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.
Is a bank holding company subsidiary a banking corporation taxable under Article 32, or is it taxed under Article 9-A?
Not necessarily a banking corporation. A corporation 65 percent or more owned or controlled by a bank holding company is a 'banking corporation' subject to Article 32 only if it is also principally en…
Is the Agent Orange Settlement Fund subject to New York franchise tax under Article 9-A or personal income tax under Article 22?
No. The Agent Orange Settlement Fund is not subject to New York franchise tax under Article 9-A or personal income tax under Article 22. The IRS ruled that the Fund -- established before the effective…
Gerard Dowling, a NYC Transit Police sergeant, received full salary while out on sick leave in 1990 for two service-connected injuries. Can that sick pay be excluded from his federal and New York taxable income as "workmen's compensation" under IRC section 104(a)(1), given that his union's collective bargaining agreement (not a formal statute) is what actually spells out the sick-pay entitlement?
Yes, but only from a specific cutoff date. Because Public Authorities Law § 1204-c incorporates the Sergeants' Benevolent Association's collective bargaining agreement by reference and makes the resul…
If I dig up caliche and haul it to a customer's job site, do I have to charge Texas sales tax on the hauling/delivery charge?
It depends on whether the caliche is processed. If you simply dig caliche out of the ground and haul it to the customer's site, neither the caliche nor the transportation charge is taxable. But if the…
Can a retailer use SKU codes on cash register tapes (instead of a written item description) to support a Texas sales tax export refund claim?
Yes. The Comptroller's office confirmed that a cash register tape showing only a SKU code, with no separate written description of the merchandise, does not by itself prevent a retailer from getting a…
Does a Texas business that repairs and maintains aircraft for licensed/certificated carriers have to charge sales tax on parts, labor, or the equipment it buys to do the work?
No. In this December 11, 1992 letter, the Comptroller told the requester that repair and maintenance services on aircraft belonging to licensed and certificated carriers are not taxable — no tax on pa…
If I sell equipment to a leasing company and lease it back under an operating lease, is that a nontaxable financing arrangement or a taxable sale?
It depends on whether the leaseback is a true financing lease or an operating lease. In this December 1992 ruling, the Comptroller held that a sale-leaseback where the equipment reverted to the lessor…
Can a Texas motor vehicle rental company show property tax, title fees, and registration fees as separate reimbursement line items on customer invoices?
Yes, but only as a cost reimbursement, not as a collected tax. The Comptroller told a motor vehicle rental company that it cannot collect county property tax directly from customers as a tax (only cou…
Is a scholarship-matching or financial-aid database search service taxable in Texas?
Yes. A service that matches students to scholarships using a database is a taxable information service under Texas Rule 3.342. The provider owes tax on materials, supplies, and equipment used to deliv…
If a fraternity or sorority charges students one combined fee for room and meals, does it owe sales tax on the meal portion even though meals aren't billed separately?
Yes. Even if a fraternity or sorority bills students one lump-sum charge for room and board without breaking out the cost of meals, Texas sales tax must still be collected and reported on the portion …
Did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 92-15 treat state agencies, counties, municipalities, and other political subdivisions as generally subject to sales and use tax?
Yes. The historical definition of 'person' included the state, agencies, authorities, political subdivisions, and municipalities. Their retail sales were subject to sales tax, and their retail purchas…
Why did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 92-16 permit 'Two Anyway Bingo' but reject 'Almost Two Anyway Bingo' under the historical Bingo Act?
'Two Anyway Bingo' was permissible because the caller could preannounce several geometric configurations and require players to complete any two of them using called numbers. 'Almost Two Anyway Bingo'…
Is an electric mobility cart (three-wheel scooter) used in place of a wheelchair exempt from Texas sales tax?
Yes. The Texas Comptroller ruled that electric powered carts (three-wheel scooters) used in lieu of a wheelchair qualify for exemption from sales tax, and no prescription is required. Repair parts and…
Does Texas tax a corporation's contribution of operating assets and vehicles to a newly formed partnership for a partnership interest?
A vehicle contribution to a newly formed partnership caused no motor vehicle tax when the partnership paid no consideration beyond the ownership interest, while consideration such as an assumed lien w…
Is the electricity my sand-mining client uses to dredge, wash, sort, and convey sand exempt from Texas sales tax?
It depends on what the electricity powers. Electricity used to convey or pump sand to, through, and away from the plant is exempt as transporting a material extracted from the earth, regardless of whe…
If the Comptroller's office told us a resale certificate was OK on a mid-lease sublease, but that policy later changed, do we still owe sales tax on the sublease we already signed?
Yes, but only for the sublease already in place. The Comptroller's office honored a resale certificate a lessee issued to its lessor for a mid-lease-term sublease because the lessee had relied on verb…
Is waste and garbage collection service provided to an ocean-going vessel operating under a foreign flag exempt from Texas sales tax?
No. The Comptroller ruled that waste collection and disposal services performed for ocean-going vessels in Texas are not exempt from sales tax. The Tax Code's exemptions for a vessel's component parts…
Is infrared inspection of industrial furnace linings taxable, and is refractory brick sold to repair a kiln exempt from Texas sales tax?
The Comptroller ruled that infrared inspection service to check the condition of refractory (heat-resistant) linings inside boilers, furnaces, and kilns is a nontaxable service. Separately, refractory…
If a vending-machine or amusement-device company gets a monthly credit memo from its distributor for old machines it turns in, and that credit is applied against its account and later offset against new machine purchases, does that count as a tax-free trade-in?
No. This internal Comptroller memo concludes that turning in a used cigarette or video game machine to a distributor for an account credit, later offset against a separate purchase, does not qualify a…
Does a rehabilitation, drug/alcohol treatment, or psychiatric center qualify for Texas's residential exemption on natural gas and electricity sales tax?
No. The Comptroller held that a rehabilitation center (Rio Vista Rehabilitation Center) is not "residential" for purposes of the Texas natural gas and electricity sales tax exemption, because it is a …
How did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 92-13 treat corporate dividends received from foreign subsidiaries after the U.S. Supreme Court's Kraft decision?
The historical ruling treated foreign dividends like domestic dividends to avoid unconstitutional discrimination under the Foreign Commerce Clause. A corporation could reduce federal taxable income by…
If we perform real property services at a bank building the bank partly uses itself and partly rents out, are we a 'property management company' under Texas Rule 3.356?
Not for that property. Under Rule 3.356(a)(6), a person performing taxable services at a property held by the owner for a purpose other than rental — such as a bank using its own building for its own …
If I rent out roll-off garbage containers and charge a $50 setup fee, is the whole charge taxable, and which city's local sales tax applies?
Yes, the entire charge is taxable, including the $50 setup fee to place the roll-off container. If the container comes with garbage collection service, local sales tax is based on where the garbage is…
How did Texas determine the rental-tax rate for fixed-term, open-ended, and renewed vehicle contracts?
A single contract specifying more than 30 days received the historical longer-term rate. A 1-to-30-day contract received the short-term rate. If the contract stated no term, it was treated as day-to-d…
Texas Letter Ruling 9212L1211A13: Contact Lens Care Products
Prescription contact lenses are exempt from Texas sales tax and need no exemption certificate. Lens solutions and carrying cases are taxable, except that a disinfective solution sold as part of a soft…
Texas Letter Ruling 9212685L: Unjust Enrichment/Error Tax — Collected From Customer — Cannot Be Retained By Or Refunded To Retailer/Contractor — Must Be Remitted To State Or Refunded To Customers
If a lump-sum contractor marks a contract 'Inc' in the tax block, the Comptroller treats that as proof tax was collected from the customer, so the contractor cannot keep that money or use it to offset…
Does operating a Kansas controlled shooting area automatically prevent the land from receiving agricultural-use classification, and how are supporting buildings classified?
No. Establishing a controlled shooting area does not automatically disqualify the parcel from agricultural-use classification. The land is classified according to its current predominant use. Building…
When a Kansas deed is recorded, whose name and address should appear on the real-property assessment and tax rolls, and does a November cutoff apply?
The county clerk should update the real-property assessment and tax rolls to show the grantee, or the grantee's designee, and the supplied mailing address after a conveyance is recorded. The register …
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1211C11: Electronic Bulletin Boards Service — Access To Technical/Shareware Library And Ability To Leave/Retrieve Messages/Chat 'Live'/Trade Goods
Yes. The Texas Comptroller ruled that membership fees charged for access to a computer bulletin board service (BBS) -- letting users chat live, access databases, and download software -- are taxable a…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1211B11: Energy Management/Control System — Installed To Existing Heating And Air Conditioning Systems
Taxable. The Comptroller ruled that selling and installing a computerized energy management/control system as a replacement and upgrade to a supermarket's existing HVAC controls is remodeling of nonre…
State Tax Ruling
Yes. Texas allows a taxpayer to file sales tax returns based on a thirteen-period fiscal accounting calendar instead of the standard calendar month, but returns are still due the 20th, two of the fisc…
Were a trailer manufacturer's annual leases treated as rentals, and did Texas tax contracts for out-of-state use?
The annual leases were rentals because the owner was the trailers' manufacturer, regardless of contract length. Texas rental tax applied when the customer took possession in Texas, even if the trailer…
Is removing an old lighting system and installing a new hardwired energy-efficient one a capital improvement, so the contractor doesn't charge the customer sales tax?
Yes. Installing a new, permanently hardwired energy-efficient lighting system is a capital improvement, so the contractor doesn't charge the customer sales tax (with Form ST-124) — but the contractor …
Texas Letter Ruling 9212L1208G14: Towing Charges — Second Tows Or Transfer Fees In Connection With Repossession Services And Separately Billed Are Part Of Debt Collection Services
It depends on who is towing. Plain towing charges are not taxable unless the towing company is also the repossessor, and towing hired directly by a financial institution to repossess a vehicle is not …
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1209A08: Towing/Transport Charges — Part Of Debt Collection/Repossession Services
Yes, if the repossession company itself does the towing. A repossession company's towing charges are taxable as part of its taxable debt collection/repossession service to the financial institution, e…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1209A07: Are towing charges taxable when a vehicle is repossessed?
It depends on who hires the tow truck. If a repossession company hires a towing company to move a vehicle it just repossessed, the towing company's charge to the repossession company is not taxable, a…
Does a cable TV company owe Texas sales tax when it pre-wires a home for cable TV outlets?
It depends on the contract type: on a lump-sum contract the cable company owes tax on the cost of the wire itself and doesn't collect tax from the customer; on a separated contract the cable company m…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1209A14: Disposable/Nonreusable Items (Placemats, Plates, Cups, Tray Liners, Toothpicks) — Food Service Operators' Purchases Under Resale Or Exemption Certificate
Yes. A restaurant chain may issue a resale certificate to a supplier of paper placemats instead of paying tax, because Rule 3.293(f)(4) lets eating establishments buy nonreusable items furnished to cu…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211869L: Lowering Of Temperature/Flash Freezing Product During Processing Vs. Keeping Product At Targeted Temperature — Electricity Used
Exempt. Texas Comptroller Letter Ruling 9211869L holds that electricity used to lower the temperature of food products (like chilling avocados, chickens, and meat, or flash-freezing vegetables) down t…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1209G06: Homeowners/Property Owners Association — Taxable Services (Cable Television, Landscaping, Garbage/Trash Pick — Up) And Nontaxable Services Provided To Members — Billings
A Texas property owners association that buys taxable and nontaxable services (like cable TV) for its members and bills a lump-sum periodic fee is treated as the consumer, paying sales tax to its vend…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1205F09: How is the location of a cellular telephone call determined for city, county, and MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) tax purposes?
The location of a cellular call is set by the cell site that receives the incoming transmission. If that originating cell site can't be determined, local sales tax (city, county, and MTA) is instead b…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1205B03: Statute Of Limitations — Tax Refund On Federal Contracts — Federal Law Vs. State Law
This is an internal 1992 Comptroller staff memo, not a taxpayer ruling. It states the agency's position that Texas's own four-year statute of limitations governs sales and use tax refund claims from f…
Is the labor to repair a residential central air conditioner taxable in Texas, and what about the Freon used in the repair?
Only the charge for the Freon (refrigerant) itself is taxable. On a residential central air conditioning repair, the labor-related fees -- reclaimer fee, pump and torch fee, and leak detector fee -- a…
When a bookstore gives customers 'book credits' for traded-in books (minus a 10% handling charge), is tax due when the credit is used on a future purchase, or only at the original trade?
Tax is due on the full purchase price of the future book purchase, not reduced by the credit. A trade-in only avoids tax when the trade-in property is exchanged as consideration in the SAME sale under…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1204G13: Auctioneer — Sales Made On Behalf Of Federal Government
It depends on who is legally the seller. If a U.S. government agency consigns items to an auctioneer and the auctioneer collects payment and issues the bill of sale, the auctioneer is the seller and m…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1204G11: Is stainless steel polish bought by a janitorial service to clean customers' metal restroom dispensers exempt from tax under a resale certificate?
No. The Comptroller ruled that stainless steel polish bought by a janitorial company to clean customers' metal restroom dispensers is taxable at purchase, because the polish is consumed by rubbing and…
Is lawn mowing and landscaping work on a public highway right-of-way taxable when a private developer, not the government, pays for it?
It depends on who required the work, not who paid for it. Under Texas sales tax rule 3.356(a)(5), lawn maintenance and landscaping on land belonging to a governmental entity is exempt only if the gove…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211579L: Draperies/Curtains — Installation In New Houses/Residences Vs. Existing Houses/Residences
It depends on your role. Draperies are tangible personal property, so selling and installing them is normally taxable in full. But if an interior designer is acting as the contractor on a residential …
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1205F07: Woodworking — Building Bird Houses And Feeders For Sale
Yes, you need a (free) Texas sales tax permit to sell bird houses and feeders, and you must collect state sales tax plus the applicable local rate based on where the sale is made. You can buy your mat…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1211C01: Does an on-line service that lets buyers and sellers trade consulting services, software, and information electronically owe Texas sales tax, and has it created nexus in Texas?
Yes to both. Attending Texas trade shows, conventions, and users group meetings gave the out-of-state on-line service nexus in Texas. Once nexus exists, the service must collect Texas sales tax on pre…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1206C09: Engineering Services — Designs/Blueprints/Specifications Preparations/Reports/Working Drawings — Nontaxable Services
No. A Texas Comptroller letter ruling holds that an engineering firm's study and report on bringing a building into compliance with building codes is a nontaxable consultation service, and including w…
For a maid service, are apartment cleaning, laundry, laundry-cost reimbursement, and travel charges each subject to New York sales tax?
Apartment cleaning is taxable real-property maintenance; separate laundry charges and laundry-cost reimbursements are not taxable; but travel charges are fully taxable because they can't be split betw…
Are homeowners association dues subject to sales tax when the HOA has recreational facilities, no facilities, or spins the facilities into a separate corporation?
If the HOA owns recreational facilities, its whole mandatory assessment is taxable club dues — you can't carve out the small recreation share. An HOA with no recreational facilities isn't taxed. Split…
Does a tennis club collect sales tax on a required purchase of the landholding company's stock, and can members get that tax refunded when the stock is redeemed?
Taxable. A share purchase required as a condition of membership is both taxable dues and an initiation fee under § 1105(f)(2), so the club collects tax on it. Redeeming the stock later gives no refund…
Does a grocery's larger 'Advantage Shelf Tag' adequately disclose a manufacturer's coupon reimbursement in an electronic (paperless) coupon system?
Yes. The larger, differently-colored 'Advantage Shelf Tag' substantially as described meets the manufacturer-reimbursement disclosure requirement, even in a paperless coupon system — but a plain shelf…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211590L: Utility Study — New Study Required If Change Of Ownership
Yes. When a manufacturing business changes ownership, the new owner must have its own predominant use study performed and kept on file to claim the sales tax exemption on electricity purchases, even i…
Could Texas use the proposed account-credit procedure to refund vehicle tax after a manufacturer repurchased the vehicle?
No. Comptroller John Sharp said motor vehicle tax was paid to county tax assessor-collectors at title and registration, not remitted by the manufacturer or seller to a Comptroller taxpayer account. Wi…
We closed a commercial mortgage loan where our borrower is a tax-exempt nonprofit. Our commitment letter said the borrower would reimburse us for all closing costs, including mortgage recording tax. We paid the special additional mortgage recording tax at closing -- can we now collect it back from the borrower under that contract clause, given the borrower's exempt status?
No -- the statute's allocation of who pays overrides any private reimbursement agreement. A mortgage lender's client made a commercial mortgage loan to a tax-exempt nonprofit borrower (exempt under IR…
Texas Letter Ruling 9211L1204G09: Out-of-State Client — Investigation Performed Out-of-State by Texas Firm
No Texas sales tax is due when a Texas-based private investigator conducts an investigation by phone from Texas for an out-of-state client and out-of-state subject, as long as the results are delivere…
Is a bio-absorbable dental tissue-regeneration device sold to dentists exempt from New York sales tax as a prosthetic aid or a medical supply?
It's a medical supply under § 1115(a)(3), not a prosthetic aid. That means it's taxable when bought by a dentist for use in providing dental services for compensation, but exempt when sold to a § 1116…
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.