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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Were freight charges a broker collected from shippers and passed to motor carriers part of its Virginia BPOL gross receipts?
Not if the broker could prove the carrier payments were separately accounted agency funds. Contracts showed it collected and disbursed the money for shippers and carriers, and its federal reporting ma…
Were meals sold directly to county-jail inmates by a charitable educational organization exempt from Illinois sales tax?
No. IDOR said the sale would be exempt if the prison itself sold meals to its inmates, but the requesting charitable or educational organization -- not the prison -- planned to be the seller. Its dire…
Does a public golf course owned by a nonprofit's single-member LLC have to charge Connecticut admissions tax on daily and seasonal greens fees?
It depends on the fee. Daily greens fees at the public course are exempt from Connecticut admissions tax as daily charges to participate in a sporting activity. But seasonal greens fees are taxable, b…
What federal tax changes did Virginia adopt for 2016 returns when it advanced its Internal Revenue Code conformity date?
Virginia advanced its fixed conformity date from December 31, 2015 to December 31, 2016 for tax years beginning in 2016. It adopted the 2016 Olympian and Paralympian medal-and-prize exclusion but reta…
Could Broken Hill claim Rural Jobs Tax Credit for workers kept on its payroll roster but paid for fewer than 48 weeks because of unpaid leave or third-party benefits?
No. Broken Hill showed that workers remained on its personnel roster, accrued seniority and benefits, and could not work elsewhere, but it did not provide detailed payroll proof establishing the 48-we…
Is the sale of a fractional share in an aircraft taxable, and is a later sale of the retired plane exempt?
No to the share, and the retired plane is exempt. Selling a fractional share is not a sale of tangible personal property because the share owner never gets dominion and control of the aircraft: the op…
How does Illinois tax a turnkey door-hanger marketing service that designs, prints, verifies, and distributes printed pieces?
IDOR did not give a transaction-specific yes-or-no answer; this nonbinding GIL supplied the serviceman framework. Tangible door hangers transferred with a service are taxed under one of four methods: …
Did gain from Fortune 500 insurance-company stock qualify for Virginia's small technology-business capital-gain subtraction?
No. The stock was purchased in 2004 and issued by a large insurance company, not a qualifying small Virginia technology business within the statutory investment period. Oral advice later written down …
Did a husband's move to another state make the couple eligible to file a joint Virginia nonresident return for 2012?
No. The husband worked and lived in another state, but kept his Virginia home, license, vehicle registrations, and voter registration and returned in 2013. Virginia found no domicile change, treated h…
Did delivered meal kits containing chilled, raw ingredients qualify for Virginia's reduced sales-tax rate on food for home consumption?
Yes. The chilled raw ingredients were packaged for customers to cook at home, so the full meal-kit sales price qualified for the reduced food rate then in effect. Separately stated delivery was exempt…
What percentage of rent under this mixed-use port-authority lease was subject to Florida sales tax?
The Department found 24.49% of the rent taxable. Property used exclusively to load or unload vessel cargo qualified for the port exemption, while the remaining leased areas were taxable.
How did Florida tax new security-system installations, upgrades, and later maintenance or repair under one proposed contract?
New installations, upgrades, and expansions were real-property improvements, so the customer was not charged security-service tax and the contractor paid tax on materials. Ongoing maintenance and repa…
I run my business from just across the state line and ship products to New Mexico customers — do I owe New Mexico gross receipts tax, and can I avoid it if I couldn't get resale certificates?
Yes, he owed the tax, and the protest was denied. Randall Gilbert sold custom cabinetry from his business in Farwell, Texas (right across the line from New Mexico) to New Mexico building contractors a…
Is a lender's insurance-tracking vendor providing a taxable data processing or insurance service when it monitors whether borrowers maintain required hazard/flood insurance?
No — a company that monitors whether a lender's borrowers maintain required hazard and flood insurance coverage, using its professional insurance-industry knowledge plus an automated system to process…
Could Nebraska real estate salespersons, associate brokers, or designated brokers qualify for microenterprise tax credits?
Salespersons and associate brokers did not qualify because they were treated as employees under a designated broker and did not manage or operate the business. A designated broker could qualify if per…
Were charges for online consumer-survey analytics and electronically delivered reports subject to Florida sales tax?
No, provided the charges were not part of a sale of tangible personal property. The baseline surveys and additional analytics furnished information and reports electronically.
What are South Carolina's new withholding filing and remittance due dates (per SC IL #17-3)?
SC Information Letter #17-3 reminds employers and withholding agents of new South Carolina withholding due dates. Forms W-2 and 1099 must now be filed with the Department on or before January 31 follo…
Does a company that custom-builds and permanently installs closets and cabinets make a retail sale or act as a Georgia real-property contractor?
The company acts as a real-property contractor, not a retailer, when it custom-designs, cuts, and permanently screws storage systems into a customer's studs so removal would significantly damage the u…
Are wood pellets sold for home heating exempt from Colorado sales tax?
Yes. Wood pellets bought for residential use are exempt from Colorado state sales tax. Wood pellets are wood, and wood sold for residential heating (stoves, space heaters, and other domestic fuel uses…
Is a $1-buyout computer lease to a student taxable, and does the schools exemption apply?
Taxable. A computer 'lease' to a student that lets the student buy the equipment for $1 at the end is really a credit sale (a financed purchase), which is taxable — and even if it were a true lease it…
Must a seller collect tax on audio/visual equipment sold to a contractor who presents a contractor's exemption certificate?
When a contractor working for an exempt entity (government, charity, or school) buys audio/visual equipment, the sale is exempt — and the retailer may accept either the contractor's exemption certific…
Who is allowed to decide my Kansas property tax appeal at the county level, and can the appraiser who set my value hear it?
Not the person who appraised your property. The directive quotes K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 79-1611: "Any person who has performed an appraisal of any property the appraised valuation of which is appealed to a…
What corrections did Illinois make to a private sales-tax scorecard covering business inputs, local taxes, cloud software, credits, registration, and guidance reliance?
IDOR would not approve the private survey, but corrected several points: it supplied manufacturing-exemption citations; noted cable service was generally outside telecommunications excise tax; said el…
Did arbitration proceeds tied to a domestic subsidiary's stock sale qualify for Virginia's foreign-source-income subtraction?
No. The sold subsidiary was a U.S. corporation, so the gain was not from foreign intangible property, and the federally reported stock-sale gain could not be recharacterized as technical fees. Because…
Which labor and customer transactions were exempt in Virginia's sales-tax audit of an audiovisual system seller?
Only separately stated labor performed by installation technicians qualified for the installation exemption; engineering and other services remained in the taxable system price. Virginia allowed credi…
Were RJ Handyman's separately billed material reimbursements and Kayla Marshall's door-knocking work for an out-of-state company taxable New Mexico gross receipts?
Yes. Separately stating material costs satisfied bookkeeping rules but did not prove that RJ Handyman could bind customers or that retailers could enforce obligations against them. Without disclosed a…
Are Connecticut sales and use taxes owed on a home warranty (home service contract), and does it matter whether the home is owner-occupied or a rental?
It depends on how the home is used. A home warranty on income-producing (rental) residential property is taxable on the entire contract price as a service to income-producing real property. On an owne…
Did this non-Florida reinsurer have Florida corporate-income-tax nexus, and did its affiliates have a Florida regional home office?
No. The reinsurer had no Florida nexus, and none of the affiliated ceding companies was resident in Florida or had a Florida regional home office under the ruling's facts.
Could California residents amend a Virginia nonresident return for a reciprocal tax credit after California changed their 2011 liability?
Yes. California's September 2015 adjustment made the taxpayers eligible to claim Virginia's reciprocal nonresident credit, and their May 2016 amended Virginia return was within the special one-year pe…
Are disability benefits a city pays to injured employees under the Public Employee Disability Act (PEDA) subject to Illinois income tax withholding?
It depends on federal tax treatment: PEDA benefits are included in Illinois base income, and Illinois withholding is required, only if the same payments must be included in the employee's federal adju…
Did Illinois's $100 penalty apply when a company failed to file ST-556 or ST-556-LSE for a zero-tax motor-vehicle sale for resale?
It depended on whether the seller made any retail sales of titled property. A company selling titled vehicles exclusively for resale did not have to file transaction returns and incurred no $100 penal…
Could a trust-owned aircraft qualify as nonresident property when a Florida resident ultimately managed the trustee?
No nonresident treatment applied. Aircraft owned by the trustee and found in Florida were subject to sales or use tax because a Florida resident ultimately had authority to manage, direct, or control …
Does a private equity fund member or its management company have Illinois income tax nexus, and how is income from selling LLC units or receiving management fees apportioned to Illinois?
The Department will not issue a nexus ruling because nexus determinations are too fact-specific, but it points to Illinois' general apportionment rules: gains from selling intangible property (like LL…
Did Autoglass Technologies become liable for its predecessor's tax by continuing the same glass-repair business without a formal asset purchase?
Yes, for tax principal. The former company's supplies and goodwill transferred to Autoglass, which continued essentially identical work with many of the same employees and customers. That made Autogla…
How can taxpayers check whether an older South Carolina advisory opinion was modified or superseded (per SC IL #17-1)?
Use the citator attached to SC Information Letter #17-1. It helps you determine what effect newer South Carolina advisory opinions have on previously published ones — whether an opinion was modified, …
Could a USPS Highway Contract Route courier recover $179,732.03 of New Mexico gross receipts tax without its contract, route logs, receipts, or delivery-point records?
No. A Highway Contract Route was the modern name for a star route and fell within New Mexico's specific mail-contractor apportionment rule. Diamond T might have qualified for an interstate-commerce or…
Could CORE avoid gross receipts tax penalties or limit the assessment period because it did not know New Mexico taxes services?
No. CORE's genuine lack of awareness did not establish reasonable care, affirmative misinformation, or reliance on informed professional advice. Its New Mexico educational-service receipts were taxabl…
Is Nebraska Revenue Ruling 29-87-11 on Computer Software still in effect?
No -- it has been withdrawn. Revenue Ruling 29-17-1 (issued January 3, 2017) rescinds Revenue Ruling 29-87-11, 'Computer Software,' which had been issued January 19, 1988. The one-page rescinding ruli…
Did a one-time or minimal Illinois sale by an out-of-state seller automatically limit it to collecting only the 6.25% Illinois Use Tax?
IDOR would not decide. Nexus was too fact-specific for a nonbinding GIL, and the seller supplied too little detail. The 2016 letter distinguished an Illinois retailer owing Retailers' Occupation Tax, …
How did Illinois classify a tissue bank's cost-plus charges for providing donated non-transplantable human remains for research and training?
IDOR said the tissue bank appeared to sell services, not make retail sales, so it did not incur Retailers' Occupation Tax. Tangible remains transferred with the service could create Service Occupation…
Did self-service copiers leased to retail print shops qualify for Illinois manufacturing or resale exemptions?
Generally no manufacturing exemption: a copier must be used primarily in a process commonly regarded as manufacturing, and ordinary self-service copying did not establish that. The lessee also could n…
Did the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act keep this active-duty member's basic pay outside Virginia income tax?
No. Military orders alone do not change domicile, but a servicemember can voluntarily establish a new one. The taxpayer provided no proof of continued ties to the claimed home state and instead owned …
Was saying that he neither worked nor lived in Virginia enough to overturn this nonfiler's 2012 assessment?
No. The taxpayer supplied no objective evidence despite two Department requests, so he did not prove abandonment of Virginia domicile or overcome the assessment's presumption of correctness. He receiv…
Could Virginia assess a nonfiler from an IRS audit adjustment and give notice at the taxpayer's last known address?
Yes. Virginia used the IRS's final income adjustment after the taxpayer failed to file a state return or respond to an information request. The Department had mailed proposed-assessment notice to the …
Could a Virginia resident defeat a 2012 assessment merely because the Department could not provide the employer's actual Form W-2?
No. Federal exchange data showed wages from a California employer and interest from a Virginia institution, and the taxpayer did not deny Virginia residency or receiving income. The assessment remaine…
Was an auto body shop subject to Virginia's annual litter tax because it sold replacement vehicle parts during repairs?
Yes. Motor-vehicle parts were enumerated litter-tax products, and the shop regularly sold and installed them while repairing damaged bodies. Those parts were integral to its primary repair business, n…
Are orthodontists' clear aligners, protective gloves and masks, and give-away dental hygiene items subject to Connecticut sales and use tax?
It's a mix. Custom clear aligners are exempt as corrective equipment worn for a functioning part of the body under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-412(19)(C). The gloves and masks orthodontists and their staff …
How did Illinois sales tax apply to a bowling and arcade venue's games, rentals, memberships, food, merchandise, and party packages?
Merchandise, meals, beer, and wine were taxable retail sales; bowling and other amusement play were not sales-taxed when no property transferred. Locker and shoe rental receipts were not taxed, though…
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-16(7)C: Is a foreign bank's New York office a 'branch' under Tax Law section 1454(a)(5)(B) — so its deposits go in the deposits factor — when the office approves loans and disburses funds but does not accept loan repayments?
No. Because the New York office did not accept loan repayments through its own employees on a regular and systematic basis (all repayments went by wire to an unrelated bank), it was not a 'branch' und…
When must a South Carolina manufacturer return its real and personal property, and when are the resulting property taxes due?
A manufacturer generally returned its South Carolina manufacturing property to the Department of Revenue using the last day of its income tax year preceding the property tax year as the lien date. The…
What did Virginia's original Food Crop Donation Tax Credit guidelines require from farmers and nonprofit food banks?
Beginning in 2016, qualifying Virginia farmers could claim 30% of donated food crops' fair market value, up to $5,000 per taxpayer and a $250,000 statewide annual cap. A Virginia nonprofit food bank h…
A company runs a cloud document-storage product and an optional add-on, both accessed through a web portal that is itself software. Are its charges subject to Tennessee sales and use tax, or is the real product a nontaxable data-storage service?
No. The company's charges for its cloud 'Basic Product' and optional 'Add-On Component' are NOT subject to Tennessee sales and use tax. Both run on the company's proprietary software, and the web-base…
My tax preparer told me I didn't owe New Mexico gross receipts tax — if that advice was wrong, can the penalty be waived because I relied on a professional?
No — the penalty stood, because relying on a preparer whose competence you never checked is not the 'reasonable reliance on competent counsel or an accountant' the law requires. Hilario Leos and Chris…
Were separately stated freight charges on wine shipped directly to Illinois consumers excluded from sales tax when free winery pickup was available?
Potentially, but IDOR would not give a fact-specific statement. Delivery is taxable when inseparably linked to the sale, such as when the customer has no way to buy without paying delivery. If free pi…
Did a room lease and work aboard a vessel prove that this taxpayer abandoned Virginia domicile for 2012?
Not on the evidence provided. The taxpayer had a month-to-month room lease elsewhere and worked aboard a vessel most of each month, but renewed his Virginia driver's license in 2011 and ignored two re…
Did repeated requests that an employer start Virginia withholding relieve the employee from paying the tax due?
No. The employee reported Virginia wages and a tax liability but no corresponding withholding. Even if the employer should have withheld and ignored his requests, no tax was actually deducted from his…
Did a Public Health Service commissioned officer qualify for Virginia's military-pay subtraction when fewer than 90 active-duty days fell in 2012?
Yes. The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps counted as a uniformed service, and the 90-day test applied to the continuous extended-active-duty period rather than days within one tax year. Becaus…
What Virginia tax interest rates applied during the first quarter of 2017?
Virginia's first-quarter 2017 rates were 6% for tax underpayments and 6% for tax overpayments. The reduced rate for qualifying assessments in administrative appeals was 1%. Certain local delinquency a…
Are materials an IDA agent buys for off-site utility improvements exempt from New York sales tax?
No. An Industrial Development Agency (IDA) is exempt from tax on its own property and activities, and a private developer acting as the IDAs agent can share that exemption — but only for property the …
Was a food-and-drink concessionaire's percentage fee for space inside a public library subject to Florida sales tax?
No. The Department treated the publicly owned library as a recreational facility, so the food-and-drink concessionaire's monthly percentage fee for licensed space qualified for the section 212.031 exe…
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