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 prescribed blood-glucose monitoring equipment and test supplies qualify as medicine in California?
The historical opinions said no, while exempting patient-applied glucose and skin cleansers; a later annotation note identifies specified current treatment for strips and lancets.
Were marine mechanical-breakdown policies taxable when sold for pleasure boats, and did the answer change for large vessels used exclusively in commerce?
The policies were taxable when sold for sport-fishing or other pleasure vessels. They were not taxable for vessels of at least eight tons fresh-water displacement used exclusively for commercial purposes.
Did contract language immediately vesting title in the United States make overhead materials used by a federal service contractor tax-free purchases for resale?
No. Texas treated overhead materials used or consumed by the service provider as taxable to the provider despite contract language vesting title in the federal government. Resale required both title…
Was a map-based flood-zone certification service for mortgage lenders taxable when it involved no on-site survey and was insufficient to rate flood insurance?
No. The service was neither surveying nor insurance on the stated facts, so the provider did not collect tax. It did owe tax on the certificates and other materials used to perform the service,…
When did a Florida marine-electronics company have to collect sales tax on equipment sales, installation, and repairs for boats in or outside Florida?
Work on a boat in Florida was taxable unless billed to a qualifying builder or reseller with valid resale documentation. Equipment shipped outside Florida for installation on a boat outside the…
Did use tax apply when boat interests shifted first through bankruptcy abandonment and then through a divorce property award?
No under the stated assumptions. Both transfers occurred by operation of law without consideration, so neither was a purchase subject to use tax.
Were a bank's payments for premises leased from its wholly owned subsidiary taxable as Florida real-property rent when the subsidiary used the money to pay mortgages?
Yes, to the extent the payments funded the subsidiary's mortgage debt to Bank B, because the bank and subsidiary were separate corporations and the bank was not equally liable for that debt.…
Did a publisher have to collect Florida sales tax on subscriptions to a for-profit biweekly printed newsletter?
Yes for copies delivered to Florida customers, because a printed newsletter was taxable tangible personal property and did not qualify as an exempt newspaper. Copies irrevocably committed to…
Did a subcontractor owe Florida tax when a city agency directly paid $188,018.77 for elevated-road canopy materials that the subcontractor partly fabricated outside Florida and finished at the job site?
The government payment for constructing and installing the real-property improvement was not a taxable retail sale. The subcontractor nevertheless owed 6% Florida use tax on the full fabricated cost…
Were a municipal utility's lease payments and later purchase of installed electric transmission lines subject to Florida sales tax?
No, if the installed lines and facilities were real property. Their later sale was outside tangible-personal-property sales tax, and the municipal commission's real-property lease payments were…
Was an hourly service that searched for scholarships, grants, student loans, and other financial aid taxable, and which inputs could be bought for resale?
Yes. Texas treated the educational consultant's search as a taxable information service. The consultant paid tax on consumed supplies but could buy transferred property and the search database for…
Did an out-of-state aircraft lessor create Utah corporate income-tax nexus when its lessee brought the aircraft into Utah, and how was the lease income apportioned?
Yes. The leased aircraft's presence in Utah during the tax period created sufficient nexus for the lessor, even though the lessee controlled where the aircraft traveled. All three UDITPA factors…
Did cleansers used for stoma care, feces removal, skin protection, or staff handwashing qualify as medicines in California?
Yes. California classified the described skin-care cleansers as medicines, including qualifying cleansers used by hospital personnel before treating patients.
Could a hotel manager make tax-free purchases for Resolution Trust Corporation property by showing vendors only the RTC's general tax-exemption form letter?
No. The RTC form letter alone was insufficient. The manager needed proof that title to the hotel transferred to the RTC and a written agreement appointing the manager as RTC's purchasing agent…
Was an interstate purchase subject to California sales tax or use tax when goods shipped from Illinois but payment went to the seller’s California office?
Use tax on the stated documentation. Counsel concluded that title passed no later than carrier delivery in Illinois under the assumed contract, and mailing payment to California did not relocate the sale.
Did school buildings qualify for the factory-built-school-building tax measure when they were approvable but not actually approved at their location?
No. Actual structural-safety approval by the Office of the State Architect was required, along with installation on a qualifying school or community-college site.
Are medical billing, payment processing, collection, and customer-service functions subject to New York sales tax?
No. Datamedic Corp. provides medical practices with billing, insurance-claim/payment processing, collection, and patient customer-service functions (coding claims, submitting them to carriers,…
Which Puerto Rico, Guam, District of Columbia, territorial, and federal-instrumentality bonds did Florida treat as exempt from its intangible tax?
Puerto Rico and Guam bonds, and the specifically protected territorial and federal-instrumentality obligations listed in the ruling, were exempt. District of Columbia bonds issued after the 1973…
Did a Florida insurance service organization's work for three out-of-state insurance subsidiaries give the subsidiaries Florida intangible-tax situs?
No under this August 1991 ruling: the Florida parent had commercial domicile and had to file on its intangible property, but the Illinois, New York, and Washington insurance subsidiaries did not…
Could a Florida citrus packing house buy wax and mold- or bacteria-retarding preparations without sales tax when applying them to processed fruit?
Yes, when the wax or preparation becomes a component of the processed fruit. Wax alone, wax containing a retardant, and separately purchased wax and retardant later combined as a coating were exempt…
Is an on-line financial news service an exempt newspaper/periodical, or a taxable information service, and is the delivery equipment taxable?
Taxable information service, not an exempt newspaper or periodical. Market News Service's 24-hour on-line international financial news is delivered as an electronic readout/display on a screen, not…
Is a banquet gratuity charge subject to sales tax when the operator keeps part of it instead of paying the entire gratuity to the banquet employees?
Yes — the entire gratuity charge is taxable. A separately stated, gratuity-designated charge escapes sales tax only if ALL three conditions in 20 NYCRR § 527.8(l) are met, and the third is that all…
On an automobile lease with a purchase option, is sales tax due on the down payment, and who is responsible for collecting the tax on the full lease price?
For this pre-June-1, 1990 automobile lease with a purchase option, sales tax was due on the FULL lease price and had to be collected on each payment made under the lease — and the lessor/vendor (the…
Did California's 80/80 food rule apply to an off-premises caterer selling food for consumption away from its own premises?
No. The 80/80 rule assumed food suitable for consumption on the seller's premises; off-premises caterers instead fell under other food-facility or catering rules.
Which hotel assets were taxable when a hotel with a restaurant, bar, and stocked in-room refrigerators was sold?
The restaurant and bar assets and in-room refrigerators were taxable because they served taxable sales. The memorandum exempted the remaining hotel assets under its ownership and no-prior-sales…
Was a computerized service that called patients or clients to remind them of appointments taxable when it sent customers only a list confirming completed calls?
Yes. Texas taxed the entire appointment-reminder charge as a telecommunications service. Printed call lists transferred to customers could be bought for resale, while other supplies and equipment…
Did a natural-gas marketer have to collect Texas tax when pipeline title and possession passed outside Texas, and what changed when both passed in Texas?
No collection was required when both title and possession passed outside Texas; any later Texas use-tax duty belonged to the customer. When title and possession passed in Texas, the marketer had to…
Did an out-of-state software company create Texas tax obligations by sending employees into Texas for customer training, and which software charges were taxable?
Yes. Employee training visits made the company engaged in business in Texas, requiring a permit and use-tax collection. Software, installation, and support were taxable; separately stated training…
How did Texas tax software delivery, installation, support, programming, and hardware sales when bank customers were located inside or outside Texas?
Texas taxed software and hardware delivered in Texas, installation of the seller's software, and support for Texas customers. Direct out-of-state delivery was not taxed. Contract programming was…
Could a food-service subsidiary buy disposable meal-service items tax-free when it transferred them with taxable prepared meals to its carrier parent?
Yes. The subsidiary was a separate food-service retailer and could use a resale or exemption certificate for nonreusable items transferred with taxable meals. The vendor could refund tax within the…
How should a Texas printer tax one invoice covering signs delivered to stores in both Texas and New Mexico, and what records were required for a refund?
Only signs delivered in Texas were taxable, but a lump-sum mixed-state invoice was presumed fully taxable. The printer had to separately state Texas and out-of-state charges and retain shipping…
When did live operator answering services become taxable in Texas, and were automated answering and voicemail services already taxable?
Live operator answering services were nontaxable when the letter was issued but became taxable October 1, 1991. Automated answering and voicemail were already taxable telecommunications services and…
Who owed Texas vehicle tax when a financing seller understated the sale price on the county tax receipt?
The seller remained responsible. Documents showed a $5,950 sale and $458.80 collected for tax, title, and license, but only a $595 price and $35.70 tax were reported. Repossession did not remove the…
Were customer charges for drug testing and drug screening services subject to Texas sales tax?
No. The Comptroller concluded that performing drug tests and drug screening was not a service subject to Texas sales tax on the facts presented.
Were retail sales of microbes used to consume toxic hydrocarbon chains exempt from California sales tax?
No. The microbes did not qualify for the described food-related exemptions, and pollution-control products had no applicable exemption.
How did the 1991 guidance say contractors and subcontractors should document separated material and service charges for exempt-entity work?
Contractors needed permits and resale certificates. A subcontractor qualified for exemption when material costs were separated from service costs; the contractor issued a resale certificate to the…
Could a waste hauler buy roll-off boxes for resale, and was its total charge for placing, picking up, dumping, and returning the boxes taxable?
Yes to both. The company could buy the roll-off boxes tax-free with a resale certificate and seek a vendor refund for six previously taxed boxes. Its entire customer charge for collecting and…
Is equipment installed at an IDA-financed facility exempt from sales/use tax when purchased as the IDA's agent with title passing to the IDA?
Exempt — but only if two conditions hold. American Linen installed a Memtek wastewater treatment system as replacement equipment at a Buffalo plant financed under a 1978 industrial revenue bond…
How did South Carolina calculate sales tax on vehicles and trailers sold to nonresidents in August 1991?
The sale was taxed at the lower of the tax imposed by the buyer's state of residence or the South Carolina tax under Chapter 36. South Carolina tax was zero if the buyer's home state would not…
Who owed Utah sales tax on 1-900 telephone charges, revenue-sharing payments, and monthly line-rental amounts?
The caller's telephone company had to collect sales tax on the full amount charged to the end user for the 900 call. The later remittances from the phone company through the service bureau and…
Could a Texas provider of a nontaxable service add a 'Texas Price Adjustment' to recover sales tax paid on consumed items?
Yes. The Comptroller said the adjustment did not violate Rule 3.324(b)(4) because it recovered the provider's own tax cost without representing the amount as sales tax imposed on the customer.
How did Texas's 1991 motor-vehicle-repair change treat separately stated consumable supplies and lump-sum repairs?
A repair shop separately stating parts and labor could buy qualifying consumable repair materials tax-free for resale and collect sales tax on the itemized customer charge. A lump-sum repairer…
Did a partnership owe additional Florida documentary stamp or nonrecurring intangible tax when it renewed a note and mortgage, changed a general partner, and assumed a lower debt amount?
The renewal made before the general-partner change owed no additional documentary stamp tax if all statutory renewal conditions were met. Renewals after the new partner entered were taxable on their…
Were services performed under insurance policies for unauthorized or surplus-lines insurers taxable Texas insurance services?
Yes, when performed in Texas for an insurer doing insurance business in Texas. The Comptroller treated unauthorized insurers engaged in insurance as insurance carriers and required the provider to…
Is a fireworks-display contract taxable, and is selling fireworks outright to an exempt organization that runs its own display taxable?
It depends on which of two arrangements is used. (1) When Auburn Fireworks contracts to PUT ON a fireworks display — providing the pyrotechnics, crew, and insurance — the customer never takes title…
Was writing 'Paid by cash' on a customs-broker export certificate and obtaining the customer's signature enough to document a Texas sales-tax refund?
No. The receipt also had to state the cash amount, identify it as a tax refund for specifically exported items, show the refund date, and include the purchaser's name, address, and signature.
Were full-time peace officers acting as independent contractors required to collect Texas sales tax on guard services?
No. The Comptroller said their guard-service charges were not taxable because the statutory security-service definition covered services requiring a license, and full-time peace officers did not…
Where could the public review South Carolina Tax Commission decisions in 1991?
In August 1991, the public could review the Commission's 1987-1990 decisions and index at the University of South Carolina School of Law Library or Tax Commission district offices. Decisions from…
Were translation services taxable, and did the tax treatment of a hired typist depend on whether the typist used a word processor or a typewriter?
The described translation services were not taxable. A hired typist's charge was taxable data processing when a word processor was used, but ordinary typing performed with a typewriter was not taxable.
Was a separately stated fuel charge taxable when machinery was supplied with a service, with an operator, or as a bare rental?
It depended on the arrangement. Fuel was taxable as part of a taxable service and as part of an equipment rental with an operator, but a separately stated fuel charge was not taxable when the…
Did vehicles received instead of foreclosure qualify for Texas's sale-for-resale exemption when they would be used before resale?
No. A vehicle titled for resale could not be driven, and the requester planned to use the vehicles while holding them, so the resale exemption did not apply. The letter said no other exemption…
Our cooperative housing corporation ended up owning back its own unsold shares (for 8 vacant and 22 occupied units) after a messy chain of foreclosures and a bank settlement, paying the bank $1,215,000 for the first mortgage, second mortgage, and all the unsold shares combined. When we eventually resell those unsold units, is that subject to New York's Real Property Transfer Gains Tax, and what's our original purchase price?
Yes, future sales of the unsold cooperative shares will be subject to the gains tax if their combined consideration reaches $1 million, and the cooperative corporation's original purchase price for…
Did a Florida country club have to collect sales tax on an unspent monthly food minimum and a fee for members to use their own golf carts?
Yes. The unspent portion billed under the monthly food minimum was taxable as a minimum charge, and the fee allowing a member's private cart onto the golf course was a taxable admission. The ruling…
Was a separately stated charge for a technical specialist's future installation advice taxable with the sale of an oil-well packer?
Yes. The specialist's advice was requested with the packer and accompanied its sale, so Texas treated the service as part of the taxable sale even though it was separately stated and performed after…
Which parts of a credit consultant's work were taxable debt collection, and which were nontaxable consulting services?
Work on actual past-due accounts was taxable debt collection, while general credit procedures, staff training, and advice unrelated to specific delinquent accounts were nontaxable unrelated…
Was a boat broker's commission subject to Texas sales tax when the principal's boat sale qualified as an occasional sale?
No. If the business acted as a disclosed broker and the principal was not a seller and qualified for occasional-sale treatment, the boat sale was not taxable and the broker's commission was not…
Was a parent's proposed cash sale of released-film rights to a new wholly owned subsidiary taxable when the parent simultaneously licensed distribution rights back?
No. With genuine business reasons unrelated to sales tax, California treated the subsidiary as controlled by the direct exploitation-rights holder and the transfer as nontaxable.
Could an exempt nonprofit homeowners association buy member services tax-free and recover sales tax it had paid in error?
Yes. The association could issue exemption certificates for purchases related to its exempt function when it did not separately charge members, and it could request supplier refunds for tax paid in…
Which seller-financed mortgage-servicing activities were taxable in Texas when billed through setup and monthly service fees?
Coupon books, delinquency notices, and computer-produced account or IRS reports were taxable; document storage, payment verification and remittance, and recording a lien release were not. A lump-sum…
Were sales of microbial odor neutralizers for municipal, industrial, and agricultural wastewater uses subject to Texas sales tax?
Generally yes. The seller had to collect tax unless the customer supplied a valid resale or exemption certificate; cities and utility districts could qualify for exempt-function purchases, some…
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