were limited. The university could reasonably allocate away the nontaxable transit…
Was an $8,900 lump-sum contract to install a moored electrical fountain in a retention pond a taxable retail sale or a real-property improvement?
It was a real-property improvement. The driven mooring, electrical connection, and expected indefinite placement showed permanent attachment. The contractor owed tax on purchased materials—or…
Does a support endowment corporation formed solely to support an exempt community-based mental retardation center share that center's sales-tax exemption?
Yes. The Department ruled that the support corporation (an endowment formed for the sole purpose of supporting an exempt community-based mental retardation center, and controlled by that center…
Which remote computer consulting, maintenance, software, telecommunications, and information services were taxable in Tennessee?
Separately billed oral telephone consulting was not taxable. Hardware and software maintenance, software changes loaded onto Tennessee computers, information delivered on diskettes, and separately…
Were materials for Company A's EDC-designated facility retrofit and expansion exempt from Rhode Island sales and use tax, and could project rights continue after the planned ownership change?
Yes. Qualifying project materials owned by Company A or its affiliates were exempt as if the EDC held title. Project rights could extend to Y Corporation and its affiliates after the stated…
Must the Department offset a tax balance with the taxpayer's interest credit from overpayments as of the date the net tax was determined?
The taxpayer prevailed on the methodology. After an IRS audit of 1989-1994, the taxpayer filed amended Kansas returns showing overpayments in some years and underpayments in others. The Department…
Which manufacturing-adjacent equipment qualifies for Texas's manufacturing sales tax exemption — hand tools, quality-control gauges, mold-design equipment — and which doesn't?
Mostly no exemption. Disposable epoxy applicator bottles and hand-operated calipers (digital or not) are hand tools and do NOT qualify for the manufacturing exemption, regardless of whether the…
Which repairs, steam-channeling equipment, and chemicals qualified for Florida exemptions at natural-gas cogeneration plants?
The generation-equipment exemption covered repairs, maintenance, and replacements, not just original construction, and the revised affidavit was acceptable documentation. Steam and condensate…
Were canned-software licenses taxable when the reseller physically loaded the program onto a customer's server but left no disk or CD?
Yes. The reseller's engineer physically delivered canned software on a disk or CD and loaded it onto the Florida customer's server, making each license taxable even though the media was removed.…
Are the gross receipts from a statistical tank-and-line testing service for underground storage tanks subject to Kansas sales tax?
No. The Department ruled there is no imposition in the law to tax the described service — a statistical form of tank and line testing for underground storage tanks, in which the provider takes data,…
Is electricity an agricultural cooperative uses to process its members' farm products exempt from Texas sales tax under the agricultural exemption, or some other exemption?
Exempt, but for a different reason than the cooperative may have assumed. The agricultural exemptions in Tax Code §§ 151.316(a)(7)-(8) and 151.317(a)(5) are limited to farms/ranches and to an…
What are the requirements for a predominant use study that lets a print shop claim the manufacturing exemption on its natural gas and electricity?
A print shop's electricity/gas can be exempt under the manufacturing exemption if it powers equipment directly used and necessary/essential to manufacturing (§ 151.318(a)(2)), equipment that…
Does an out-of-state corporation with no other Texas contact create Texas sales tax nexus just by sponsoring/having its logo appear at a charitable event in Texas, without selling or promoting its products there?
No nexus is created by mere sponsorship recognition. A foreign (out-of-state) corporation with no other Texas contacts that hosts or sponsors a charitable event in Texas -- where its logo and name…
What conditions had to be met for Utah to approve an AIDS-awareness special group license plate, and could the related fees benefit an organization?
The Commission said an eligible organization had to be a recognized section 501(c)(3) entity, collect at least 500 applications, and submit the required $55 per application before it could approve a…
Does Kansas tax the unrelated business taxable income of an ESOP that owns 100% of an S corporation's stock?
Kansas follows the federal treatment, so the ESOP's income is exempt to the same extent it is exempt federally. Under I.R.C. Section 512(e)(3), certain unrelated business taxable income of an…
Are stretch-wrapping and shrink-wrapping machines used in a manufacturing plant's production and distribution for resale exempt from Kansas sales tax?
Yes. The Department ruled that the purchase, rental, or lease of stretch-wrapping machines and shrink-wrapping machines used in the direct production and distribution of items intended for resale by…
Is labor to restore residential real property damaged by fire, flood, or explosion tax-exempt in Texas, and how has that answer changed over time (pre-1988, 1988-1993, and after October 1993)?
It depends entirely on the timing and the type of disaster declaration. Before the Legislature added Tax Code Section 151.350 (effective October 1, 1993), labor to repair or restore real and…
Was a mortgaged-property transfer between two direct-support organizations acting as agents for the same college subject to documentary stamp tax?
No. The foundation and housing organization were both statutory direct-support organizations acting as agents for the college. Because the property moved from one agent to another on behalf of the…
What temporary sales-tax rates did TRPB 01-4 announce for qualifying food beginning July 1, 2001?
It announced a 5% rate, or 4% for qualifying personal-use sales to people age 85 or older, while food actually bought with coupons remained exempt.
Is the sale of a custom mold by a Utah manufacturer exempt from sales tax, even if the mold itself stays in Utah and the buyer is an out-of-state company?
Yes, it can be exempt. A mold qualifies as tax-exempt "machinery and equipment" under Utah's manufacturing exemption (§ 59-12-104(14)) because Utah Admin. Rule R865-19S-85(A)(3) specifically lists…
Is a restaurant's scale/dispenser that portions out a fixed weight of uncooked french fries before frying exempt from Texas sales tax as manufacturing equipment?
Taxable, but only since a rule change. A restaurant scale/dispenser that measures out a fixed weight (e.g., one or one-and-a-half pounds) of uncooked french fries into a frying basket was EXEMPT…
Are construction materials and labor for a project on an Indian reservation subject to Kansas sales tax?
The labor is not taxed, but the materials are. The Department ruled that labor services performed on the Indian reservation are not subject to Kansas sales tax. However, the contractor is treated as…
Were free monthly advertising publications exempt when distributed at newsstands in Florida or shipped by the printer to other states?
Yes. Both monthly periodicals were distributed free through newsstands and consisted primarily of advertising, so they met section 212.08(7)(w). Printer shipments by common carrier to other states…
Were separately stated freight charges taxable when prestressed-concrete buyers could choose F.O.B. plant pickup or F.O.B. job-site delivery?
No. The buyer could avoid freight by choosing F.O.B. plant instead of F.O.B. job site, and the manufacturer stated transportation separately on the invoice. Those facts kept the third-party freight…
Is a calligrapher's labor charge to address wedding envelopes and fill in marriage certificates -- using materials the customer provides -- subject to Texas sales tax?
Yes. A calligrapher's labor charge to address wedding invitation envelopes or fill in names on marriage certificates is subject to Texas sales and use tax, even when the customer supplies the item…
Is the sale of an individual boat slip at a marina, sold by bill of sale without an interest in the adjacent land, subject to Texas sales tax?
No. The Comptroller ruled that a charge for the sale of a boat slip is the sale of real property and is not subject to Texas sales and use tax, even though the slip was conveyed by a bill of sale…
What did South Carolina's former RPB 01-7 require for a nonprofit organization's sales to qualify for the § 12-36-2120(41) exemption?
The organization had to fall within an enumerated property-tax exemption, use net sales proceeds only for exempt purposes, and provide no private benefit.
What process did RPB 01-6 describe for proposing, amending, or repealing South Carolina Department of Revenue regulations?
The process moved from an approved proposal through drafting, Director review, State Register notices, public input, any required hearing, and legislative review.
What voluntary-filer relief did South Carolina's former RPB 01-5 offer an unregistered taxpayer that came forward about nexus?
A qualifying voluntary filer generally filed and paid the prior three years, paid interest, and received a penalty waiver absent fraud or material misrepresentation.
When did former RPB 01-3 treat permitting a crime as an administrative offense against a South Carolina beer-and-wine permit?
Only when the crime carried possible jail time and the permittee, agent, or employee was actually convicted did the conduct become that permit offense.
How did the bulletin calculate the local-option-sales-tax credit against county or municipal property tax?
Multiply the property's taxable appraised value by the jurisdiction's ratio of estimated Property Tax Credit Fund revenue to total taxable appraised value.
Were charges for portable toilets and their servicing subject to South Carolina sales and use tax under the bulletin?
Yes. Temporarily providing the toilet was a taxable rental of tangible personal property, and related servicing charges were included in the tax base.
Were monthly charges for attaching antennas to permanently installed rooftop communications grids subject to sales or use tax?
No. The grids were real property because of their substantial permanent attachment to the buildings. Charges to communications companies for attaching antennas therefore were not taxable rentals of…
Does Kansas tax labor and remodeling services, and which construction labor is exempt?
Kansas taxes installation, application, and repair labor, but exempts original construction and residential remodeling labor. Under K.S.A. 79-3603(p), Kansas imposes sales tax on the service of…
Are the gross receipts from a custom statistical-modeling information service — delivered as technical specifications or as electronic score output — subject to Kansas sales tax?
No. The Department ruled there is no imposition in the law to tax the described service — a company that builds custom statistical credit, collection, behavior, recovery, and marketing models,…
Is the construction of a livestock lagoon for a dairy farm exempt from Kansas sales tax as farm machinery and equipment?
No — the lagoon construction is not exempt. The Department ruled that a livestock lagoon is an improvement to real property, so it cannot qualify as farm machinery or equipment. Kansas sales tax is…
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.