State Tax Rulings
Free state tax letter rulings and advisory opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
No rulings match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Does Illinois have a 'trailing nexus' rule that requires a remote seller to keep collecting sales/use tax for a period after its Illinois nexus ends?
As of this 2018 letter, Illinois had no rule addressing 'trailing nexus' (continuing to owe sales/use tax for a period after nexus ends); the Department said any nexus determination would depend on th…
In Connecticut, does a third-party food-delivery company have to charge sales tax on restaurant meals it resells, and is the delivery fee taxable?
The delivery company must charge sales tax on the meals it resells to customers and must include its delivery fee in the taxable price. Because the delivery company is reselling the meals, the restaur…
Are hotel destination marketing fees subject to South Carolina's accommodations tax?
Yes. A destination marketing fee, hotel marketing fee, or similar charge imposed with transient lodging is part of the gross proceeds from furnishing accommodations and is subject to South Carolina's …
When a company rents scaffolding and bills extras like sheeting, planks, lighting, delivery, on-site equipment, consumables, and erection labor, which of those charges are included in the Colorado sales tax on the rental?
It depends on the rental's length and how each charge relates to the rental — and this GIL lays out the framework without deciding the specific items. Key points: (1) for rentals of three years or les…
What sales-tax change took effect in Williamsburg, James City County, and York County on July 1, 2018?
Effective July 1, 2018, a new 1% Historic Triangle regional tax raised the combined retail sales and use tax rate in Williamsburg, James City County, and York County to 7%. The bulletin also set sourc…
Is an in-store product demonstration and sampling service taxable in Texas, and does the provider owe tax on the supplies it uses even if it bills clients a flat fee for them?
In-store product demonstration and marketing services are NOT taxable in Texas because demonstration services aren't on the statutory list of taxable services -- but the provider still owes sales tax …
Did years of living in another state end Virginia domicile when the taxpayer kept voting and maintaining a home here?
No. Although the taxpayer lived in State A, she retained a Virginia home, license, vehicles, mailing address, and repeatedly voted full Virginia ballots. Virginia found she had not abandoned domicile,…
Could a gas station overturn estimated Virginia sales and use tax assessments without producing its records?
No. Virginia was allowed to estimate taxable sales, purchases, and fixed assets from the best information available after the business supplied no records. Because it still produced no evidence on app…
Did additional documents prove that a data warehouse appliance was resold tax-free to the federal government?
No. The new documents did not verify that the appliance and maintenance support were sold for resale, later transferred to a federal agency, or tied to the cited government contract. The prior assessm…
Could a homebuilder remove freight-and-handling and millwork purchases from a Virginia audit sample?
Only with more documentation. Combined freight-and-handling charges stayed taxable unless the builder proved they were freight only or obtained corrected invoices. Millwork purchases also required inv…
Would Virginia-based independent contractors create sales-tax nexus if they solicited only out-of-state wholesale customers?
Yes. Under the law applied in this 2018 ruling, using independent contractors who lived and solicited sales from Virginia created sufficient in-state business activity, even though they targeted only …
Does a company that leases mobile storage units (containers, trailers, office units) to construction contractors qualify for Texas's reduced retail/wholesale franchise tax rate?
No. A company that leases mobile storage units (containers, storage trailers, office units) to construction contractors and other commercial users does not qualify for Texas's reduced retail/wholesale…
Does the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) food and beverage tax apply to food, alcohol, and soft drinks sold on tour boats that depart from and return to docks on the Chicago River?
Yes. The Illinois Department of Revenue concluded that the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) Retailers' Occupation Tax on food, alcoholic beverages, and soft drinks applies to sales ma…
Which construction-company audit purchases could be removed based on the records supplied?
Virginia removed one engineering-services charge and one subcontract-labor charge after new records showed they were not material purchases. Other transactions stayed taxable because the documents did…
Were tickets to theatrical productions exempt under Georgia's temporary fine-arts exemption when a for-profit presenter used a qualifying nonprofit venue?
Yes under the temporary law then in effect. The theatrical productions were fine arts and occurred in a facility owned and operated by a 501(c)(3) organization with a qualifying arts and educational m…
Does the sale of jointly-owned real estate by a sale-leaseback company count in its Illinois sales-factor apportionment, and if so, how?
Yes -- the Illinois Department of Revenue ruled that the taxpayer's distributive share of gross proceeds from its joint venture's sale of investment real property must be included in its Illinois sale…
Is racing gasoline used off-road at tracks or in speedboats subject to South Carolina's motor fuel user fee?
Yes. Racing gasoline, racing gasohol, and racing blends containing gasoline are subject to South Carolina's motor fuel user fee whenever used or consumed in the state, even when used only in race cars…
Do sales and long-term leases of barges qualify for South Carolina's maximum tax as boats?
Yes. A barge used as a boat qualifies for South Carolina's 5% sales and use tax capped at $500. A lease qualifies only when written, stated for more than 90 continuous days, and kept in force for that…
Does South Carolina treat a jet ski or other personal watercraft as a boat for the maximum tax?
Yes. South Carolina treats a personal watercraft, including a jet ski, as a boat for the maximum sales and use tax. Effective July 1, 2017, tax is 5% of the applicable sales or lease amount, capped at…
When is kerosene subject to South Carolina's motor fuel user fee?
Kerosene is subject to South Carolina's motor fuel user fee when it is delivered into a highway vehicle's fuel tank, blended in South Carolina with undyed diesel fuel, sold as part of a gasoline-and-k…
How are CNG, LNG, and propane converted to gallon equivalents for South Carolina's motor fuel user fee?
For South Carolina motor fuel user-fee purposes, 126.67 cubic feet of compressed natural gas—or 5.66 pounds when dispensed through a mass-flow meter—equals one gasoline gallon equivalent. For liquefie…
How should taxpayers file when they moved to Virginia in June 2014?
They were Virginia part-year residents beginning with the June move. The couple had to file Form 760 PY, report income attributable to the Virginia resident period, and prorate personal exemptions and…
Did a temporary overseas assignment establish a new domicile outside Virginia for 2014?
No. The taxpayer kept a Virginia lease, driver's license, vehicle registration, and financial mailing address, and later moved to a different state rather than remaining abroad. Virginia treated the f…
Could nonresident individuals claim Virginia's corporate foreign-income subtraction on S-corporation income passed through trusts?
No. Pass-through owners could claim only modifications available under Virginia's individual-income-tax statute. The individual foreign-source-income subtraction had been repealed for years beginning …
Did a Japanese government employee working in Virginia owe Virginia income tax on compensation exempt from federal tax under the U.S.-Japan treaty?
No, on these facts. The treaty itself applied only to federal and national taxes, not Virginia tax. But Article 18 exempted this Japanese government employee's compensation from federal tax, leaving n…
Could Virginia assess an IRS adjustment when taxpayers failed to file an amended state return?
Yes. Taxpayers had one year to report the final federal adjustment on an amended Virginia return. Because they did not do so, Virginia could assess at any time from the IRS information, and the refund…
Did Virginia correctly limit a resident's credit for 2013 income tax paid to Vermont?
Yes. Virginia applied the allocation percentage from the Vermont nonresident return to Vermont taxable income and limited the credit to Virginia tax on the income actually taxed by Vermont. The reques…
Were retained arbitration proceeds foreign-source income when they arose from selling stock in a U.S. corporation?
No. The taxpayer retained the arbitration rights while selling stock in a U.S. corporation and reported the proceeds federally as gain. Virginia treated the proceeds as part of that domestic stock-sal…
Could nonresident grantor trusts, QSSTs, and ESBTs join an S corporation's Virginia composite return?
Yes. Qualifying grantor trusts and QSSTs could be included because their income is treated as owned by the grantor or beneficiary, and qualifying ESBTs could also participate. Each trust still had to …
Did a taxpayer successfully abandon Virginia domicile after moving to another state for work?
Yes. The taxpayer worked and lived in State A, leased a residence, moved his license and vehicle registration, registered to vote there, and had no meaningful Virginia ties beyond a mailing address. V…
Did employer error extend the deadline for a nonresident to reclaim 2011 and 2012 Virginia withholding?
No. Excess withholding remained subject to Virginia's three-year refund limitation regardless of whether the employer caused the error. The taxpayer filed both Form 763-S claims in March 2017, after t…
Could Virginia residents subtract overseas wages or defeat their assessments by asserting that one spouse changed domicile?
No. Virginia's foreign-source-income subtraction had been repealed for tax years beginning in 2003, so the overseas wages could not be subtracted if the couple were residents. The couple also failed t…
Did a six-year missionary assignment abroad end the taxpayer's Virginia domicile?
No. The taxpayer's wife and children remained in Virginia, a Virginia organization continued paying his stipend, the assignment was for experience, and he returned in 2016. Virginia treated the work a…
Could a taxpayer recover a 1999 overpayment by filing the Virginia return in 2016?
No. The 1999 return needed to be filed by May 1, 2003 under the general refund rule or by October 2007 under the two-year post-payment exception. Filing in August 2016 was too late under both periods,…
Could a residential contractor assume retailers had charged sales tax when invoices were missing?
No. Virginia required invoices or other records proving tax payment for each purchase. The audit was revised for transactions the contractor documented, but the remaining purchases stayed because gene…
Did payroll records and a reversing ledger entry prove that a fixed-asset entry was actually nontaxable labor?
No. A reversing ledger entry and payroll records did not prove the capitalized-materials entry had been corrected for tax purposes. Virginia required amended federal and state returns removing it from…
Could a door-and-glass shop remove church-association and other transactions from an audit extrapolation?
No. The church association was not itself a qualifying church, and the shop did not prove the disputed sales and purchases were isolated from its normal business. The sample extrapolation remained, an…
Was an appeal of denied HB 2313 transitional sales-tax refunds filed within Virginia's 90-day period?
No. Virginia treated the March 22, 2016 refund-denial letter as the assessment date, making June 20 the appeal deadline. The contractor's July 6 certified-mail postmark was late, so the Department cou…
Was the wife a full-year Virginia resident in 2014 despite spending substantial time in another state?
Yes. The couple moved to Virginia intending a permanent change in 2013, filed a Virginia part-year return, established a home here, and added licenses and vehicle registrations. Virginia treated the w…
Were Del Corazon Hospice's Medicaid receipts for nursing-home room and board excluded from gross receipts as amounts received solely for disclosed principals?
No. Del Corazon was contractually responsible for paying nursing homes, often advanced its own funds before Medicaid reimbursed it, billed Medicaid in its own name, received the money in its own accou…
Did a restaurant prove its complimentary meals, loyalty rewards, and construction-related fixed assets were exempt?
Only in part. The restaurant did not document which free meals arose from poor food quality or prove loyalty items were retailer coupons, so those audit items stayed. It did prove certain fixed assets…
Could a restaurant exclude complimentary meals and loyalty rewards without records showing why they were given?
No. Free meals avoid additional tax only when issued because of poor food quality; meals for service, public relations, or other reasons trigger use tax. The restaurant did not document which categori…
Did an overseas worker prove that he was domiciled outside Virginia for 2011?
No. The taxpayer asserted State A residence but kept a Virginia driver's license and possibly Virginia property, while providing insufficient evidence that Virginia domicile had been abandoned. The re…
When a company that bought an aircraft tax-free for leasing dissolves and distributes the aircraft to its parent for no payment, does Texas sales or use tax become due?
No tax is due. The Comptroller ruled that an LLC's original tax-free resale purchase of an aircraft stays intact because the aircraft was leased out (under third-party operational control) more than 5…
Did moving to another state before an overseas assignment end the taxpayer's Virginia domicile?
No. The taxpayer knew he would relocate abroad and did not show an intent to remain permanently or indefinitely in the other state. His Virginia property, license, vehicle registrations, addresses, an…
Did an airline pilot and spouse abandon Virginia domicile when they moved abroad for his employment?
No. Although the couple established a home abroad, they kept Virginia licenses, vehicles, and a home, repeatedly visited Virginia, used a Virginia federal-tax address, and had stated an intent to reti…
Could a Virginia resident subtract all income of a nonresident military spouse on a joint Virginia return?
No. A joint Virginia election would include both spouses' income, while separate treatment required allocating income and deductions to each spouse. Virginia computed the resident wife's separate liab…
Did living and working abroad establish that the taxpayer had abandoned Virginia domicile for 2015?
No. The taxpayer supplied no documentation showing a permanent departure, had filed the 2015 return as a Virginia resident, and retained a Virginia driver's license. The Department concluded he failed…
Could a contractor obtain a transitional sales-tax refund for purchases outside the three-year claim period?
No. The contractor filed its refund claim on November 30, 2016, so only purchases made in November 2013 or later were eligible. The Department found no applicable exception allowing a refund for earli…
How should a joint-venture project calculate and allocate Florida Capital Investment Tax Credit income?
Prepare a pro forma attachment separating project income and expenses, allocate the credit by each partner's joint-venture percentage, and attach both the Florida partnership return and pro forma sche…
Does a Florida vehicle-restoration shop owe tax on consumables that do not become part of the restored vehicle?
Yes. Consumables such as masking materials, abrasives, gloves, towels, and tools were taxable to the shop because it used them and they did not become vehicle components. Only incorporated parts and m…
How can taxpayers check whether an older South Carolina advisory opinion was modified or superseded (per SC IL #18-4)?
Use the citator attached to SC Information Letter #18-4. It helps you determine what effect newer South Carolina advisory opinions have on previously published ones — whether an opinion was modified, …
Where can taxpayers find South Carolina Department of Revenue advisory opinions by tax topic through March 30, 2018?
Use the subject index attached to SC Information Letter #18-3. It organizes South Carolina Department of Revenue advisory opinions issued from 1987 through March 30, 2018 under administrative, alcohol…
Was Virginia tax computed on a retirement distribution before subtracting federal income tax withheld?
Yes. Virginia began with federal adjusted gross income, which included the entire retirement distribution, including the amount withheld for federal tax. Virginia law provided no deduction for federal…
Could Virginia assess a resident from IRS information before the taxpayer's federal dispute was finally resolved?
Yes. Virginia could use IRS information to assess the resident without waiting for the federal dispute to end. If a later final federal determination changed the taxpayer's income, the taxpayer could …
Did a corporation's brief timely letter preserve a refund claim when its detailed amended return came later?
Yes. The timely letter identified the corporation, tax type, year, requested refund, and failure to claim a foreign-source-income subtraction. Because the assessment and payment dates were determinabl…
Did a former service member become domiciled in Virginia during 2013 while attending graduate school elsewhere?
No. The husband retained his prior state's license, vehicle registration, and voting ties through military service and while attending school elsewhere. Virginia found that he did not change domicile …
Did an active-duty service member remain domiciled in another state despite extensive Virginia connections?
No. The service member's Virginia home, driver's license, vehicle registrations, voting, resident returns, and statement of Virginia domicile in a divorce decree showed that he had established Virgini…
Could taxpayers carry forward excess prepaid-tuition contributions even though they claimed no deduction in the contribution year?
Yes, for the amount that exceeded the annual deduction limit for each contract. Failing to claim the available 2011 deduction did not bar legitimate excess contributions from carrying forward to 2012 …
Could illness and problems with tax preparers extend Virginia's three-year deadline for a 2010 refund claim?
No. The 2010 return claiming a refund was filed in November 2014, after the May 2, 2014 deadline. Virginia law provided for an agent to file for a disabled taxpayer but did not suspend the limitations…
How these rulings are useful
- See how the rule applies: A letter ruling shows how a state revenue department actually applied the tax law to a specific business and set of facts.
- Plan with confidence: Find a ruling with facts close to yours before you charge, remit, or claim an exemption.
- Binding only on the requester: A ruling is binding on the department only for the taxpayer who asked. It is persuasive, not a substitute for your own ruling or professional advice.
- Research across states: Compare how different states treat the same issue, from SaaS and food exemptions to nexus and contractor purchases.