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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Did the low-emission exemption cover a used vehicle that a retrofit company converted and then sold?
No. The former exemption covered new-vehicle incremental cost and retrofit devices, not the retail price of a used vehicle converted by its seller.
Were the listed cake and cookie decorations taxable as candy under Texas Letter Ruling 9204L1164F10?
No. Although candy was generally taxable, the Comptroller treated confections used exclusively for cooking as nontaxable. Every listed decoration—including nonpareils, crystals, toppers, mixes,…
How were swabbing, pressure testing, paraffin removal, and casing repair taxed when performed with an acidizing job?
The acidizing job was subject to the 2.42% oil-well-service tax, so the related services were not taxed again under limited sales tax. Without acidizing, the total charge would have been…
How could a contractor correct sales tax charged on lump-sum de-mucking and fill contracts when it had bought the materials tax-free?
The contracts were real-property improvements, so the contractor should not have taxed the lump-sum price and instead owed tax on its material cost. After refunding or crediting the owner, the…
What did South Carolina announce about public access to Tax Commission decisions through March 1992?
Sanitized decisions and an index covering 1987 through March 31, 1992 were available for public review at the law library and Commission offices. The PDF omits the promised index, and copies were…
When did title and use-tax liability arise for installed equipment if the contract did not state a title-passage date and final payment came later?
When delivery was complete and the equipment was operational. The buyer's later acceptance or final payment did not postpone title under the source's section 2401 analysis.
Could a bicycle prescribed for rehabilitation after knee surgery qualify for Texas' therapeutic-device sales-tax exemption?
Yes. Reversing its earlier answer, the Comptroller said the bicycle could qualify if the buyer gave the seller a doctor's prescription or letter that stated the medical problem and explained how the…
Was a redacted protein-fortified milk product exempt from Florida sales tax as food or drink for human consumption?
Yes. After the Florida agriculture laboratory classified the product as a food or dietary supplement designed to meet specific physiological requirements, the Department treated it as exempt food…
Which outboard motors were subject to South Carolina's historical casual excise tax under Revenue Ruling 92-2?
Motors of five horsepower or more were taxable because they had to be titled. Motors below five horsepower were not taxable because no title, registration, or license was required, even if the owner…
Could a school parents' organization be treated as the consumer of donated items sold at its annual auction?
Yes, if it was equivalent to a PTA, operated with school authorization, and used profits exclusively for its purposes; donation of the items did not change that result.
Were a gliderport's gliders and tow planes exempt aircraft used as common carriers when customers paid for glider rides?
No. Unpowered gliders were not aircraft under the cited definition, and the tow planes moved the operator's own gliders rather than carrying persons or property for hire.
Was separately stated conference-center room rent included in taxable meal receipts when meals were optional and separately charged?
No, assuming customers paid the same room rate without meals. The rental served conference purposes beyond meal service, while the separately sold meals remained taxable.
How could a farm credit bank claim its Texas sales-tax exemption on tangible personal property purchases?
The bank had to give the seller a completed exemption certificate; a bank letter was not enough. The certificate had to cite 12 U.S.C. § 2023, describe the items, and be signed and dated.
Could invoices support an export certificate, and did parts installed on a vehicle before it was driven to Mexico remain tax-exempt exports?
Invoices qualified only if broker-signed, identified on the certificate, and naming the buyer. The submitted invoices failed. Parts installed and used in Texas before the vehicle went to Mexico lost…
Did an aggregator reselling discounted 800-number long-distance usage have to collect Texas state and local sales tax?
Yes. The aggregator sold long-distance telecommunications service and had to collect Texas sales tax on calls originating in Texas and billed to a Texas telephone number, billing address, or service…
Is a corporation that filed a 'final' return and stopped operating, but was never formally dissolved, still subject to Article 9-A franchise tax for the years it remained incorporated?
Yes -- it owes franchise tax for all those years. Vi-Toria Building Corp. filed a 'final' return for 1980, stopped collecting rents, signing leases, and paying bills, and the owner's heir managed…
Is microfilming blueprints and reports required for building permits a nontaxable capital improvement, or a taxable sale of tangible personal property?
It's taxable. Microfilming blueprints, applications, and inspection reports for architects, engineers, and developers is a sale of tangible personal property subject to sales tax under Tax Law §…
Are charges for writing one-page abstracts that summarize conference speeches subject to New York sales tax?
No — the abstract-writing isn't taxable. One-page abstracts summarizing the speeches and papers from a client's conferences are 'manuscripts,' which count as intangible personal property, so…
Were debtor-in-possession notes and mortgages executed before plan confirmation exempt from Florida documentary stamp and intangible taxes?
The Department said yes under its 1992 reading, because the court-approved post-petition financing was connected to and necessary for a later confirmed Chapter 11 plan. The exemption was…
How did Texas tax coupons, clothing alterations, delivery, property installation and repair, and janitorial services?
Tax applied after either coupon discount; clothing alterations, taxable-goods delivery, seller-connected installation, repairs, and janitorial services were taxable. Independent third-party…
When was a manufacturer's waste removal nontaxable as industrial solid waste, and what certificate did the hauler need?
Waste from manufacturing, mining, or agriculture could qualify, but regulated liquid waste and office, shipping, retail, service-industry, or support waste did not. The hauler should tax the service…
Were lead liners bought and installed in Utah exempt because the autoclave vessels would later be shipped out of state and attached at a gold mine?
No. Rule R865-19-60S treated the autoclaves as taxable equipment or trade fixtures used by a producer, remaining personal property even when attached. The Commission also found no contract under…
Was a $35 defensive-driving class held at a comedy club subject to Texas sales tax?
No. The fee for the bona fide defensive-driving course was not taxable. Food and drink remained taxable, and a single charge combining them with the class would make the full amount taxable.
Is an investment advisor's telephone consulting service to newsletter subscribers a taxable information service?
No. An investment advisor's telephone consulting service — where sophisticated subscribers call the newsletter's authors with their own highly individualized concerns — is not a taxable information…
Does South Carolina's March 1992 policy index PDF contain the promised document entries?
No. The notice says a policy-document index is attached, but the current official two-page PDF stops after listing five major categories and contains no document-by-document entries.
Did cargo-handling and safety items kept in an interstate carrier's trucks qualify as vehicle parts for Florida's mileage-based partial exemption?
Yes. Hand trucks, required safety equipment, load locks and binders, plywood partitions, trailer seals, reusable pallets, and shrink-wrap were treated as parts of the vehicles' total transportation…
Did a pre-July 1991 amusement-machine agreement qualify as a real-property license, and could the host refund half the license tax to equalize proceeds?
The Department recognized the existing agreement as a real-property license until its expiration. The host location, as operator, remitted the tax on machine receipts and collected tax on its…
Which hotel areas entered the taxable-rent numerator when prorating sales tax on a lease of an entire hotel complex?
The numerator included operator-only back-of-house space, bars, shops, restaurants, and parking spaces beyond the room count. It excluded guest rooms, an equal number of parking spaces, guest…
Which portions of an air-cargo carrier's leased Florida facilities qualified for the airline loading-and-unloading property exception from sales tax?
Only airport property used exclusively to store, sort, or process cargo loaded onto or unloaded from aircraft qualified, measured by square footage. Offices, security space, unrelated equipment…
Were annual membership fees for a dial-before-you-dig underground-utility database subject to Texas sales tax?
No. Annual fees paid by pipeline owners to list underground pipelines, cables, and wires in the dial-before-you-dig database were not taxable.
When could an optician repair prescription-eyeglass frames without charging Texas sales tax?
Frame repairs were nontaxable if the optician documented the corrective-lens prescription from lens readings and accepted a customer-signed exemption certificate. Lens work still required a doctor's…
When a retailer buys single-part price tickets to attach to merchandise, is that purchase subject to sales tax or exempt as packaging?
It's taxable. When a retail merchant buys single-part 'price tickets' to attach to merchandise and garments it sells, that purchase is subject to sales tax under Tax Law § 1105(a). The tickets don't…
How did South Carolina calculate 1992 sales tax on a vehicle or trailer sold to a nonresident for registration in the buyer's home state?
The tax was the lesser of the buyer's home-state tax or South Carolina tax, and none was due if the home state would not credit South Carolina tax. The notice updated Tennessee's rate to 6% for…
Are meals a charity buys to honor its volunteers exempt from Connecticut sales tax if the charity pays and takes no reimbursement?
Exempt. A charitable organization with a Connecticut exemption permit held an annual luncheon to honor and encourage its fundraising volunteers, paying entirely with its own funds by check and…
Is a members-only store's membership fee a nontaxable intangible right, or a taxable sale of the membership badge?
Not taxable. A members-only retail/wholesale store charged an annual membership fee for a badge that lets members enter the store and buy merchandise (the fee isn't credited toward purchases). DRS…
When were sales of wheelchairs, crutches, quad canes, and walkers exempt in California?
They were exempt when sold to an individual as directed by a licensed physician, but taxable when sold for a medical facility's own patient use.
What wear and implantation conditions did California apply to prosthetic and orthotic devices?
The devices had to be fully worn on the patient, and implanted devices had to remain long-term; bed-attached or temporarily implanted surgical devices did not qualify.
Which diabetes products did California include in the insulin and insulin-syringe exemption?
The opinion covered insulin and qualifying insulin syringes furnished by a pharmacist under physician direction, but not glucose monitors, test strips, or other syringes.
How did California tax a high school's regular snack bar, student-club game concessions, and vending-machine rebate?
The regular snack bar's sales were taxable; qualifying club concessions at basketball games were not. The vending operator, not the school, owed tax under the stated arrangement.
If a savings bank reorganization qualifies as a tax-free reorganization under IRC sections 368(a)(1)(A) and 368(a)(2)(D), is it also tax-free for Article 32 banking corporation franchise tax purposes?
Yes -- if the transaction is a tax-free reorganization for federal purposes, it is tax-free for Article 32 too. Columbia Federal Savings Bank's mutual-to-stock reorganization (transferring…
Did a college have to collect Texas sales tax on meals bundled with tuition and dormitory room in one mandatory charge?
Yes, on the meal portion. The college did not have to separately charge for meals, but it had to collect and report sales tax on the part of the bundled fee attributable to meals.
Were twice-monthly pharmacy drug-price updates taxable when mostly identical database extracts were mass-produced on diskettes for hundreds of customers?
Yes. The superseding decision treated the identical diskettes as taxable produced property, not research services or software maintenance, and denied adjustment.
Is an airline's purchase and installation of a custom baggage-conveyor system in a leased airport terminal exempt when title vests in the exempt Port Authority?
It's exempt. Where an airline buys and installs a custom baggage-conveyor system in a terminal it leases from the Port Authority, and the lease provides that title to the installation vests…
Under the original TAA 92C2-004, were trust shares exempt when the fund held only Florida tax-exempt securities at the year-end valuation date?
Yes. The original ruling treated the shares as exempt when the valuation-date portfolio consisted solely of exempt Florida obligations. Revised TAA 92C2-004R retained the year-end snapshot but added…
Were one-time, request-specific pre-employment background reports taxable, and what happened with fax delivery or later extra copies?
Unique researched reports were nontaxable services, and faxed information was nontaxable; later extra physical copies were taxable and triggered seller-permit duties.
Could a multistate retailer's sale of store assets qualify as an occasional sale when it retained computers, software, and teleconference equipment?
Possibly. Retained general-business equipment could be excluded from the operating assets, but equipment used exclusively to provide the outlet's product or service would defeat the exemption.
Did cutting bulk wire and cable to customer-requested lengths make a Texas seller a manufacturer entitled to tax-free packaging materials?
No. Cutting wire to length did not manufacture a new product because it remained wire. The seller was a repacker and had to pay sales tax on reels and shrink-wrap.
How did Florida tax a county bus-bench advertising contractor's license to use benches and its charges to advertisers?
If the contractor used the county's benches to provide advertising services, the county's license charge to the contractor was taxable while the contractor's advertising-service charge to customers…
Was a campground membership sold in Florida subject to transient-rental tax when every campground and accommodation covered by the contract was outside Florida?
No. Florida's transient-rental tax did not apply because all covered facilities were outside the state and only the membership sale occurred in Florida. The Department warned that if the agreement…
Was an aircraft owner's transfer of a tax-paid plane to a revocable grantor trust subject to California use tax?
Not if it was a true donation with no consideration. Use tax applied to consideration provided by the trust, such as assuming the aircraft loan or paying it from trust funds.
Was a service that gathered information and produced a map or diagram of a client's computer network taxable in Texas?
Yes. The full charge for gathering information and creating the network map or diagram was taxable as a sale of tangible personal property. Consulting or training alone was not taxable.
Is a company that only delivers other businesses' advertising -- without creating it -- providing a taxable advertising or public relations service?
Not taxable. A company delivered sponsors' advertising directly to households (people who had moved, newly engaged women, new parents, new U.S. citizens) -- presenting sales messages, imprinted…
Were massive concrete batch plants taxable personal property when sold in place on leased land with no immediate removal planned?
Yes. The leases kept the plants as lessee property and required their removal at lease end, so the agreements prevented real-property classification despite physical affixation. The staff…
Were practice charges and tournament entry fees at a Texas remote-controlled-car race track subject to sales tax?
Practice-track charges were taxable amusement services. Tournament entry fees could be nontaxable when they met the letter's contest-use or fee-and-prize conditions.
Could a 501(c)(3) organization building homes for low-income people buy construction materials without Texas sales tax?
Yes. Because building low-income housing was the organization's exempt purpose, it could buy building materials tax free even for a home transferred to a client under a lump-sum contract.
Was a $5,000 license for software developed for one Texas customer exempt as custom programming?
No. The developer retained legal rights and granted a nonexclusive license, so the contract was taxable. Custom programming was exempt only when the client retained all legal rights to the program.
If a mutual savings bank restructures into a mutual holding company and then acquires another savings institution in a multi-step transaction the IRS already ruled tax-free federally, is the whole transaction also tax-free for New York's Article 32 banking franchise tax?
Yes. Independence Savings Bank, a New York mutual savings bank, restructured by forming a new mutual holding company, merging itself into a new stock-form subsidiary bank (a transaction the IRS had…
Which direct-mail-firm charges are taxable in Connecticut -- the mailing service, the advertising, the printing, or the postage?
It depends on what the firm actually does. DRS addressed a direct mail firm in two situations. (a) PURE MAILING -- just sorting, folding, inserting, and mailing materials the client had printed…
Were computer-aided drafting output and charges for modifying a customer's existing electronic drawing files taxable?
Yes. Clients sought the special-order drawing output, and keyboard changes to customer-furnished disks were taxable physical modification or information recording.
Was a charge to edit a customer's existing drawing file taxable when the same electronic medium was returned?
Yes. Keying additions and deletions physically modified customer-furnished tangible media, so the separately billed editing charge was taxable.
How these rulings are useful
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