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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Are mandatory Florida HOA assessments used to maintain association-owned recreational facilities taxable as admissions?
No, if the association is properly licensed, the payment is mandatory as a condition of homeownership, and the facilities are association-owned common areas available to members. Optional membership u…
Could a convenience store disprove Virginia's cigarette-sales reconstruction using purchase records from one distributor location when the distributor report covered the full membership account?
No. The distributor's data identified all tax-free cigarette purchases under the convenience store's membership account, potentially across multiple distributor locations. Virginia compared that total…
Should a one-time end-of-lease equipment purchase be removed from a Virginia audit sample when the taxpayer cannot identify the property on the lease or invoice?
Not on this record. Virginia agreed that a one-time end-of-lease purchase could be nonrepresentative and clarified that property need not be booked as a fixed asset before it may be removed from a sam…
Could a cigarette retailer overturn reconstructed sales, penalty, and interest by asserting below-cost rebate sales when it supplied no sales or inventory records?
No. Distributor records showed cigarette cartons bought tax-free for resale far exceeded the cigarette sales the retailer reported. Virginia notified the retailer, requested purchase, resale, and tax-…
What does Illinois General Information Letter IT 19-0006-GIL conclude about Credits – Other?
IT 19-0006-GIL explains how to claim the River Edge Redevelopment Zone remediation tax credit on Schedule 1299-D, but tells the taxpayer that because the credit sunset for tax years beginning on or af…
My Kansas property is used for more than one thing -- can it get more than one property tax classification?
Yes -- more than one classification is allowed, and for farm parcels with a home site it is required. The directive states that 'real property with varying uses may be assigned more than one classific…
Does an internal show committee of a tax-exempt nonprofit society count as its own "bona fide chapter" — entitled to its own separate two-one-day tax-free sale allowance — when the committee's event profits are transferred back to fund the parent organization's own operating expenses?
No. A show committee of a Section 501(c)(3) exempt organization is not a "bona fide chapter" entitled to its own separate two-one-day tax-free sale allowance, because its leaders are appointed (not el…
I sell hemp-derived CBD oils, edibles, beverages, and topical creams -- what Illinois sales tax rate applies to them?
CBD products sold primarily for internal human consumption qualify as "food" under 86 Ill. Adm. Code 130.310 and are taxed at the low 1% state rate (plus applicable local taxes). The Department could …
The company I pay for email marketing services says it must charge me Illinois sales tax, but they don't sell or license me any software -- is that right?
The Department did not resolve this taxpayer's specific dispute with his email-service provider -- it only restated the general rules for how Illinois taxes software and software-adjacent services, si…
Is a document-scanning service taxable when the seller delivers digitized invoices on separately charged CDs?
Yes. The CDs were consequential tangible personal property needed to deliver the digitized invoices, and the seller separately charged for them. The full invoices were taxable, and the customer was no…
Did a leave-and-earnings statement alone prove a military couple remained domiciled outside Virginia after moving there in 2015?
No. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act prevents a service member, and in qualifying circumstances a spouse with the same domicile, from changing domicile solely because of military orders. But it doe…
Did two affiliated real estate investment trusts need Virginia's permission to file a combined return in their first year of affiliation?
No. The parent REIT had filed Virginia returns before 2017, but the subsidiary REIT first became required to file in Virginia for 2017. Virginia treated 2017 as the first full taxable year in which th…
Could an aircraft dealer retroactively elect Virginia's dealer exclusion after buying and operating aircraft without filing the required election?
No. Although the taxpayer qualified as an aircraft dealer, it bought three aircraft in 2014-2015, placed them in service, did not timely elect the dealer treatment, and paid no tax on lease, charter, …
Which construction purchases stayed taxable when a Virginia contractor challenged tax on building parts, school equipment, signs, hardware, and markerboards?
Virginia reached a mixed result. Prefabricated metal building parts stayed in the audit because tax paid by the Virginia seller to its own manufacturer did not prove tax on the separate sale to the co…
Were amusement-center party packages taxable in full when they combined gaming admissions with food, and could phone advice erase the assessment?
Yes, the full package charge was taxable. Standalone admissions or participation charges may be exempt, but Virginia's admissions rule taxes a cover or minimum charge that includes food, drinks, or ot…
Could a sign manufacturer remove service, billboard, freight, and church transactions from audit without documents proving the claimed exemptions?
No. Virginia upheld all twelve invoice adjustments. Labor, surveys, permits, removal, and a second-trip charge were treated as services connected with sales of signs, power supplies, or other property…
Were coordination and computer-time charges tied to graphics taxable, and was a copier maintenance agreement that could supply parts taxed in part?
Yes. The custom exhibit company sold services together with graphics, and Virginia found the true object was production of tangible graphics. Coordination labor, artist time, and computer time connect…
Which commercial kitchen-hood and fire-suppression inspection, cleaning, and repair services are taxable in Florida?
Kitchen-hood cleaning and inspection were not taxable, and hood or suppression-system repairs were real-property work. A suppression-only inspection was exempt, but checking a connected fire-alarm pan…
How are cereal malt beverage sales taxed at Kansas retail liquor stores after HB 2035?
Kansas Notice 19-01 explains that 2019 House Bill 2035 clarified the tax collected on cereal malt beverage (CMB) sold in retail liquor stores. Effective April 1, 2019 (upon publication in the Kansas R…
Did new school, property, license, and vehicle evidence overturn Virginia's finding that a couple kept Virginia domicile during foreign assignments?
No. Virginia reconsidered the prior ruling because the couple offered new domicile evidence, but the material did not show permanent or indefinite intent to remain in either foreign country or abandon…
Did an employer relocation to Louisiana change a taxpayer's domicile when he kept Virginia voting, licensing, registration, and mailing ties?
No. The taxpayer lived and worked in employer-provided Louisiana housing and said he intended to remain, but he kept a Virginia driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration and voting hi…
Could a Virginia resident subtract all retirement distributions when deductible contributions had previously been taxed by Pennsylvania?
No, not the entire distributions. Virginia's subtraction applies when retirement-plan contributions were deductible for federal purposes but still taxed by another state. The taxpayer proved that Penn…
Did buying all assets of one division qualify as an exempt occasional sale when the seller continued operating and separate-division proof was missing?
Not on the evidence provided. A sale of all or substantially all assets of a separate and distinct division can qualify even when the larger company continues operating. But Virginia evaluates whether…
Could Sandia deduct gross receipts from scientific, engineering, custom-software, and classified services sold to federal agencies when the specific work products were delivered and first used outside New Mexico?
Yes. Section 7-9-57 applied to services sold to federal agencies just as it applied to other out-of-state buyers; Section 7-9-54's exclusion of governmental services from its own deduction did not eli…
Is a pedal-powered party bike trolley rental (with a driver/"captain," a route, and BYO food/drink) a taxable amusement service or a nontaxable transportation service in Texas?
It's a taxable amusement service, not nontaxable transportation. A pedal-powered bike trolley — rented by the hour with a captain, marketed for parties, pub crawls, and social outings, and following a…
Would Virginia postpone a 2015 resident income-tax assessment while the taxpayer worked on amending and resolving the federal return?
No. A Virginia resident who meets the applicable filing rules must file a Virginia return even while disputing or amending a federal return. After the taxpayer failed to document a federal resolution …
Could a taxpayer revive decades of Virginia assessments through a late appeal that gave no objective facts, specific errors, or valid legal authority?
No. Virginia received the appeal on December 18, 2018, so its 90-day jurisdiction reached only assessments issued on or after September 19, 2018; only the 2014 assessment qualified. That portion still…
Did Virginia reconsider a denied satellite-equipment refund because the regulation's broadcasting definition supposedly changed the law?
No. Reconsideration required a timely showing that applicable law changed for the refund period or that Virginia misapplied policy in a way that would change the result. The equipment retailer argued …
Could Virginia residents claim an out-of-state credit merely because South Carolina tax was withheld when they appeared to owe no South Carolina tax?
No. Va. Code § 58.1-332(A) requires a Virginia resident to be liable for and actually pay income tax to the other state. The couple's 2017 South Carolina income fell below that state's nonresident fil…
Could Virginia extend the three-year refund deadline for tax paid after the 2013 rate increase when the purchaser did not know the refund process?
No. The medical provider's March 2013 equipment contract and July 2013 delivery fit the Department's transition window for the July 1 rate increase, but any refund still had to be requested within the…
Does Louisiana's pipeline gross-receipts tax apply when an oil movement starts or ends in a Louisiana Foreign Trade Zone?
Yes. A Louisiana Foreign Trade Zone is outside the United States only for limited tariff purposes, not outside Louisiana for the Transportation and Communication Utilities Tax. Oil movements between t…
Do Louisiana pipeline inspection and supervision fees apply when an oil movement starts or ends in a Louisiana Foreign Trade Zone?
Yes. A Louisiana Foreign Trade Zone remains geographically within the state for inspection and supervision fees. Pipeline receipts from oil movements between the zone and another Louisiana location ar…
State Tax Ruling
Individuals domiciled in Illinois who go abroad on what turns out to be a short-term work assignment generally remain Illinois residents and stay liable for Illinois income tax, though the Department …
Does a company that sells subscriptions to an online streaming-video platform — ad-free viewing, chat perks, longer video storage, priority support — have to charge Utah sales tax on those subscriptions?
No. The Commission ruled that a streaming-video platform's subscriptions are not subject to Utah sales and use tax. Each benefit — ad-free viewing, chat enhancements, extra time to store videos, and p…
Could an interstate carrier avoid New Mexico weight-distance underreporting penalties and interest because it believed an outside IFTA filing company had mishandled its mileage reports?
No. American Power LLC said an outside company failed to file or filed false IFTA reports, but it never showed that company was responsible for its separate New Mexico weight distance tax returns. The…
How were micro-distillery tours and liquor tastings taxed before the May 17, 2021 law change?
Under RR 19-3's pre-May 17, 2021 rules, a paid tour that included liquor was treated as a liquor sale: sales tax and the 5% liquor-by-the-drink excise tax applied to gross proceeds, while admissions t…
How do South Carolina sales and admissions taxes apply to brewery tours and beer samples?
When a brewery provides beer as part of a paid tour, the true object is the beer sale: sales tax applies to the full charge and admissions tax does not. The same sales-tax result applies when the tour…
Is Nebraska Revenue Ruling 99-09-2 on the IRS disaster relief designation still in effect?
No -- it has been withdrawn. Revenue Ruling 99-19-1 (issued April 9, 2019) rescinds Revenue Ruling 99-09-2, 'Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Disaster Relief Designation' (issued April 15, 2009). Instea…
Did illness or disability suspend Virginia's three-year deadline when a taxpayer filed a refund return 27 days after the deadline?
No. A 2014 Virginia refund return had to be filed by May 1, 2018, three years after its original May 1, 2015 due date. The taxpayer filed on May 28, 2018. Although the return eliminated Virginia's ear…
Could a taxpayer obtain late reconsideration of a 2014 domicile ruling or avoid 2015 Virginia residency with evidence of a 2016 out-of-state condo?
No. The request to reconsider the 2014 determination was dated and received well after the 45-day deadline in 23 VAC 10-20-165(F), so that ruling and assessment became final. For 2015, the same Virgin…
Could taxpayers keep Virginia itemized deductions for 2014-2016 after repeatedly failing to provide records substantiating the claimed expenses?
No, not without supporting records. Virginia generally begins with federal return information, but it may look behind deductions when evidence suggests they do not conform to federal law. Taxpayers mu…
How did Virginia treat an incomplete resale certificate, later trade-in rebates, out-of-state purchases, and audit penalty in a Navy contractor audit?
Virginia reached mixed results. An undated resale certificate missing the supplier name could not be accepted in good faith, and the customer was registered for consumer use tax rather than retail sal…
Could a water-system contractor buy lining and repair materials for resale to governments or claim pollution-control exemption without project certification?
No. Rehabilitated water and wastewater pipes and systems became real-property fixtures, so Va. Code § 58.1-610(A) treated the contractor as the user or consumer of lining and repair materials, not a r…
Could a Virginia subsidiary recover use tax on parent-company software support allocations by proving electronic delivery, and could foreign VAT offset Virginia tax?
The software refund remained possible if documented; the VAT credit did not. Charges between separately incorporated related entities can be taxable sales because intercompany accounting entries const…
Could a pharmaceutical testing laboratory qualify for Virginia's research exemption when its work may develop or improve drugs rather than merely test samples?
Possibly, but more proof was required. Routine testing of samples for chemical content does not qualify, while systematic work developing or improving pharmaceuticals and vaccines can be exempt resear…
I provide prepaid wireless Lifeline service that's fully subsidized so my customers pay nothing -- do I still have to collect the E911 surcharge on those transactions?
No -- the Department confirmed the surcharge does not apply when a customer's Lifeline service is fully subsidized and the customer pays the provider nothing for it. That exemption is specific to 50 I…
Does the taxable cost of group-term life insurance over $50,000 count toward an employee's Illinois base income, and should it be included in Box 16 (state wages) of Form W-2?
Yes. The taxable cost of group-term life insurance coverage over $50,000 is included in federal adjusted gross income, so it is also part of Illinois base income, and for an employee who works entirel…
Could a Virginia taxpayer deduct the remaining college-savings or ABLE contribution carryover in full upon reaching age 70?
Yes. Virginia college savings contributions are ordinarily deductible up to $4,000 per contract or account each year, with excess carried forward. Once the purchaser or contributor reaches age 70, the…
Could a Virginia resident avoid income tax by denying a contract to pay, limiting tax to government workers, or charging assessments to a Treasury account?
No. Virginia taxes residents with Virginia taxable income under its statutes; liability is not a gift, voluntary contract, or rule limited to government employees and contractors. Starting the state c…
Was a retirement-plan loan offset taxable by Virginia when employment ended before the move but the full distribution and offset occurred after becoming resident?
Yes. Ending employment while still a Texas resident did not itself create the taxable plan-loan-offset distribution. The promissory note required repayment before a full distribution or deduction of t…
Could taxpayers exclude a 2013 retirement distribution by claiming the husband lived elsewhere or that another state had taxed the underlying contributions?
No. The couple's own returns reported a July 2012 move to Virginia and full-year Virginia residence in 2013, while a questionnaire showed the husband spent 275 nights in Virginia. Their home, licenses…
Does my Kansas county appraiser have to follow the state's valuation guides, and can they depart from them?
They must follow them, with one narrow escape hatch. The directive states that 'the county appraiser shall follow the policies, procedures and guidelines set forth in the Division of Property Valuatio…
Can a Florida tax-exempt nonprofit directly buy construction materials tax-free for a real-property project?
Yes. The program qualified because the exempt entity issued its own purchase orders and certificate, was invoiced and paid vendors directly, took title, and bore the risk of loss before installation.
Are the "close-end" needles used with a portable nitrous-oxide nerve-pain-block device exempt from Texas sales tax as hypodermic needles, when sold to hospitals and clinics rather than directly to patients?
No, they're taxable. The "close-end" needles used with an FDA-approved portable nitrous-oxide nerve-block pain device don't qualify as exempt hypodermic needles under Section 151.313(a)(4), because th…
Is a single-use surgical staple fixation kit — where only the implanted staples, not the disposable delivery device that comes with them, stay permanently in the body — exempt from Texas sales tax as an orthopedic device?
Yes. A single-use surgical staple fixation system for foot surgery — comprising a drill bit, delivery device, drill guide, alignment pins, and staple tamp, only the staples of which are permanently im…
Are a digital marketing agency's software sublicense fees, SEO service, Google AdWords consulting (SEM), and Facebook inventory integration (FIM) service each taxable in Texas, and if so, as what kind of taxable item?
It varies by service. Sublicensing the social-media-posting app is a taxable sale of a computer program. SEO (editing a client's website with keywords/meta tags to boost search ranking) is a taxable d…
Should Virginia residents subtract Arkansas-source income from federal adjusted gross income or claim a credit for Arkansas income tax paid?
They had to use a credit, not a subtraction. Virginia taxes a resident's federal adjusted gross income subject to specific state modifications, and no modification generally removes income merely beca…
Could a school-system independent contractor claim Virginia's subtraction for federal and state employees earning $15,000 or less?
No. Va. Code § 58.1-322.02(16) allowed the first $15,000 of salary for a federal or state employee whose total annual salary from all employment was $15,000 or less. The husband performed work for a l…
How did Virginia adjust a 2014 net operating loss carried to 2012, and did Schedule E income qualify for Maryland's border-state credit?
Virginia required a state-specific NOL computation rather than simply copying the federal Schedule 1045 amount. The federal NOL had to be adjusted for Virginia fixed-date conformity items, and itemize…
We're an out-of-state seller of subscription training software and downloadable video-conferencing software -- does Illinois sales tax apply to either product?
The Department did not rule on either specific product. It only laid out the general framework for post-Wayfair economic nexus and for taxing canned vs. custom computer software and licenses -- it nev…
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