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.
If a contractor donates building materials to a tax-exempt airport authority before incorporating them into the building, are the materials and consumable supplies used in the job exempt from Texas sales tax?
**Building materials that a subcontractor purchases under an exemption certificate and donates to the airport before those materials are incorporated into the building are exempt — no tax is owed on t…
How were shares of tax-exempt investment funds valued for Florida's annual intangible tax?
The ruling used only the portfolio held at the annual valuation point. Shares were exempt proportionately for direct obligations of the United States and the listed territories and possessions; if all…
What Florida sales taxes did a festival host owe on admission charges and space rented to food, drink, and merchandise vendors?
The host had to register and collect tax on total vendor-space rent, including any percentage of vendor sales treated as rent, whether the site was donated or leased. If the host paid tax on its own l…
Are charges for computer installation, training, troubleshooting, consulting, and network administration taxable in Texas?
It depends on what is being installed and whether you sold it. **Separately stated instruction/training charges are not taxable. Installation of software or external hardware you sold is taxable; if y…
Did a nonprofit association owe sales tax on journals included with dues when postal rules required a stated subscription price?
Member distributions were not taxable when no stated or implied dues amount paid for the journal. But separately stating a member price to obtain second-class mailing privileges made that amount taxab…
Was a county's systems-furniture purchase exempt after a turnkey contractor assigned the vendor contract to the county?
Yes, subject to audit verification. The freestanding furniture remained tangible personal property, and the county would buy in its own name, issue the purchase order, receive the invoice, pay the ven…
Is the NEEDLYZER needle destroyer device subject to Texas sales tax?
Yes, unless the buyer is exempt. **The NEEDLYZER is taxable unless it is sold to a governmental entity or another organization that qualifies for exemption.** The letter describes the device, per the …
Can a retailer that leases (rather than rents) motor vehicles buy repair and replacement parts for those vehicles under a resale certificate?
Yes. **The Comptroller concluded that Rule 3.294 should be amended to let retailers who lease vehicles purchase repair and replacement parts under a resale certificate, the same treatment already give…
Could a self-financing vehicle dealer pay all Texas sales tax upfront, and would repossession create a refund?
Yes, the dealer could pay all tax at once, but no dealer refund was available if the vehicle was later repossessed. Self-financing dealers still had to register and report, and failure to register the…
Is a consulting and monitoring service that tells a customer when to have their trash compactor emptied subject to Texas sales tax?
No, the consulting and monitoring service itself is not taxable. **Consulting, monitoring, and advising a customer on the fullness of their trash compactor on a stand-alone basis is not taxable**, acc…
Did South Carolina PLR 93-6 apply the historical $300 maximum tax to each item in a university supercomputer system used for research and development?
Yes. Each item qualified because the system was used exclusively to develop software and other R&D products and was housed in a restricted, separately staffed facility devoted exclusively to research …
Does a bank owe sales tax when it forwards checks, imprinters, or electronic capture machines to customers, or when it charges notary fees?
It depends on the bank's role in the transaction. **If the bank simply forwards a customer's order to a vendor and passes through the exact vendor charge, the bank is acting as the vendor's agent and …
Did an out-of-state municipal-securities fund have Florida corporate-tax nexus when it used independent brokers but had no Florida office, people, property, or management?
No. The fund, trust, and related series had no Florida office, employees, salespeople, property, or management, and all assets were held and managed outside the state. Independent broker-dealers sold …
If a contractor builds a new exterior wall (with window openings) around an existing building, and adds four new floors, but the new wall doesn't create any usable space, is that new construction or remodeling for Texas sales tax purposes?
It's remodeling, not new construction. **Because the new brick wall built around the existing three-story structure did not create any usable space, the Comptroller ruled that the construction of the …
We're lending over $50 million to a borrower under a revolving credit facility secured by warehouses in multiple states, including one in New York. The New York mortgage caps its own secured amount at a fixed dollar figure well below the total loan, and says all daily readvances and repayments get applied to the OTHER states' collateral first, with the New York amount reduced only by the truly final repayment. Will we only pay New York mortgage recording tax once, on that fixed cap?
Yes -- a one-time tax on the properly capped New York amount, as long as the mortgage's own allocation language controls. BT Commercial Corporation made an over-$50 million revolving loan to a borrowe…
Were rent payments between related corporations exempt as mortgage-debt payments when the mortgage was signed by one corporation and individual shareholders?
No. The rule applied only when both related corporations were equally liable co-makers on the third-party debt secured by the property. Here the mortgage parties were the lessor corporation and two in…
Were soft-drink vending sales exempt when a religious organization had federal church status but Florida certificates labeled it charitable?
Not yet. The organization's Florida exemption certificates identified it as charitable rather than as a church, so vending-machine receipts remained taxable. If the Department later issued a consumer'…
How should a tenant calculate its sales-tax credit when a medical-office subtenant used different rooms for limited hours and days?
The tenant could not use only the subtenant's days of use. The credit had to reflect both the square footage available and the hours allowed in each area, then apply the share of working days used, th…
Was a church's direct purchase of a prefabricated roof system exempt when the supplier separately contracted with the prime contractor for installation?
Yes. The church exercised a direct-purchase option, issued the purchase order, received the invoice, paid the supplier directly, took title at job-site delivery, was added to required liability insura…
Does a contractor who recovers salvable crude oil while cleaning up waste oil pits and evaporation ponds owe Utah oil and gas severance tax on that recovered oil?
No. The Utah Tax Commission ruled that a contractor cleaning up waste oil pits and evaporation ponds owes no oil and gas severance tax on the crude oil it salvages, because the contractor is not an op…
Are an insurance group's affiliated companies' equipment purchases and leases, made as an agent of a city industrial development agency (IDA) under a bond-financing job-retention deal, exempt from sales and use tax?
Yes, generally -- purchases and leases made as the IDA's disclosed agent are exempt from sales and use tax as long as the IDA genuinely owns the property, and exempt maintenance/repair covers only equ…
Is a subscription regulatory-update newsletter an exempt periodical, or a taxable information service?
It is a taxable information service, not an exempt periodical. The publisher's RCRA Update is a bimonthly service consisting mostly of photocopied Federal Register pages plus staff summaries of EPA ha…
Are recording tape and equipment rentals used to make promotional demo tapes taxable, or exempt as production equipment?
They are taxable. An artist-promotion company bought recording tape and rented equipment to make demonstration tapes it sent free to record companies. Buying tape and renting equipment are taxable ret…
When a kitchen contractor sells cabinets, does it collect sales tax from the customer, or pay tax on its own purchase of the cabinets?
It depends on whether the contractor installs them. If the contractor merely sells the cabinets without installing them, it is making a retail sale and must collect sales tax from the customer under T…
Is a computerized 'check-in' calling service — like a wellness check or latch-key-kid monitoring service that automatically calls emergency contacts if someone doesn't respond — subject to Texas sales tax as a security service?
No, not in this case. **The Comptroller ruled this particular computerized monitor calling service is not subject to sales tax.** The service would be taxed as a security service only if a license wer…
Can a company lease marine cargo containers tax free, and are the cleaning of those containers and the equipment used to clean them also tax exempt?
The lease of the marine cargo containers themselves is tax free, and the cleaning service performed on them is also tax free — but the machinery, equipment, and building used to house the cleaning ope…
Did documentary stamp tax apply when a mother and son deeded their own shares of mortgaged property to their own revocable trusts?
No, if each grantor transferred only that grantor's own interest to a separate revocable trust and remained the trust's sole lifetime beneficiary. The Department found no real relinquishment of owners…
How does Utah sales tax apply to a motor vehicle lease where the lessee prepays the entire lease in one lump sum at signing, instead of paying monthly?
The full lump-sum prepaid lease payment is subject to Utah sales tax, all due and payable at lease signing -- not spread out like a conventional monthly lease. The lessor (not the dealership collectin…
How many one-day tax-free sales or auctions can a 501(c)(3) organization and its chapters hold each calendar year in Texas?
Two. **Effective August 30, 1993, a 501(c)(3) organization (and each chapter of the organization) may hold two tax-free sales or auctions per calendar year, each lasting no longer than 24 consecutive …
Was Texas motor vehicle tax due when an owner transferred vehicle title to a living trust created for that same owner's benefit?
No. The Tax Administration Division said motor vehicle tax was not due when a person transferred vehicle title into a living trust established for that same person's benefit.
Is an escort service, body guard service, or massage parlor subject to Texas sales tax, and what does someone need to do to legally operate one?
Yes. **Sales tax is due on all services provided by massage parlors, Turkish baths, or escort services**, including on utilities, equipment, towels, and machinery used to perform the personal services…
Does a directional drilling company have to collect Texas sales tax on its services to well owners?
No, not if it plans and performs the drilling engineering, provides its own equipment and personnel, controls when specialized equipment is attached to the drill pipe, and monitors the drilling to ens…
Is a company that assembles custom sterile and non-sterile medical/dental/first-aid packs a 'manufacturer' for Texas sales tax purposes, and how is tax figured on the packs themselves?
It depends — the company is a manufacturer only for the sterile packs, not the non-sterile ones. The Comptroller ruled that the taxpayer is considered a manufacturer of the custom-designed sterile pac…
Is a school's yearbook sale exempt from Texas sales tax if it is designated as the school's one-day tax-free sale?
Yes. **A public or nonprofit private school that qualifies as a tax-exempt organization can designate its yearbook sale as its one-day tax-free sale, and if it does, the sale is tax-free — even if ord…
Is the fee for filing a lien on a delinquent debt a taxable debt collection service in Texas?
Yes. **Filing a lien for a delinquent debt is a taxable debt collection service under 151.0036 of the Texas Tax Code**, whether it is billed alone or together with other debt collection services, and …
Does a contractor owe sales tax on armored-car transport, delivery, and storage services when it performs them as an authorized agent of a New York State agency?
No. The charges are exempt. The petitioner arranged armored-car transport and bulk storage of federal food-stamp coupons for the New York State Department of Social Services. Storage services (Tax Law…
Was a payment to a prior landlord for early termination of a tenant's old office lease subject to Florida sales tax as rent?
No, unless the prior landlord recorded the payment as rental income. The payment permanently ended the tenant's occupancy rights and relieved the new landlord of its promise to cover the old rent; it …
Does building a warehouse before it's operational create Utah corporate franchise and sales tax nexus, and can a company get relief from filing/collecting until the facility opens?
Nexus is created, but the Commission agreed to defer the resulting tax obligations. A national mail-order retailer planning a roughly one-million-square-foot Utah warehouse and distribution facility a…
Is a per-unit 'production fee' charged under a packaging machine lease a taxable lease charge, or an exempt royalty for use of the machine's patent?
Taxable. The Commission held that a per-unit 'production fee' charged under a patented packaging machine's lease is an additional taxable lease charge — compensating the lessor for equipment wear and …
Is a company's fee for helping a long-term disability insurance claimant apply for Social Security disability benefits a taxable insurance service in Texas?
No. The Comptroller ruled that assisting an insured in applying for Social Security disability benefits is **not taxable as an insurance service**. The company in this letter contracts with long-term …
Is picking up used oil and oil filters from public collection centers for recycling a taxable waste collection service in Texas?
No. **The Comptroller ruled that picking up used oil and oil filters from public collection centers for recycling is not a taxable waste collection service.** The letter explains that the rule coverin…
Is the rental fee for a cryogenic gas vessel that is rented to a customer and refilled at the customer's site taxable, or is the vessel a tax-exempt 'returnable container'?
The rental fee is NOT taxable. In this internal reconsideration memo, the Comptroller's Tax Administration Division agreed that the taxpayer's cryogenic vessels should continue to be treated as tax-ex…
Is a private contractor exempt from sales tax on materials used to build city-owned airport facilities that the contractor then leases back from the city for 15 years?
No, the materials are taxable. **Even though the city immediately owns the airport terminals, hangars, and similar facilities the contractor builds, the contractor is not exempt from sales tax on the …
Is installing a vapor recovery system on an existing underground fuel tank taxable as remodeling, or exempt as new construction?
It depends on timing. **If the vapor recovery system is attached to an existing underground fuel tank, the job is taxable remodeling of nonresidential real property, and tax is due on the entire sales…
Is electricity used to recharge the batteries of golf carts held for rental exempt from Texas sales tax?
Yes, that electricity is exempt. **The Comptroller's Tax Administration Division confirmed that electricity used to recharge batteries on electric golf carts held for rental is exempt, treating it as …
Does a motor vehicle dealer's fleet of leased vehicles that move between offices and states qualify for a property tax exemption, or does registering them under the International Registration Plan avoid Utah's uniform fee?
A county assessor's own analysis in this record concluded that a motor vehicle dealer's leased fleet vehicles ('B inventory,' as distinct from true dealer sales inventory) are NOT exempt from Utah's u…
Are a tire shop's recycling fees -- both what it charges customers and what it pays haulers -- subject to sales tax?
It depends on the transaction. When a customer buys or has tires installed and the shop keeps the old tires, the $1.50 recycling fee is a charge for servicing tangible personal property and is taxable…
Is a corporation dissolved by proclamation in 1981, holding only real property as nominee for others, subject to Article 9-A franchise tax?
Two periods, two answers. For the taxable years while the corporation was incorporated (here, the years ended February 28, 1978 through September 30, 1981), it owes the Article 9-A franchise tax under…
Did a free weekly publication containing television listings and about 38% advertising qualify for Florida's shopper or community-newspaper exemption?
No. It was not a community newspaper because it lacked routine reports of current events and general-interest matters, and it was not a shopper because advertising was not its primary content. The sam…
Can a company treat the sale of one piece of equipment to a third party as a trade-in credit against its purchase of different equipment from the same seller, when the paperwork for the two deals was written up separately?
No. This internal Comptroller memo concludes that crediting the proceeds from the sale of one piece of equipment (an IBM 3890-AD4 machine sold to a third-party buyer) against the price of a different …
Did Texas include a vehicle's unit property-tax value in the motor vehicle sales-tax base under Senate Bill 878?
No. Comptroller John Sharp said he would interpret Senate Bill 878 according to the stated legislative intent and would not require a vehicle's unit property-tax value to be included in its sales pric…
Does Texas sales tax apply when a cellular phone dealer sells discounted phones bundled with a service contract, or gives away free-service coupons obtained at no cost from carriers?
It depends on price and cost. **If a dealer sells a cellular phone for 25% or more of its acquisition cost, the transfer is a taxable sale; if sold for less than 25% of acquisition cost bundled with a…
Is a veterinarian's purchase of canine heart worm diagnostic test kits subject to Texas sales tax?
Yes. The distributor was correct to start charging tax on the diagnostic test kits (Assure/CH canine heart worm test kits). The letter states this is not a change in policy — the kits were not previou…
Is restoration of a building's deteriorated balconies and catwalks a tax-exempt capital improvement or a taxable repair?
It is a taxable repair, not a capital improvement. A co-op hired a contractor to inspect, test, clean, patch, and coat the deteriorated concrete of its balconies and catwalks -- removing cracked and s…
Can an oilfield well-servicing company issue a resale certificate for the liquid micro-organisms (bacteria) it pumps downhole to remove paraffin and scale build-up, or uses in oil-spill clean-up?
No, in both cases the company must pay sales tax on the micro-organisms itself. **Micro-organisms pumped into a well bore to remove paraffin, scale build-up, and corrosion do not become a part of the …
Were a purchase-money security agreement and a Florida UCC-1 financing statement subject to documentary stamp tax?
The unrecorded security agreement was not taxable because it did not contain the complete set of three elements required for a written obligation: a promise to pay, a sum certain, and the borrower's s…
Is labor to fabricate and remodel scaffolding used to repair, remodel, and maintain licensed and certificated aircraft taxable in Texas?
No, it's exempt. **Charges to fabricate and remodel scaffolding used to repair, remodel, and maintain aircraft that are licensed and certificated carriers are exempt under Tax Code Section 151.328(d).…
Can a service provider (like a caterer or wedding consultant) rent tangible personal property tax-free using a resale certificate, and what happens if a customer wrongly issues one to avoid tax?
No — a person who provides a service, rather than making a rental, must pay sales tax on the tangible personal property they rent to perform that service; they cannot buy or rent it tax-free with a re…
Were property taxes a commercial tenant paid directly to the taxing authority subject to Florida sales tax as rent?
Yes. The lease required the tenant to pay its proportionate share of real-estate and ad valorem taxes, so those payments were consideration for occupying the property and part of taxable rent. Paying …
How did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 93-9 apply sales and use tax to meals furnished or sold by colleges, hospitals, and their food-service companies?
Institutional meals were taxable at different transaction points: food inputs used for board-plan or patient meals were retail purchases, while separate cash food sales were taxable retail sales by th…
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.