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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How did Florida apply its intangible tax to out-of-state investment funds whose portfolio held exempt government obligations or a mix of exempt and taxable assets?
The out-of-state funds and portfolio had no Florida taxable situs. Shareholder units were exempt when the underlying portfolio consisted solely of exempt assets. If taxable assets were present, only…
Would Florida residents owe intangible tax after contributing their securities portfolio to an out-of-state limited partnership not registered with the SEC?
No, on the stated facts. Once the portfolio was transferred and no longer owned, managed, or controlled by the Florida residents, it was not subject to Florida intangible tax. Their interests in the…
Did two out-of-state partnerships and their corporate general partner have Florida intangible-tax situs when their Florida-resident owner made investment decisions?
No. The partnerships and corporation had no Florida taxable situs because their actions and operations were carried out at their out-of-state offices. A Florida-resident owner still had to report…
Was a credit report taxable when a business bought it to evaluate a customer's creditworthiness, and how were related processing services treated?
The credit-report service and one incidental paper report were nontaxable, but extra copies were taxable; processing, microfiche, embossing, and subscriptions depended on what property was transferred.
Could a gasoline station exclude a vapor-recovery certification fee passed on to customers from taxable gross receipts?
No. The certification fee and associated vapor-recovery costs were business expenses included in taxable gross receipts when passed to fuel customers.
Were free-offer stickers and single-digit packer labels exempt container labels?
No. The free-offer stickers were taxable advertising, and the packer-number stickers were taxable internal identification rather than product information.
Are feeding tube systems (gastrostomy, jejunostomy, and related enteral/parenteral supplies) and closed tracheal suction system products (TRACH CARE) exempt from Texas sales and use tax as prosthetic devices?
Yes, generally. The Comptroller ruled that nasal gastric and gastrointestinal (enteral and parenteral) feeding-tube devices and related supplies, as well as closed tracheal suction system products…
Is a mail-based reminder service (reminding clients of special dates or events) subject to Texas sales tax, and what about gift baskets sent to Texas recipients as part of that service?
No, charges for reminder services are not taxable when the reminders are sent through the mail rather than by telephone. However, if the service also involves selling and delivering gift baskets to…
Is the labor to clean a non-residential septic tank or sewer holding tank taxable in Texas?
It depends on whether the cleaning is scheduled. If a non-residential septic tank or sewer holding tank is cleaned on a scheduled, periodic basis, the labor is nontaxable maintenance labor. If it's…
Could an executive-suite operator give its landlord a resale certificate and collect Florida sales tax only from subtenants when it subleased nearly all the office space?
Yes. Because the operator subleased most of the premises, it could give the prime landlord a resale certificate, collect tax from the individual tenants, and pay use tax on its retained office.…
Did an offshore purchase followed immediately by a father-son vessel transfer and return to California avoid sales and use tax?
Staff treated the two offshore transfers as a sham intended to defeat tax and recommended determinations against both parties until evidence showed who truly owned and paid for the vessel.
Was asphalt exempt as an interstate shipment when the Utah buyer supplied leased rail cars that were loaded at the California refinery?
No. Loading the buyer's leased rail cars was California delivery to the purchaser, not delivery to a carrier. A valid resale certificate could still support resale treatment.
Could a Florida tax-exempt educational organization buy building materials tax-free for a contractor's renovation project?
Yes, if the exempt organization itself issued the purchase orders, gave vendors its exemption certificate, bought and paid for the materials directly, took title and possession at delivery, and…
How did a California water's-edge group with different fiscal year-ends make or renew its election during the 1994 transition?
Each member had to elect on its original return for the relevant income year, and the group election became effective at the start of the income year of the last member to elect. During the 1994…
How did California assign tangible-property sales when the buyer picked up goods in California and transported them to another state?
Buyer pickup did not automatically make the sale a California sale. Transportation by the buyer or seller counted as shipment. The sale generally followed the first state where the purchaser or its…
Did tax-exempt interest and gain keep their exempt character when distributed through a municipal-bond mutual fund to Rhode Island shareholders?
Yes, to the qualifying extent. Fund distributions were exempt from Rhode Island personal income tax and business corporation tax when they were derived from, and designated as derived from, interest…
Could California record a nominee lien after a used-car dealer transferred real property to his brother for no consideration?
Yes. Staff concluded that the interfamily transfer was made to hinder, delay, or defraud collection and approved a nominee lien against the property.
When did South Carolina's historical casual excise tax or use tax apply to vehicles, boats, airplanes, motors, and trailers under RR 95-12?
RR 95-12 imposed casual excise tax at titling after a nonretailer sale of a motor vehicle, motorcycle, boat, motor, or airplane, while use tax applied to covered property bought from an out-of-state…
Are the data processing services a provider performs after taking over a bank's in-house 'item processing' operations exempt from Connecticut sales tax under the outsourcing exemption?
Yes. When a service provider takes over ALL of the data processing functions a customer formerly performed for itself at a specific location of the customer's business premises, those services are…
Could growers buy CIPC potato sprout inhibitor for resale when applying it to harvested potatoes during storage?
It depended on why CIPC remained. If its effect continued after removal, it was a taxable processing aid; if presence at sale was necessary for continued protection, growers could buy it for resale.
Can an environmental engineering and consulting firm buy supplies, equipment, and services tax-free for a project performed for a tax-exempt government agency, by acting as the agency's purchasing agent?
Yes, if the government agency (a New York State or federal government body) confers agency status on the firm through contract language and the firm's purchase orders show it's buying as the…
Did two free Florida advertising publications and the advertising inserts mailed with them qualify for the shopper-publication sales-tax exemption?
The publications could qualify if, during a 12-month period, more than half of their editions contained more than 50% advertising. The separate inserts did not qualify because they lacked…
Were hot coffee and espresso sales from office-building kiosks taxable when most drinks were taken to workstations?
Lobby-kiosk sales were exempt where nearby seating was not the kiosk's facility. At kiosks with provided seating, takeout sales were exempt but drinks consumed there were taxable.
Did associating a supplement seller with a doctor make the seller's vitamin and herb sales exempt?
No. The memorandum found that the separate seller was not the doctor's professional corporation and had established neither disease-treatment use nor a permitted method of furnishing the products.
Could California record a nominee lien after spouses changed jointly owned property into the wife's separate property without transfer tax?
Yes. Staff concluded that the transfer was made to hinder, delay, or defraud collection and approved a nominee lien against the property.
Was a fee to move previously licensed software from an old computer system to replacement hardware taxable?
Yes, if the original software license was taxable. The fee expanded use of the previously furnished program to the customer's new equipment.
Is the sale of a 'seat option' — the right to later buy a season ticket for a specific seat in a stadium being built — subject to Texas sales tax?
No. The Comptroller held that a seat option is not tangible personal property and does not itself provide admission to any amusement service — it only gives the holder the right to later buy a…
Does an out-of-state supplier owe New York sales tax on materials it sells to New York dental laboratories that use them to make dentures and crowns?
It depends on what the material becomes. Items that end up as a physical part of the finished denture or crown (teeth, porcelain, certain acrylics, certain metals) can be sold tax-free as a resale,…
How did California treat a contractor that charged sales tax on lump-sum concrete-wall contracts instead of paying use tax on its materials?
The contractor was the consumer of the wall materials. Customer tax was excess reimbursement, but amounts already remitted could offset use tax on the same property.
Is the labor to repair and maintain manufacturing machinery and equipment, like owned printing presses or leased photocopy machines, exempt from Texas sales and use tax?
Yes, but only once the equipment itself qualifies for the manufacturing exemption. As of January 1, 1995, when the phased-in manufacturing equipment exemption became fully effective, maintenance on…
Does South Carolina's June 1995 policy-document citator contain actual document-by-document status entries?
Yes. Unlike later truncated citator PDFs, this 27-page source includes actual entries for Revenue Rulings, Revenue Procedures, Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memoranda, and Information…
Did using a California convention bourse table make an out-of-state dealer collect use tax on all California sales?
Yes under the historical rule applied. Selling or taking orders at a bourse table created California presence without a minimum-visit threshold; education or buying alone did not.
Are security labels/tags that retailers attach to merchandise to prevent theft taxable, and did the resale/exemption certificates retailers had on file for these labels remain valid after the October 1, 1991 law change?
As of October 1, 1991, security labels sold to retailers for attaching to products at the retail location are taxable (they fall under the wrapping, packing, and packaging materials rule change),…
Is electricity used to run coolers and cooling rooms that flower shops use to extend the life of cut flowers an exempt manufacturing/processing use, or a taxable use?
Mostly taxable. Electricity used to lower cut flowers to their target (precooling) temperature counts as processing, but that only takes 30 minutes to an hour. Once flowers reach the target…
Is installing a new private cable television system for an apartment/condo complex an exempt capital improvement, or a taxable installation of tangible personal property?
Both, split by component. Burying the trunk cable, wiring buildings from the wall outlet to the cable pedestal, building the cable pedestal, and splicing/activating the cable lines are capital…
Is a graphic-arts firm's charge for a custom 'multi media' computer disk (a client-specific graphical presentation) an exempt sale of custom software, or a taxable sale of tangible personal property?
Taxable. Even though the firm is developing custom software written to each client's specifications, the firm isn't selling the software itself -- it's selling a physical disk containing data, along…
Is a rate-regulated carrier of handicapped passengers in wheelchair vans classed as a 'taxicab' or an 'omnibus' for sections 183 and 184, and is it therefore taxed under Article 9-A?
It is an omnibus, and is taxed under Article 9-A. We Care carries handicapped passengers in wheelchair vans under a DOT certificate of public convenience and necessity, at rates set with the…
Is a company's charge for custom or noncustom training materials on compact disc, or for other training materials like books and video tapes, taxable under Texas sales tax, and can a separately stated training fee avoid tax?
Yes, the charge for the training materials themselves is taxable. The Comptroller ruled that the total charge for each custom or noncustom training project documented on compact disc is taxable, as…
Were floor-plan receivables and a related intercompany note subject to Florida intangible tax after ownership moved to out-of-state entities before January 1?
No, under the detailed transfer arrangement. The non-Florida trust, trustee, and Delaware subsidiary had no Florida situs, and receivables transferred out of Florida before January 1 were not…
Did an out-of-state partnership and corporate general partner have to file Florida intangible-tax returns when a Florida resident made their investment decisions?
No. The partnership and corporation had no Florida taxable situs because their actions and operations occurred at their out-of-state offices. A Florida-resident owner still had to report his…
How does Utah sales tax apply when a cellular carrier or agent sells a phone below cost, gives it away for free with a service contract, or bundles the phone's price into a service contract?
Equipment sold to an agent purely for resale is tax-exempt, but equipment an agent keeps for its own use is taxable to the agent at its cost. When an agent or provider sells a phone to a customer,…
When are motor vehicle sales between family members exempt from Kansas sales tax?
Beginning July 1, 1995, sales of motor vehicles between immediate family members are exempt from Kansas sales tax. 'Immediate family members' are lineal ascendants and descendants and their spouses…
Were fencing, watering tubs, feed troughs, and hay feeders exempt for commercially raised poultry and livestock under RR 95-11?
Yes. RR 95-11 exempted fencing and fencing supplies used to enclose poultry or livestock raised or maintained for commercial purposes, whether inside a barn or around a dedicated field. Watering…
When were restaurant tips and gratuities excluded from Utah sales tax, and how did mandatory charges and management-controlled tip pools affect the result?
Utah said voluntary tips were not taxable when passed to the server. A mandatory or management-added gratuity could also be excluded if the full amount went to the waiter or waitress who served the…
Was a Navy officers' spouses club exempt as a federal instrumentality when operating a gift shop entirely on a naval base?
No. The club was controlled by officers' spouses rather than established or supervised under federal authority. Its gift-shop retail sales were taxable and required a seller's permit.
Did HMO directories listing participating physicians, addresses, and practice areas qualify as printed sales messages when mailed to prospects or members?
No. California treated the directories as informational listings rather than principally promotional messages, regardless of whether recipients were prospective or existing members.
How were group tax payments allocated among corporations when a California Schedule R-7 combined return later produced separate refunds or assessments?
Payments were credited to the member whose tax liability they satisfied, not solely to the key corporation whose account received the money. FTB used disclosed member liabilities or reconstructed…
An industrial development agency's tax-exempt construction mortgage on our shopping mall is being converted to permanent financing -- we're terminating our installment sale agreement, taking title ourselves, having the lenders assigned to new permanent lenders, and consolidating and amending the mortgage. Does converting from construction to permanent financing this way stay exempt from mortgage recording tax?
Exempt, as a tax-free supplemental mortgage. The Westchester County Industrial Development Agency financed construction of a White Plains regional shopping mall (Fashion Mall Partners) with a $160…
Is labor to repair, remodel, restore, or renovate a building that is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, but not listed in the National Register of Historic Places, exempt from Texas sales tax?
No. Rule 3.357(e)(4) only exempts labor to remodel, restore, or repair buildings that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Being a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (a state…
What does the available official PDF for South Carolina's June 1995 policy-document index contain?
The notice says the index covered five Department document types concerning taxation from 1987 through June 30, 1995 and alcohol and motor-vehicle documents from July 1, 1993 through June 30, 1995.…
Were an event producer's charges taxable when it staged corporate shows with temporary rented property but transferred nothing to the client?
No retail sale to the client occurred. The producer was the consumer of the sets and rented equipment it used and owed tax on buying or renting that property.
Were a foreign airline's California purchases exempt when delivered to forwarder premises shared with its Otay Mesa office for Mexico shipment?
Only if the forwarder received and exported them before airline possession. Airline receipt before commitment was taxable even without California use.
Was tuition for 14 short Florida instructional courses, including a supervised children's field trip, subject to sales or use tax?
No. Thirteen courses were educational or personal-service transactions, with any included materials only incidental and not separately charged. The supervised children's field trip was not…
What tax incentives did South Carolina's 1995 enterprise-zone and recycling legislation create?
The update describes enterprise-zone job credits, retained-withholding development fees, and fee-in-lieu benefits; economic-impact-zone stock deductions and investment credits; alternative…
Could a corporation move a division into a new subsidiary, sell the subsidiary's stock, and liquidate it without California sales or use tax?
Each proposed step could be nontaxable alone, but staff would collapse the series into a taxable direct asset sale if its only purpose was changing sales-tax liability. The lease purpose was…
Which charges were taxable when a California company designed a television news set and separately offered relocation and installation consulting?
Final designs and related expenses were taxable, while qualifying preliminary art and optional separately stated relocation consulting were not.
Does a business owe sales tax on what it pays a service like Telecredit for guaranteeing the funds on its customers' checks?
It depends on exactly what's being purchased. A pure check-guarantee service (the guarantor replaces funds on a bad check) is NOT a taxable service and isn't subject to sales tax. But if the service…
Is a New York corporation licensed only as an independent insurance adjuster (not as a private investigator) subject to sales tax on its trial-preparation work for insurers -- interviewing witnesses, taking statements, photographing accident scenes, serving subpoenas, and evaluating and negotiating claims?
No. Because the client is licensed exclusively as an independent insurance adjuster and does not perform private investigation services, its charges for investigating and adjusting insurance claims…
A firm is licensed as both a private investigator and an independent insurance adjuster -- are its fees for insurance-adjusting work taxed as 'detective services,' the same as its private-investigator fees?
No. Fees for activities that require an independent-adjuster license under Insurance Law Article 21 are NOT subject to the detective/protective-services sales tax, even though some of the underlying…
How much Florida documentary stamp tax was due on a corrective deed replacing the wrong grantee on a previously taxed deed in lieu of foreclosure?
Only the minimum documentary stamp tax was due. The original, already-taxed deed in lieu of foreclosure mistakenly named the wrong corporate grantee, and the new deed merely corrected that…
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