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.
Did a county audit letter styled as a final determination permit an immediate Virginia Department appeal when the taxpayer had not first filed a local BPOL appeal?
No. The county audit staff's letter denied the refund and was labeled a final determination, but it responded only to amended returns and not to a local administrative appeal. The refund denial was an…
Does a taxpayer with multiple related rental-property LLCs need to file a formal petition for alternative apportionment in order to apportion each property's income separately?
No. The Illinois Department of Revenue explained that if separate rental properties truly qualify as separate trades or businesses under Department Regulation 100.3010(b), each business's income is ap…
Is electricity used to power computers that write and test software exempt from Colorado sales tax as manufacturing or industrial use?
It depends on whether the broader activity is genuine manufacturing or industrial use. Electricity for commercial use is taxable, but electricity for manufacturing or industrial use is exempt (treated…
Does a cash-basis landscaping company owe sales tax when it collects a refundable customer deposit, or only later when it invoices completed work?
No, not at the time the deposit is received — a seller using the cash basis of accounting does not have to report and remit sales tax on a refundable customer deposit when it's collected; tax is due o…
Must a school student club that collects donations to buy childrens books for a charity report the money on sales tax returns?
No. The student club is not buying or selling books; it only solicits monetary donations and forwards them to a 501(c)(3) charity, which then buys and distributes the books. Because no sale of tangibl…
Is sales tax on a ferry boat purchase limited to the first $230,000 of the price in New York?
Yes. Tax Law section 1115(jj) exempts the receipts over $230,000 from the sale of a vessel (including an outboard motor or trailer sold with it) for sales on or after June 1, 2015. So a ferry operator…
How would this taxpayer calculate income arising from its qualified project for Florida's Capital Investment Tax Credit?
The Department agreed that 100% of the taxpayer's apportioned income generated during the credit's life would count as income from the qualifying project, subject to the ruling's certification, invest…
Does gambling income won and taxed in another state increase an Illinois resident's credit for taxes paid to other states under IITA Section 601(b)(3)?
No. The Illinois Department of Revenue explained that because gambling income of a nonresident is not allocated to Illinois under IITA Section 301(c)(2), that same gambling income would not be taxable…
Could a Greyhound agent deduct ticket, freight, and vending commissions or defeat the assessments because the Department waited seven years to request a hearing?
No. Farrell's nonemployee commissions were gross receipts. He could not quantify a travel-agent deduction because he had discarded records and could not separate passenger-ticket commissions from frei…
When an affiliated group's members must use different apportionment formulas (trucking, airlines, financial institutions, general), how does the group compute its combined Colorado income tax?
The affiliated group may use the subgroup methodology from the Department's prior rulings PLR-11-002 and PLR-15-005: financial and non-financial members eliminate all intercompany transactions, each s…
Could a local school-board member claim Virginia's subtraction for federal or state employees earning no more than $15,000?
No. Virginia treated local school boards as political subdivisions and distinguished their members from state employees, so the husband's compensation did not qualify for the subtraction in Va. Code §…
Could Virginia Tax decide whether a non-cable telephone and internet provider properly charged a local government a right-of-way or cost-recovery fee?
No. The provider did not offer cable television, so its surcharge was not a right-of-way fee administered under the Communications Sales and Use Tax Act. If it was a telephone right-of-way fee, VDOT h…
Could a fencing contractor remove assessed use-tax purchases by showing cancelled checks and asserting that the checks were personal cash withdrawals?
No. Cancelled checks showing cash did not establish that the withdrawals were personal when the contractor's own general ledger recorded them in small-tools and materials expense accounts. Because Vir…
Are cost-reimbursement charges for donated, non-transplantable human tissue supplied for medical research and training subject to Georgia sales tax?
No. The Department determined that the described non-transplantable human tissue was not tangible personal property under Georgia's Sales and Use Tax Act. Reasonable cost-reimbursement charges for acq…
Were online legal-document membership subscriptions subject to Florida sales tax when no tangible property was transferred or licensed?
No. The membership subscriptions were not subject to Florida sales tax because the provider did not transfer possession of, lease, or license tangible personal property.
How are service agreements, shipping, restocking fees, and resale certificates taxed on sales of medical imaging equipment in Colorado?
It depends on separability. A separate, optional service agreement on medical imaging equipment isn't taxed (the servicer pays tax on parts it uses) — but if it charges the customer for parts, it must…
Did 100% natural latex mattresses qualify for Virginia's durable-medical-equipment sales-tax exemption?
No. Virginia again held that the natural latex mattresses did not meet the durable-medical-equipment exemption because they remained useful when illness or injury was absent. A federal flammability re…
Did an advertising firm owe use tax on printed campaign materials bought for a tax-exempt nonprofit client, and could Virginia project a sample year's errors across the audit period?
Yes. An advertising business is the user and consumer of tangible property purchased for its campaigns, including printing, so the nonprofit client's exemption did not shield the firm's purchases. Vir…
How did Virginia's 2017 guidelines calculate and administer the Major Research and Development Expenses Tax Credit?
For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, taxpayers with more than $5 million of Virginia qualified R&D expenses could claim 10% of current expenses above 50% of the prior-three-year av…
How did Virginia's 2017 guidelines calculate and administer the regular Research and Development Expenses Tax Credit for taxable years beginning in 2016 or later?
The generally refundable credit offered a primary base calculation of 15% of qualified Virginia research expenses above the base amount, capped at $45,000, or 20% and a $60,000 cap for qualifying univ…
A financial institution files a combined Tennessee franchise and excise return with its unitary affiliates, and some of those affiliates are tax-exempt securitization trusts. Does it still include the exempt trusts in the group, and do their income, net worth, and receipts count?
Include them in the group, but leave their numbers out. The taxpayer is a savings association that files a combined Tennessee franchise & excise (F&E) return with its unitary financial-institution aff…
How did Florida source this service provider's receipts for the corporate-income-tax sales factor?
For the disclosed services, Florida treated the income-producing activity as occurring where the customer or service recipient was physically located. A separate, heavily redacted product-related stre…
Were Christopher Roche and Nguyen Park liable for penalty and interest when they timely mailed their 2015 return and check but USPS never delivered them?
Penalty no; interest yes. The AHO believed the taxpayers mailed their return and check before the deadline and found they exercised ordinary care. USPS's delivery failure was a third-party error, not …
Could an oncology practice recover gross receipts tax on medication receipts when its refund records combined authentic FDA-approved drugs with counterfeit nonapproved drugs?
No. Section 7-9-73.2 did not cover counterfeit, non-FDA-approved drugs, and the practice did not separate receipts for authentic qualifying medications from receipts for counterfeits. Although the rec…
How can taxpayers check whether an older South Carolina advisory opinion was modified or superseded (per SC IL #17-6)?
Use the citator attached to SC Information Letter #17-6. It helps you determine what effect newer South Carolina advisory opinions have on previously published ones — whether an opinion was modified, …
Were cable converter boxes taxable as business tangible personal property by a Virginia city for 2015?
No. Virginia held the customer converter boxes were intangible property exempt from local business tangible personal property tax under Va. Code § 58.1-1101 A 2a. The Department remanded the case and …
Are Poise pads for bladder leakage covered by Illinois's sales-tax exemption for feminine hygiene products?
No. Illinois's Retailers' Occupation Tax exemption effective January 1, 2017 covers only menstrual pads, tampons, and menstrual cups. Poise pads are designed for bladder leakage, not menstruation, so …
When a sale happens in a home-rule area with state, county, and city sales taxes, do you add all the individual tax rates together to get the total rate charged on the sale?
Yes. The Illinois Department of Revenue confirmed that in a home-rule jurisdiction like Jacksonville (Morgan County), you simply add each applicable tax rate together — state (6.25%), county (1.00%), …
Were corporate refund claims timely when Virginia amended returns were filed more than one year after IRS closing agreements became final?
No. The IRS closing agreements became final when the taxpayer received notice that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue had signed them. Both Virginia amended returns were filed more than one year lat…
Could a Virginia resident who moved during the year claim a credit for tax paid to the new state on income earned before the move?
Yes, for qualifying income earned in the other state while the taxpayer was still a Virginia resident and taxed by both states, subject to Virginia's statutory limits. But income earned while working …
Did working and leasing homes in Maryland establish Maryland domicile for 2011-2013 when the taxpayer filed Maryland nonresident returns naming Virginia as home?
No. The taxpayer worked and leased residences in Maryland but kept a Virginia license and vehicles and filed Maryland nonresident returns identifying Virginia as his residence. He did not prove a perm…
Did prescribed 100% natural latex mattresses qualify for Virginia's durable-medical-equipment sales-tax exemption?
No. The mattresses failed Virginia's durable-medical-equipment test because they were useful even without illness or injury and were not specifically manufactured for medical purposes. A prescription …
Could a contractor reduce a Virginia consumer-use-tax audit by showing that a vendor charged tax on only some invoices?
Only for transactions supported by adequate documentation. A few invoices justified limited audit adjustments, but proof that a vendor charged tax on some purchases did not establish that tax was paid…
Did federal gain from a deemed sale of Virginia land-preservation tax credits remain taxable for Virginia income tax?
No. Although the IRS treated the transaction as a disguised sale producing federal adjusted gross income, Va. Code § 58.1-513 E barred Virginia gain or loss from transferring the land-preservation cre…
Could a Virginia resident overturn income-tax assessments by claiming no duty to pay, tendering a hand-drawn Treasury check, and objecting to wage garnishment?
No. Most older appeals and refund claims were time-barred, and Virginia upheld the 2012 assessment because its information showed the taxpayer was a Virginia resident with taxable income. A hand-drawn…
Did a former service member who lived abroad prove that he had abandoned Virginia domicile for 2012?
No. The taxpayer did not establish a permanent domicile in another state or country and retained Virginia ties, including a driver's license for much of the period and use of a Virginia family address…
Were a horse-boarding facility's feed and supply purchases exempt as agricultural production, and was a six-year audit proper?
No exemption applied. The facility provided nontaxable horse-boarding services but did not raise horses for breeding or sale, so it was the taxable consumer of feed and supplies used in that service. …
What did Virginia's 2017 guidelines require for the Recyclable Materials Processing Equipment Tax Credit?
For taxable years beginning in 2015 or later, the guidelines described a credit equal to 20% of qualifying equipment purchase costs, subject to a $2 million statewide annual cap and proration. Equipme…
Is a company's charge for designing, printing, and distributing door-hanger marketing materials subject to Colorado sales tax?
Largely yes. A company that designs, prints, and distributes door-hanger marketing material is selling tangible goods — the printed material is the 'true object' — so a lump-sum charge is taxable. Eve…
Did a corporation prove that county vehicle-property-tax assessments should be abated because it was domiciled and taxed in another state?
Not yet. The corporation supplied out-of-state tax bills and insurance information but did not prove the bills were paid or establish where its commercial domicile and vehicles were located. Virginia …
Were Affordable Cellular's Verizon commissions for procuring wireless service agreements subject to New Mexico gross receipts tax?
Yes. Verizon paid Affordable Cellular nonemployee commissions for procuring wireless service agreements, a service performed in New Mexico. The commissions were not employee wages, tangible-property c…
Did Mosaic earn interest from the date it filed a $1.7 million compensating-tax refund form without explaining the factual and legal basis or providing invoices?
No. Mosaic's July 2015 filing stated only that compensating tax had been overreported and supplied amended returns plus a summary spreadsheet. It did not explain why the payments were erroneous or pro…
Did stock acquired in 2006 qualify for Virginia's long-term-capital-gain subtraction because it did not vest until 2011?
No. Virginia treated the stock as an investment when the taxpayer acquired it in 2006, even though it was then nontransferable and did not vest until 2011. Because the statute required the investment …
Were sales and rentals of required college textbooks by a private online retailer exempt from Virginia sales tax?
Yes. Both sales and rentals by a private retailer qualified when the textbook was certified by a college department or instructor as required for the student's course. The exemption applied to student…
Did a skid loader and mulching head used to clear land qualify for Virginia's forest-products harvesting sales-tax exemption?
No. The contractor cut and ground vegetation into mulch that stayed on the property, so it provided a land-clearing service and did not harvest forest products for sale or for use in a product to be s…
When is an adjustable bed and its special mattress exempt from Georgia sales tax as prescribed durable medical equipment?
A qualifying adjustable bed and its required special mattress are exempt when sold to an individual with an illness or injury under a prescription issued to that person. The bed must meet the durable-…
Two companies under a common corporate parent want to move internally developed software — and software-repair services — from one to the other. Is that transfer subject to Tennessee sales and use tax?
No — both are exempt. Tennessee has a specific exemption for intercompany software dealings between affiliated companies. (1) One affiliate's transfer of title to software it developed in-house, to an…
Could Virginia expand a contractor's use-tax audit from three years to six when it found untaxed purchases and no filed returns?
Yes. The contractor failed to accrue and remit use tax on untaxed purchases and filed no sales-and-use-tax returns, giving Virginia reasonable cause under Va. Code § 58.1-634 to examine six years. A h…
Were optional consulting services that gave customers instructions for modifying taxable canned software also subject to Virginia sales tax?
No. Although the canned software delivered in tangible form was taxable, the optional consulting contained no software or other tangible property and could be bought separately or not at all. Virginia…
Are fencing materials and services to repair wildfire-damaged agricultural fences exempt from Kansas sales tax?
Kansas Notice 17-01 explains that House Bill 2387 (2017) amended K.S.A. 79-3606d to exempt from Kansas retailers' sales tax the purchase of fencing materials and services during calendar years 2017 an…
Does an out-of-state seller of a hardware device and a cloud-based software subscription have to collect Illinois sales tax, and does the Illinois customer owe use tax if it doesn't?
It depends on whether the out-of-state business has nexus with Illinois. If it is an 'Illinois Retailer' or a 'retailer maintaining a place of business in Illinois' (which can include an in-state agen…
How did Virginia treat cable-franchise fees after the Communications Sales and Use Tax began in 2007?
New or renewed cable franchises entered on or after January 1, 2007 could not include a franchise fee while cable service remained subject to the communications tax. Fees under agreements already in f…
Did living abroad and filing a prior part-year return prove that this taxpayer was no longer domiciled in Virginia in 2013?
Not on the evidence provided. Living abroad and filing a prior part-year return did not by themselves prove abandonment of Virginia domicile, especially with a Virginia address and driver's license st…
Must married federal or state employees combine their salaries when testing Virginia's $15,000 employee-salary subtraction?
No. Virginia applied the salary limit separately to each employee-spouse. Because the wife was a federal employee whose total annual salary was below $15,000, the couple could subtract her qualifying …
Did temporary work in two other states end this taxpayer's Virginia domicile for 2012 income-tax purposes?
No. The taxpayer did not show a permanent home or intent to remain in either other state, while continuing to use a Virginia family address and driver's license. Virginia treated him as a domiciliary …
When a subsidiary is sold out of an Illinois combined unitary group, does the federal consolidated-return limit on using the sold subsidiary's losses (Treas. Reg. 1.1502-11(b)) also cap how much of that subsidiary's Illinois net loss carryover the group can use?
No. Illinois follows the federal consolidated-return rules (including Treas. Reg. 1.1502-11(b) and 1.1502-32) to compute combined base income and stock basis on the sale itself, but Illinois's own reg…
Are fluoride varnish and oral-health kits sold to dental and medical providers exempt from Colorado sales tax?
Likely yes — but not as a prescription drug. The FDA classifies fluoride varnish as a Class II medical device, not a drug, so it doesn't qualify for Colorado's prescription-drug exemption. It does, ho…
Is an optional maintenance agreement bought with a vehicle lease subject to Colorado sales tax?
No, not if it is truly optional and separately stated. A maintenance agreement sold with a vehicle lease is normally taxable unless it is separable from the lease — and it is separable when (1) the cu…
Does Illinois Use Tax apply when someone brings a vehicle bought overseas into Illinois after living there as a nonresident?
It depends on residency: Illinois Use Tax does not apply to a vehicle acquired outside Illinois by a nonresident individual who used it outside Illinois for at least 3 months before bringing it into t…
Does an employer's failure to withhold Virginia income tax relieve the employee from paying tax on the wages?
No. Even if the employer should have classified the worker as an employee and withheld Virginia tax, the worker remained responsible for reporting the income and paying the full tax. Without withholdi…
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.