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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Could a business use one store's natural-gas predominant-use study to claim the utility exemption at another store?
Only if the stores and the first study were truly identical and valid. Otherwise each location needed its own study based on actual utility uses and product quantities.
Were monthly water-softener equipment and maintenance services taxable when the provider kept control of the equipment?
No. The managed equipment-and-maintenance service was not taxable, but the provider owed tax on the equipment, salt, and supplies it used. Outright rentals and salt sales were taxable.
Were natural gas and electricity used by restaurants to prepare food for immediate consumption exempt from Texas sales tax?
No. Restaurant utilities used to prepare food for immediate consumption were taxable commercial use, whether customers ate on-site or took the food away.
What player-tax and licensing changes did South Carolina announce for bingo operations in June 1991?
Beginning July 1, 1991, the temporary per-player tax was $9 for Class AA bingo and $2.50 for Class B bingo. The notice also described changes allowing license-location transfers, measuring the 60%…
Were Forever Arctic-Sea Fish Oil Capsules taxable when their label promoted supplementation to increase polyunsaturated-fat intake?
Yes. The capsules were labeled as a supplement and promoted increasing fat intake, so California excluded them from the food-product exemption.
Were Forever Bee Pollen, Royal Jelly, and Bee Propolis tablets taxable when their labels called them nutritional supplements?
Yes. Tablet form plus the warning referring to each product as a nutritional supplement excluded them from the food-product exemption.
Were the Forever Nature-Min vitamin tablets taxable when the bottle called them a high-potency multi-mineral formula and the directions called them a dietary supplement?
Yes. Tablet form and express dietary-supplement labeling excluded the Forever Nature-Min product from the food-product exemption.
Was Forever-Lite Chocolate Chiffon Shake Mix taxable when its sole-source daily intake provided only 270 calories and 33 grams of protein?
Yes. Its nutritional-diet and meal-replacement labeling made it a supplement, and its calories and protein were below the complete-dietary-food standard.
Was Texas use tax due on a Mexican company's bagged mineral product delivered to Texas customers, and who had to collect it?
Yes. The Mexican seller had to collect and remit use tax; an agent handling billing and collections had to collect it, and customers remained liable if it was not collected.
Were shares of a business trust fully exempt from Florida's 1991 intangible tax when its year-end portfolio contained only tax-exempt obligations?
Yes, if the entire relevant portfolio consisted of obligations exempt from Florida intangible tax. Direct U.S. obligations were exempt, and the remaining net asset value was exempt only if every…
Could a taxpayer seek waiver of a 1991 estimated-tax penalty caused by repeal of the second capital-gains refund installment?
Yes. A taxpayer whose 1991 estimated-tax underpayment penalty resulted from elimination of the second long-term capital-gains refund installment could request a waiver by attaching Form SC 2210 to…
How is New York sales/use tax applied to an oil- and chemical-spill cleanup company's services, the materials it uses, and its outright sales of cleanup supplies?
The Department treated Marine Pollution Control, an oil- and chemical-spill cleanup company, as a contractor and answered seven questions. Its spill cleanup and disposal is a service of maintaining,…
Which new tires became subject to Kansas's $0.50 tire excise tax on July 1, 1991?
Effective July 1, 1991, Kansas's $0.50 tire excise tax applied to new tires for any vehicle within the broadened K.S.A. 8-1485 highway-vehicle definition and to tires mounted on a new vehicle at its…
How were payments allocated when a software contract granted both reproduction-for-resale rights and internal-use rights?
Resale-based license fees were excluded, but the lump-sum portion attributable to internal use was taxable unless the modified program qualified as custom software.
Were inedible white grease, dried blood, and dry rendered tankage made from livestock offal subject to Texas sales tax?
Yes, as taxable tangible property. A buyer could still claim resale or manufacturing-ingredient treatment by giving the appropriate certificate.
Could three one-page quarterly reports and a substantially different 24-page annual report be combined into one exempt periodical series?
No. The annual report differed substantially, and the three similar quarterly reports alone fell below the four-issue minimum.
Were Escaid 110, Norpar 13, Paranox 106, and polyacrylic acid A-3 treated as diesel fuel or as sales-taxable materials?
They were subject to sales tax. Although some material might work in a diesel engine, it was not classified and taxed as diesel fuel unless actually used in a motor vehicle.
Could an authorized employee sign a Texas customs-broker certificate showing that goods were exported to Mexico?
Yes. An employee authorized by the customs broker could sign, and omitting 'attorney-in-fact' did not invalidate an otherwise complete certificate accepted in good faith.
Did the exemption for books and periodicals from qualified nonprofit publishers depend on which retailer sold the publication?
No. If the publisher qualified under Rule 3.299, either retailer's sale was exempt; if the publisher did not qualify, either retailer's sale was taxable.
How did South Carolina's 1991 local option tax apply to contractors buying building materials?
A contractor could exempt building materials from the 1% local option tax when the contract or qualifying written bid predated the tax and a verified contract copy was mailed within six months, but…
Did a computerized advertising and page-makeup workstation used before typesetting qualify for Utah's manufacturing machinery exemption?
Yes. In a revised June 10, 1991 opinion, the Commission reversed its earlier denial and concluded that the computerized ad-makeup workstation qualified as manufacturing equipment, making its…
Were fees a cable company paid a utility for permission to attach cable lines to utility poles subject to Texas sales tax?
No. The Comptroller said the described pole-attachment charges were not subject to state or local sales tax, but did not address federal tax.
Were utilities used in a homeowners association's jointly owned, members-only common areas exempt as residential use?
Yes. Utilities for jointly owned common areas intended solely for association members were exempt residential use for billing cycles beginning on or after January 1, 1988.
How did California’s then-existing 90-day and six-month rules treat an out-of-state aircraft brought here for warranty repairs?
The 1991 letter counted California repair and storage time in its six-month test. CDTFA's live annotation now states a later conditional warranty-repair rule.
Was a database subscription delivered on diskette a nontaxable custom-software service?
No. Existing software copied to subscribers was prewritten; keeping the media made the transfer a taxable sale, while required return made it a taxable lease.
Did a refund claim filed within six months of the final installment cover earlier installment payments on the same audit liability?
No. Each partial payment had its own deadline, though staff recommended reallocating payments to maximize the timely refund and applying the three-year period to assessment payments.
Did a color brochure soliciting donations to help children qualify as a California printed sales message or exempt periodical?
No. Donation solicitation was not advertising or promoting goods or services, and the undated brochures did not appear at stated intervals; the printer's sale was taxable.
Was a computer company's close-out sale occasional because it claimed the assets belonged mainly to its custom-programming service activity?
No. The hearing officer treated the close-out hardware-and-software transfer as another step in a prior hardware-sales series and recommended redetermination without a tax adjustment.
Was Coffee Saver exempt as coffee or a food product when most of the brewing aid stayed in the discarded grounds?
Generally no. It was a taxable brewing aid, but a determinable caramel-coloring share could be sold for resale to brewed-coffee sellers; otherwise all receipts were taxable.
Was a demurrage charge imposed when a customer returned a gas seller's tank late subject to Texas sales tax?
No. The Comptroller treated the charge as a nontaxable penalty for returning the seller's reusable container after the specified deadline.
Were a contractor's charges to update and correct software developed by someone else subject to Texas sales tax?
No. Rule 3.308(b)(4) made program-modification charges nontaxable when the person performing the modification had not sold the program.
Were a lithographer's charges for cutting and folding taxable when the customer supplied or bought the paper?
Yes in the ordinary case. Cutting and folding were taxable fabrication or part of a retail sale, except folding solely for mailing under the stated separate-charge rules.
Was powdered Probioplex exempt as a food product when its label described it as a dietary supplement?
No. Probioplex was taxable because it was a powder and its label expressly described it as a dietary supplement.
Could a foreign retailer buy auto parts tax-free in Texas for resale in El Salvador using a Texas resale certificate?
No. The buyer could avoid tax if the supplier shipped the parts abroad, or pay tax on Texas pickup and seek a refund after giving the supplier proof of export.
Were pill boxes used for free medicine samples and slides used in laboratory analysis exempt from Texas sales tax?
No. Both were taxable when purchased: the container exemption required the contained product to be sold, and laboratory supplies were not within the health-care exemption.
Could a club buy landscaping and repair services tax-free when maintaining a municipal park under contract with a city?
Yes. Services for the city-owned park were exempt when identified on an exemption certificate; any refund had to come from the provider to the entity that paid the tax.
Were sales of arch supports exempt from Florida sales and use tax under the medical-product rules applied in 1991?
Yes under the 1991 list applied. Arch supports were listed on Form DR-46NT and therefore exempt regardless of seller, purchaser, or user. The ruling expressly excluded shoe reliners and pads from…
Were charges for adding local contact information to a network video feed and for recording a satellite program taxable in Texas?
The tagging charge was not taxable when information was added to a network feed, but the charge for videotaping a satellite program was taxable.
Who had to collect and remit Texas sales tax on janitorial services performed by franchisees?
The franchisor. The Comptroller treated it as the retailer and required it to hold a permit and collect and remit all tax due on franchisee services.
Were services to collect delinquent real-property rent and medical bills subject to Texas sales tax?
Yes. Although rent and medical services were not taxable, activities performed to collect or adjust those past-due debts were taxable debt-collection services.
How did Texas tax a purchased portfolio of peanut- and cotton-wagon agreements?
Continuing the manufacturer's original agreements kept them as rentals, requiring a retailer permit and tax on cooperative rentals while qualifying farmer rentals could be exempt. New or…
Could a newsletter publisher buy film, film processing, and desktop publishing services for resale without Texas sales tax?
No. Those inputs were not transferred into the subscribers' care, custody, and control, so they did not qualify as purchases for resale under Rule 3.342(e).
Was a magazine with mostly free one-year subscriptions a controlled-circulation publication, and what Texas tax applied?
No. The paid subscriptions showed the magazine was published for subscription sale; paid subscriptions were not taxable, but the publisher owed tax on free copies mailed to Texas subscribers.
How did permanent-foundation mobilehomes differ from mobilehomes installed on supports in parks for sales-tax purposes?
A permanent-foundation home became a real-property improvement; a home on load-bearing park supports remained tangible personal property, changing accessory treatment.
Who was the retailer when a dealer subcontracted installation of evaporative coolers on nonpermanent mobilehomes?
The dealer was the retailer and owed sales tax on all retail receipts. Resale certificates through the supply chain prevented duplicate tax.
Could a taxpayer wait until full payment to claim refunds for earlier partial payments, or avoid section 6902 because the payments were voluntary?
No. The letter said the statute did not distinguish voluntary from involuntary payments, each partial payment required a timely claim, and the Board could not grant equitable relief.
Did an 80- to 85-minute quarterly sport-aviation video magazine qualify for California's former periodical exemption?
No. California treated its video format as controlling, so paid-subscription videotapes remained taxable even if their schedule and editorial structure resembled a periodical.
Did California treat aspartame sugar substitutes such as NutraSweet and Equal as exempt food products?
Yes. Board counsel stated that sugar substitutes made from aspartame, including NutraSweet and Equal, qualified as food products.
Would a church lose the Texas exemption for its centennial history book by hiring an outside professional printer?
No. The church still qualified if it published and distributed the book; using an unaffiliated professional printer did not defeat the exemption.
Was more than the minimum documentary stamp tax due when an affiliate deeded unencumbered recreational property to condominium associations during a contract settlement?
No. The associations paid no money or equivalent consideration for the unencumbered recreational property, so they were not purchasers under the statute. The affiliate's separate $160,000…
Was a separately stated per-mile 'gas/oil' charge on rented mobile cranes treated as a taxable fuel sale?
Yes for the fuel portion. The invoice label made the lessor the fuel retailer under Regulation 1598(e), but California allocated 25% of the charge to nonsold engine oil.
Could a lessor sell leased medical beds to a subsidiary, pay tax on fair market value, and make the subsidiary's later rentals tax free?
Only through a genuine fair-value sale; rented beds also needed simultaneous lease termination, new customer leases and transfer.
Did deleting notes and resequencing pages make OCR conversion of customer documents into disk files a nontaxable information service?
No. The recommendation found those tasks minor; the contract's true object was taxable conversion from paper to computer-readable disk.
Was flexlight used as a printing plate exempt from Texas sales tax when a printer manufactured products for sale?
Yes. It was necessary and essential to manufacturing and was neither machinery nor equipment under Rule 3.300(a), so the six-month useful-life test did not apply.
Did Texas exempt labor to repair real-property pollution-control equipment, and what refund applied to replacement wastewater piping?
No exemption applied to real-property repair labor. Pipe bought in 1990 or 1991 qualified for a 25% state-tax refund, but removal and replacement labor did not if the system was an improvement to realty.
In a sale-leaseback, does property a company sells and leases back count as 'investment' for Nebraska's LB 775 incentive?
Only if it was first put into service after the application. Under Revenue Ruling 29-91-3, when a taxpayer leases property in a sale-leaseback that it previously owned, that property qualifies as…
Which personal property in ABC's headquarters expansion qualified for the historical SC headquarters credit under PLR 91-3?
Personal property used by employees performing headquarters functions or qualifying experimental software research and development qualified. Property for custom client programming, installations,…
Was a florist's labor arranging fresh flowers in customers' vases nontaxable installation labor?
No. California treated arranging the flowers as taxable fabrication, while merely placing unarranged flowers as directed could be treated as transportation rather than installation.
Was a Network WATS subscription fee excluded from Texas sales tax because it was separately named and was not a local-access or equipment charge?
No. Telecommunications services were taxable items, so the total charge was taxable unless a component had its own exemption; renaming the charge did not exempt it.
My client can't keep up with interest payments on two large mortgages. The bank will agree to defer the unpaid interest, but only if additional interest accrues on that unpaid interest (compounding), while the mortgages' already-taxed maximum principal caps stay the same. Does adding compound interest to the mortgage trigger additional mortgage recording tax?
No additional tax due -- but only because the compounded amount stays within the mortgage's already-taxed maximum, and there's an important enforcement trap lurking underneath. A client held real…
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