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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Can a conservation nonprofit sell excess animals from its preserve tax-free as an 'occasional sale,' even if it has to do this every year?
This specific batch of sales qualified as an exempt isolated/occasional sale, but IDOR explicitly declined to promise the same exemption for future sales -- because the organization must regularly and…
Do the turbines, pipes, tanks, and other equipment used to build a power plant qualify for Illinois's Enterprise Zone sales tax exemption on building materials?
Yes -- essentially the entire described equipment package for the power plant qualifies as exempt Enterprise Zone building materials, because it will be permanently affixed to the real estate. The onl…
Do solar farm racking, support posts, AC collection systems, cables, and inverter-transformers qualify for Texas's manufacturing sales tax exemption as equipment used to generate electricity for sale?
It's split by function. The solar panels/modules themselves are exempt manufacturing equipment, but the fixed racking, tracker racking, and support posts that merely hold and position multiple panels …
When are electricity and fuel used at South Carolina homes exempt from sales and use tax?
Electricity and fuel used for living purposes at a primary residence, vacation home, or second home are exempt from South Carolina sales and use tax, including when the home is rented for any number o…
Can the Virginia Department of Taxation decide whether a city properly converted a company's unpaid local meals tax to an allegedly responsible individual?
No. Virginia law can impose responsible-person liability on certain officers, employees, members, or managers who knowingly and willfully fail to collect or pay specified local taxes and had authority…
Is a breast tissue expander and its dosage controller — used temporarily after a mastectomy before a permanent implant — exempt from Texas sales tax as a prosthetic or therapeutic device?
No, neither is exempt. A tissue expander and its companion dosage controller — a temporary, single-use system used to stretch skin before a permanent breast implant following a mastectomy — don't qual…
Are sales of gold and silver coins and precious-metal bullion exempt from Kansas sales tax?
Kansas Notice 19-02 explains that 2019 House Bill 2140 amended K.S.A. 79-3606 to add a new sales tax exemption, effective July 1, 2019, for all sales of gold or silver coins and palladium, platinum, g…
Did The GEO Group prove entitlement to 2011 and 2012 New Mexico corporate income tax refunds based on net operating losses from entities included in combined or consolidated returns?
No. GEO's multiple original and amended returns inconsistently claimed the net operating losses, often left the required CIT-1 line 5 blank, and sometimes omitted the mandatory Federal Form 1120. The …
Can an LNG exporter use its own loading documents (Master's Receipt, Certificate of Quantity, Certificate of Quality) instead of a traditional bill of lading to prove the export exemption from Texas sales tax?
Yes. A set of "Loading Documents" — a Master's Receipt, Certificate of Quantity, and Certificate of Quality, signed by the LNG vessel's master or agent and showing the carrier's issuance, the seller a…
When did Virginia's 2019 economic-nexus law require remote sellers and marketplace facilitators to register, collect tax, source sales, and track direct versus facilitated transactions?
Beginning July 1, 2019, a remote seller or marketplace facilitator with more than $100,000 of annual Virginia retail-sales revenue or at least 200 Virginia transactions in the current or prior calenda…
Were two men who continued a New Mexico towing business after its corporate certificate was canceled personally liable for gross receipts tax collected but not reported or remitted?
Yes. Prestige Towing & Recovery's 1997 corporate certificate was canceled on August 7, 2007, but Gabriel and Elauterio Vigil continued the business until a new corporation was formed on September 21, …
Is the labor to install a fuel cell facility on real property a taxable service in Connecticut, or is it exempt as new construction / a site improvement?
The labor to install the fuel cell facility is a service to real property, not the installation of tangible personal property. And because the facility is a site improvement (construction of new real …
Can Virginia issue a 2013 income-tax refund claimed on a return filed after the three-year deadline because the taxpayer relied on an accountant?
No. A Virginia overpayment may be refunded only if the Department discovers it or receives the taxpayer's written claim within three years after the original timely-return deadline. The 2013 return wa…
Could unused Virginia land-preservation tax credits pass through a residuary will clause when the credit holder died before July 1, 2018?
No. Virginia formerly treated land-preservation credits as personal to the taxpayer and not transferable at death. The 2018 legislation newly allowed transfers by will, bequest, other transfer instrum…
Does entering active duty or claiming a former military home of record automatically end Virginia domicile for a service member or spouse?
No. The wife entered active duty in November 2015, but the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act does not erase a Virginia domicile established before military service. The husband was retired, and his form…
Could a Florida insurance-company group discontinue its longstanding grandfathered consolidated corporate income tax filing?
Yes. Florida allowed the group to file separately for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, but required deferred gains and intercompany or other deferred items that could escape separate r…
What qualifies for South Carolina's annual August sales tax holiday, and when is a purchase treated as tax-free?
From 12:01 a.m. on the first Friday in August through midnight Sunday, qualifying clothing, accessories, footwear, school supplies, computers, software, printers, printer supplies, and specified bed a…
Was a publicly traded company actively managing mortgage-backed securities subject to Virginia local BPOL tax, and which receipts could it exclude?
Yes, with a limited exclusion. The company's employees regularly acquired, hedged, managed, and traded a large mortgage-backed-securities portfolio using shareholder capital, debt, repurchase funding,…
Can a Virginia UPS-system seller obtain a refund for a data-center sale when the contractor supplied a valid Department exemption letter only after the transaction?
Possibly, but only after transaction-specific verification. At the time of sale, the seller correctly collected tax because it had no valid Department-issued data-center exemption certificate. The con…
Can a separate entity that owns farm equipment, land, or other farm capital qualify as a Louisiana commercial farmer?
Yes, if the related entity has substantial common ownership with an operating farm that meets the production tests. The related entity must also report farm income or expenses on Schedule F or a simil…
Does Georgia sales tax apply when a medical-records company provides paper records, electronic records, coding, data processing, or records-department services?
It depends on the delivery and service. Paper or other tangible medical records are taxable, including charges needed to produce and deliver them. Electronic-only records, coding, formatting, abstract…
Were fees charged directly to learners for online courses and digital completion certificates subject to Florida sales or communications services tax?
No. The online courses and digital certificates did not transfer tangible personal property, and the educational service did not provide communications access or taxable video programming.
What Virginia tax interest rates applied during the third quarter of 2019 to assessments, refunds, disputed assessments, estimated tax, and certain local taxes?
For July 1 through September 30, 2019, Virginia's state tax underpayment rate on assessments and overpayment rate on refunds were both 7%, reflecting federal 5% rates plus Virginia's two percentage po…
Can taxpayers appeal a county's BPOL refund-denial letter directly to Virginia when they never first filed a formal local administrative appeal?
No. The county's denial of the 2015 BPOL refund was the appealable event that started the taxpayers' right to file a formal local appeal; their original refund request was not itself that appeal. The …
Could Virginia review a county's BTPP manufacturer-classification denial when the letter cited a BPOL statute and was not issued by an authorized final decision-maker?
Not yet. A ready-meal producer sought BTPP refunds, arguing it should be classified as a manufacturer. The county could not eliminate the taxpayer's statutory administrative-appeal option merely by di…
Did Virginia reconsider its refusal to hear BTPP appeals where taxpayers used the circuit-court route, appealed assessments before issuance, or lacked a final local decision?
No. For 2015, the taxpayers used Va. Code § 58.1-3980, whose next review step is circuit court under § 58.1-3984, not an administrative appeal to the Department. For 2016 and 2017, their local letter …
Were the requesting company's survey, data-analysis, consulting, and online-reporting charges taxable?
No. The Department found that the true object was the requesting company's customized professional service: designing and conducting surveys, gathering and analyzing data, and delivering client-specif…
For local sales tax purposes, where is an online marketplace sale "consummated" when the order is placed through out-of-state servers but fulfilled from a Texas warehouse that isn't open to the public?
Generally, at the delivery address, not the warehouse. When an online order is placed through a website/app and processed on out-of-state servers, and fulfilled from a Texas fulfillment center that is…
How does Tennessee's excise tax treat a company's federal Subpart F income from foreign subsidiaries — is it a dividend, and when can the company deduct it?
Two answers. (1) YES — for Tennessee excise tax, a company's 'Subpart F income' (the foreign-subsidiary earnings the federal tax code makes a U.S. parent report currently) is treated as a DIVIDEND, co…
Did telecommunications equipment and software sales qualify for Virginia's retail ISP or electronic-delivery exemptions, and when was dealer refund interest payable?
The additional tax refunds were denied, but refund interest was allowed on amounts already approved. Wireless providers can qualify for Virginia's ISP equipment exemption, yet the seller did not prove…
Are small bottled energy shots labeled as dietary supplements exempt from Florida sales tax as food products?
Yes. The bottled shots contained vitamins and minerals and were labeled as dietary supplements. Florida treated them as dietary supplements and therefore as food products exempt from sales tax.
My state government agency buys telecom services used by our staff in Illinois -- does Illinois's telecommunications excise tax exemption for 'state governments' cover MY state, or only Illinois's own government?
Yes -- the Illinois Department of Revenue confirmed that the Telecommunications Excise Tax Act's exemption for 'State governments' is not limited to Illinois's own government; it covers state governme…
What did the 2019 Kansas legislature change for motor fuel and electric vehicles?
Kansas Notice 19-03 summarizes two 2019 bills. House Bill 2087 (Section 1) amended the definition of 'school bus' in K.S.A. 79-3401(r) for motor fuel refund purposes, so it now covers a privately owne…
Does a Georgia aircraft-painting company charge sales tax for stripping, sanding, and painting aircraft, and who pays tax on the materials?
No. Charges for stripping, sanding, and painting aircraft are non-taxable service charges because Georgia does not specifically tax those services. The aircraft painter is generally the consumer of pa…
Which separately stated charges in a turnkey Florida storm-restoration services contract are taxable?
Most separately itemized service and property charges remained in the taxable sales price. Separately stated potable water was exempt, and optional transportation-only charges—including mobilization o…
How did Virginia's June 2019 accelerated sales-tax payment work, including the $4 million threshold, 90% calculation, reconciliation, penalties, and hardship waivers?
For June 2019, a dealer with at least $4 million of taxable sales and/or purchases during July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018 had to prepay 90% of its June 2018 retail sales and use tax liability. All …
Did pre-assessment objections and later emails to New Mexico tax employees preserve a business's right to contest 2016 and 2017 gross receipts tax assessments after the 90-day protest deadlines?
No. Corwin Research & Investigations had until July 19, 2016 and November 30, 2017 to protest two assessments, but Michael Corwin's first formal protest was mailed September 21, 2018. Earlier emails w…
Are a couple Yonkers residents or New York City residents when their house sits entirely in Yonkers but the front yard, and the mailing address, are in the Bronx?
They are Yonkers residents, subject to the Yonkers resident income tax surcharge. Residency follows the location of the dwelling and the couple's domicile, not the Bronx mailing address; the residenti…
Could Virginia decide whether a real-estate investor was a BPOL-taxable contractor when the county's final letter was signed by an unauthorized employee?
No. The county had classified the real-estate investment LLC as a contractor and taxed gross receipts from property sales, but the Department did not decide whether the activity was a contractor busin…
If I'm an Illinois resident and both Illinois and Indiana taxed my gambling winnings, can I get an Illinois credit for the tax I paid to Indiana?
No, in most cases the credit works out to zero. Illinois's credit for taxes paid to other states is capped based on how much of your income would be sourced to other states under Illinois's own sourci…
What does Illinois General Information Letter IT 19-0009-GIL conclude about Education Expense Credit?
Consumable school supplies used up in lab-type courses and private piano lessons counted toward a fine-arts requirement can qualify as Education Expense Credit expenses for a home-schooled child, but …
Does a Georgia energy-savings company charge sales tax when it owns and installs efficiency equipment but bills customers only from measured utility savings?
No. Georgia treated the transaction as a non-taxable energy-savings service because customers sought measured cost savings, not the installed equipment; the provider owned and controlled the equipment…
Why did a Virginia part-year resident owe more tax after correctly excluding pre-move income from Virginia?
The extra tax did not come from taxing State A income. On the original return, the taxpayer had already reduced federal adjusted gross income by the pre-Virginia income. The amended return correctly r…
Could a taxpayer receive the overpayment shown on a June 2018 original 2014 return after Virginia separately refunded payment of a mistaken nonfiler assessment?
No. Virginia discovered that the employer had failed to report tax withheld from employees, so it refunded the amount the taxpayer had paid to satisfy the resulting nonfiler assessment. But the separa…
Could a New Mexico employer avoid penalties for withholding returns filed about two years late when it had paid the tax on time but overlooked separate return-filing links on the Department website?
No. The School for Advanced Research paid its September–November 2016 withholding taxes on time but did not file the three returns until November 2018. Its employee speculated that website changes sep…
Can a federally taxable IRA distribution qualify for Virginia's first-time home-buyer savings-account subtraction when used to buy a first home?
Potentially. Virginia's first-time home-buyer rule can apply to an account at a financial institution, and the fully federally taxable IRA distributions met the requirement of being taxable income att…
Does using a self-directed IRA and tax-exempt trust custodian shield a taxpayer's regular home-purchase, renovation, and resale activity from Virginia BPOL tax?
No. The taxpayer selected homes, decided the renovations, hired tradespeople, directed IRA payments, set listing prices, and reinvested sale proceeds. Those regular profit-seeking activities were his …
What does Illinois General Information Letter IT 19-0008-GIL conclude about Withholding – Other Rulings?
Yes: for an Illinois resident who works partly in another state but whose out-of-state work is incidental (or Illinois is the base of operations), the full wages are properly reported as Illinois inco…
What does Illinois General Information Letter IT 19-0007-GIL conclude about Refunds – Credit Of Overpayment To Liabilities?
Yes — although the Illinois Income Tax Act uses permissive "may" language, the Department's own regulation (86 Ill. Adm. Code 100.9400) makes crediting an overpayment against an outstanding tax liabil…
Could New Mexico levy a wife's individually titled IRA to collect gross receipts tax arising from her husband's business when she did not operate the business and was never assessed?
No. Michele Giacomo was a nurse who did not participate in her husband's medical-equipment business, was not assessed, had no collection responsibility, and had not agreed to assume the tax. Joint inc…
Does Maryland wage withholding relieve a Virginia resident commuter from Virginia income tax under the Virginia-Maryland reciprocity agreement?
No. Virginia's reciprocal agreement with Maryland generally assigns a Virginia resident's commuting wages to Virginia only. The taxpayer was a Virginia resident, worked in Maryland, earned only wages …
Was a military spouse exempt from 2014 Virginia tax by claiming the service member's state when she had stayed there only 30 days before a planned overseas move?
No. The pre-2018 military-spouse rule protected a spouse present in Virginia solely to accompany a service member under orders only when the spouse and service member shared the same domicile. Althoug…
Could a restaurant member remove converted sales-tax assessments by saying her late husband alone managed finances when Department records listed her as a member?
Not on the unsupported statement alone. Individual liability under Va. Code § 58.1-1813 requires willfulness, a covered officer/member/employee role with a duty concerning the tax, knowledge of the fa…
Could a Virginia horse-boarding stable buy feed and supplies under the agricultural exemption, and could Virginia extend its use-tax audit from three to six years?
No exemption applied. Virginia requires production of an agricultural product for market, while stable operators must pay tax on operating property and feed for riding or pleasure horses is expressly …
Can a Virginia seller claim good-faith reliance on resale certificates that lack a date, valid registration number, or the specific exemption?
No. Virginia presumes sales taxable unless the dealer accepts a valid exemption certificate in good faith. A certificate incomplete, invalid, infirm, or inconsistent on its face is never acceptable wi…
Is reactivating spent (used-up) industrial activated carbon by burning off its absorbed impurities "manufacturing" or "processing" for Texas sales tax purposes, or is it just a taxable repair service?
It's a repair service, not manufacturing or processing. A company that reactivates customers' spent activated carbon by dewatering it and burning off absorbed impurities is restoring someone else's de…
If a buyer at a Utah auction hires his own commonly-owned trucking company to haul the goods to another state, is the sale exempt from Utah sales tax — and does it matter that the buyer owns the carrier?
No Utah sales tax is due. Because a shipping company (even one the buyer owns) took possession in Utah and delivered the goods to the buyer out of state, the sale is sourced to the out-of-state delive…
Could a Virginia retailer invalidate a two-month purchase sample projected over a 36-month audit when it agreed the months were representative but lacked invoices?
No. At the audit's start, the specialty retailer confirmed that the two chosen months represented the full January 2015-December 2017 period. When it could not produce all requested invoices, the audi…
Does an online event-ticketing platform owe Tennessee sales tax on the fees it charges, and who has to collect sales tax on the tickets — the platform or the event organizer?
Three things. First, the online event-ticketing company's own charges — its Service Package fees and its Payment Processing fees — are NOT subject to Tennessee sales tax. They pay for nontaxable event…
Which taxes can a multistate vehicle rental company credit against Texas minimum tax liability, and can deductions be added later?
Legally paid sales, use or rental tax from another state could reduce the Texas minimum tax liability, but Texas local venue taxes could not. A trade-in could not be added after titling; a missed fair…
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