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.
Can an IT-services LLC qualify for Georgia's high-technology computer-equipment exemption when it serves only affiliated member companies?
Yes, if the new LLC was created and operated as represented. A single Georgia facility operating under qualifying NAICS code 541512 could be a high-technology company facility, and it did not have to …
Can a foreign company buying materials delivered to a New York affiliate use resale certificates, and must it register?
It must register, and it may buy for resale only on materials it truly resells without using. The Canadian company has its suppliers drop-ship raw materials to its New York affiliate; because possessi…
Is a real-time web-analytics product that reports a customer's own website traffic subject to sales tax?
No. The product is an information service, but it qualifies for the 'personal or individual' exclusion and is not taxable. The company embeds tracking code on a customer's website, gathers data about …
Does a planned web-hosting data center qualify for New York's internet data center equipment exemption?
Yes, on the facts presented. New York exempts machinery, equipment and other property (servers, routers, storage racks, software, interior fiber/cables, and the like) bought by an operator of an inter…
Does converting customer-owned natural gas into liquefied natural gas (LNG) under a tolling arrangement -- where the processor never owns the gas -- still qualify as exempt 'processing' for Texas's manufacturing exemption?
Yes. The Comptroller ruled that liquefying natural gas into LNG for export is 'processing' that qualifies for the Texas manufacturing exemption whether the company sells the LNG itself (an F.O.B. arra…
Is converting natural gas into liquefied natural gas (LNG) for overseas shipment 'processing' eligible for Texas's manufacturing exemption, or is it just a taxable transportation-related activity?
Processing, not transportation. The Comptroller ruled that converting natural gas into liquefied natural gas (LNG) -- by changing its chemical composition and compressing/cooling it into a liquid -- i…
Could new real estate appraiser Ricardo Romero avoid penalty because he did not know he had to file CRS returns and pay gross receipts tax?
No. Ricardo Romero began a real estate appraisal sole proprietorship in 2012 but did not consult a tax professional or Department employee about CRS duties, file returns, or pay gross receipts tax tha…
Did Frank's Electric avoid negligence penalties by voluntarily finding and correcting gross receipts and withholding underpayments caused by its accounting system?
No. Frank's Electric hired a new bookkeeper who found that its accountant-developed system had underreported gross receipts and withholding tax, and the company voluntarily amended the returns. But in…
Are interior lighting design services taxable if the plans are delivered to the client electronically?
Yes. New York taxes interior decorating and design services - which include lighting design - whether or not any tangible property changes hands. Delivering the design plans electronically rather than…
Is an extensive building facade restoration a nontaxable capital improvement or a taxable repair?
It is a capital improvement, so the work is not subject to sales tax. New York taxes services that maintain, service or repair real property, but not work that adds to or improves real property as a c…
Was a large transaction fee required to enter a Florida sub-sublease taxable as rental consideration?
Yes. The transaction fee was consideration for the privilege of entering into and occupying the sub-sublease, so it was taxable as real-property rent rather than treated as a property purchase price.
Is an optional delivery fee taxable when a Georgia seller arranges third-party delivery of taxable goods and passes the full fee to the carrier?
Yes. A seller's delivery charge for taxable tangible personal property was part of the taxable sales price even when delivery was optional, separately stated, performed by a third party, and passed th…
Are compressed-gas cylinders and tanks exempt when sold or leased for qualifying use at a Georgia manufacturing plant, and what documentation must the seller keep?
Yes, when the cylinders, dewars, micro-bulk tanks, or bulk tanks held exempt gas necessary and integral to manufacturing at a Georgia plant. The seller could meet its proof burden by accepting a fully…
Could locksmith That’s the Key avoid penalty and interest because it honestly believed re-keying receipts from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were tax-exempt?
No. That's the Key conceded and paid gross receipts tax on re-keying services for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but sought removal of penalty and interest. Its belief that the entities were exempt was ho…
How should the royalty income earned by nonresident members of a musical band (organized as a partnership) be sourced to Illinois for income tax purposes?
A nonresident partner in a partnership (like a band) must include in Illinois net income his or her distributive share of the partnership's business income that is apportioned to Illinois under IITA S…
Was a medically supervised protein powder prescribed by a doctor of oriental medicine a prescription drug deductible from New Mexico gross receipts?
No. The obesity-treatment protein powder was distributed through licensed medical professionals and required monitoring for ketoacidosis, but its ingredients were food substances and it could legally …
Could Sandia Development deduct construction materials sold to LANL when it had letters referring to an NTTC but obtained the actual Type 6 certificate after the audit deadline?
No. Sandia Development had emails and a letter suggesting LANL intended to furnish an NTTC, but neither party could produce a timely executed certificate and the NTTC database showed only a Type 6 cer…
Were payroll fees and gross receipts tax reimbursements paid through an actor loan-out company subject to the film credit's $5 million performing-artist cap?
Yes. Evolutionary Pictures' $255,166.52 payroll-processing fee and $1,025,000 gross receipts tax reimbursement to EPPSLO existed only because it paid out-of-state actors through that loan-out company.…
When did progressive payments for a custom pressure vessel become taxable, and were crane and site-inspection reimbursements taxable?
Purchase-price payments became taxable gross receipts when the vessel was identified to the sales contract. Without a contrary agreement for future goods, identification generally occurred when the se…
How did Virginia Tax Bulletin 16-1 change fixed-date conformity and 2015 income-tax return adjustments?
Virginia advanced its fixed-date conformity from December 31, 2014 to December 31, 2015 for taxable years beginning in 2015. That generally adopted 2015 federal changes, including PATH Act extensions …
Could IDOR decide how municipal gas taxes applied to third-party natural-gas suppliers?
No. IDOR administered the statewide Gas Revenue Tax and Gas Use Tax but had no authority or jurisdiction over municipal gas occupation taxes imposed and administered by municipalities under 65 ILCS 5/…
How could an Illinois drop-shipper document a sale for resale to an unregistered out-of-state purchaser?
The Illinois seller had to collect tax or document an exemption when delivering to the purchaser's Illinois customer. A valid resale certificate from the out-of-state purchaser could establish resale …
What gallon-equivalent conversion factors did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 16-1 establish for CNG, LNG, and propane?
RR 16-1 treated 126.67 cubic feet of compressed natural gas, or 5.66 pounds through a mass-flow meter, as one gallon of motor fuel; 6.06 pounds of liquefied natural gas as one diesel gallon equivalent…
Did Virginia's related-party royalty add-back safe harbor exclude every royalty reported by Kohl's affiliate in other states, even portions not actually taxed there?
No. The Richmond Circuit Court held that the safe harbor applies only to the portion of related-member royalty income on which another state actually imposed a qualifying tax. Merely including royalti…
Could a telecommunications carrier remove software, maintenance, labor, and asset-gross-up purchases from a Virginia use-tax audit without invoices or contracts?
No, not on the existing record. The carrier supplied no invoices, contracts, or other evidence proving electronic software delivery, labor-only service, or another exemption. Every contested line and …
Could a telecommunications company reduce an Invoice Capture Tool asset gross-up when the supporting records for related contested assets had not been provided?
Not yet. The taxpayer did not dispute a specific item, and the related entity had not supplied the invoices and other records needed to remove assets feeding the Invoice Capture Tool calculation. Virg…
If a homeowner later receives a refund of property taxes (for example, from a certificate of error), does that refund reduce or require repayment of the Illinois property tax credit already claimed for the year the taxes were originally paid?
No amended return is required. The property tax credit for a prior year is based on the property taxes actually paid that year and is not redetermined when a refund is later received. Instead, the ref…
How did Illinois tax a security-system contract that included permanently installed components and movable clip-on cameras?
When the complete security system was sold and installed for one specified contract price, the installer could treat the work as a construction contract and pay Use Tax to suppliers on all related equ…
How did IDOR answer a 2016 survey about sales-tax nexus, software, digital goods, services, drop shipments, and refunds?
IDOR declined to give yes-or-no nexus answers because nexus was fact-specific, but supplied its 2016 general rules. It also said canned software was generally taxable, qualifying signed software licen…
Could a business bypass the county BPOL appeal process by asking Virginia for an advisory opinion during an active assessment dispute?
No. Virginia would not use an advisory opinion to decide the substance of an active county BPOL assessment dispute when the county had not joined the request. The taxpayer first had to appeal to the l…
Could Virginia consider an administrative appeal filed December 10 when the 90-day deadline expired November 23?
No. The August 25 assessment had to be appealed by November 23, 2015, but the taxpayer filed on December 10, so the administrative appeal was time-barred. Virginia still allowed 30 days to file a 2012…
How did Virginia treat grocery food sold in decorative tins, late or defective resale certificates, and repairs to built-in versus standalone refrigeration?
The result was mixed. Decorative tins were packaging, so qualifying food inside received the reduced rate; food bundled with separate ineligible items did not. Verified resale certificates removed som…
Can an Illinois retailer deduct part of its gross receipts from sales of E15 fuel as gasohol or majority blended ethanol fuel?
No. IDOR said E15—85% gasoline and 15% ethanol—fit neither statutory fuel category, so every dollar of gross receipts from E15 sales was subject to Retailers' Occupation Tax without the requested dedu…
A Tennessee company gives customers free web access to their account information, separately sells access to a rebranded third-party online platform, and uses remotely accessed software to run its own operations. Which of these are subject to Tennessee sales tax, and how does it handle software its employees use both inside and outside Tennessee?
It depends on which charge. (1) FREE website access the company bundles with its services is NOT taxable — the website is software, but its true object is the underlying nontaxable service, so the com…
Does Kansas sales tax apply to electricity a homeowner buys from a third-party solar developer under a solar power purchase agreement (PPA)?
The Department declined to answer, because a third-party residential solar power purchase agreement (PPA) is not lawful in Kansas. Under the Retail Electric Suppliers Act, only the certified public ut…
Is a lab's testing of medical marijuana for safety and potency subject to Connecticut sales and use tax?
No. A lab's services testing medical marijuana for safety and potency are not subject to Connecticut sales and use tax, because testing services are not among the enumerated taxable services in Conn. …
Which over-the-counter homeopathic remedies qualified for Florida's common-household-remedy sales-tax exemption?
Products recommended and generally sold to cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent human illness were exempt when they matched an approved DR-46NT common-household-remedy category. The ruling's product sche…
Is a hotel's service charge on a customer's high-speed internet access subject to Illinois sales or service tax?
Generally no, if the internet-access transaction transfers no tangible personal property to the customer. IDOR said a service-only transaction without such a transfer generally is not subject to Retai…
Did Illinois Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax apply when a condominium resident rented a second bedroom through an online platform?
Yes. IDOR treated the payments for stays under 30 days as taxable rent for living quarters. The lack of a bed did not matter, and platform registration and host screening did not make the room exclusi…
Is the electricity a company produces and consumes at its own facilities subject to Colorado sales or use tax?
No. The electricity this company produces and consumes at its own facilities is not subject to Colorado sales or use tax, because there is no 'sale.' Colorado taxes electric service only when it is fu…
How can taxpayers check whether an older South Carolina advisory opinion was modified or superseded (per SC IL #16-2)?
Use the citator attached to SC Information Letter #16-2. It helps you determine what effect newer South Carolina advisory opinions have on previously published ones — whether an opinion was modified, …
Are annual software-update fees and software maintenance agreements taxable in Colorado when the software is delivered electronically — even if the underlying software was taxable when it was bought before July 1, 2012?
No. Software updates and maintenance agreements that are delivered electronically and bought after July 1, 2012 are not subject to Colorado sales or use tax, because electronically delivered software …
New York Advisory Opinion TSB-A-16(1)C: May a corporate partner aggregate the activities and employees of two majority-owned broker-dealer partnerships to meet the Investment Tax Credit's 'principally used' and employment tests?
Yes. Using the aggregate method, a corporate partner deemed a registered broker-dealer through disregarded SMLLCs may combine the qualifying uses and employees of its two majority-owned partnerships t…
Who owed Illinois tax when a company leased computer and audiovisual equipment and then re-leased it to customers?
For a true lease, the original lessor was the end user and owed Use Tax on its cost; Illinois imposed no tax on rental receipts, so the lessee and sublessee incurred no tax liability. A conditional sa…
Were distributor renewal fees and bundled online dashboard and personal-website fees subject to Illinois sales or service taxes?
Membership fees were generally nontaxable intangibles when they transferred no tangible personal property. A fee that included property or property incident to a service could create tax, while online…
How does Georgia sales tax apply to warranty repair parts, deductibles, and separately stated repair labor?
For a manufacturer warranty included in the taxable product price, repair parts were not taxed again but the deductible was taxable. For a separately sold optional warranty whose price was not taxed, …
Is Cobb County's $3 Recreational and Sports Tourism Service Fee included in a hotel's Georgia sales-tax base?
No, if the fee was separately stated on the guest's invoice. Cobb County imposed the $3-per-room-night fee directly on the hotel guest, so Georgia excluded it from the taxable sales price when separat…
Was a restaurant tabletop device used mainly for ordering and paying a coin-operated amusement device or redemption machine?
No, based on IDOR's understanding. The device was used primarily to buy food, place orders, pay bills, and complete surveys—not primarily for amusement—and it did not meet the redemption-machine defin…
What is South Carolina's tax interest rate for underpayments and overpayments for the period ending March 31, 2016 (per SC IL #16-1)?
3%. SC Information Letter #16-1 sets South Carolina's interest rate on tax underpayments and overpayments at 3% for the period October 1, 2011 through March 31, 2016. Interest is compounded daily, exc…
How does Georgia sales tax apply to home plans, materials workbooks, marketing products, architectural modifications, custom design, and builder consulting?
Tax treatment depended on the product and delivery. Tangible home plans, workbooks, marketing materials, construction signs, and related shipping were taxable; electronically delivered workbooks and m…
Does an out-of-state company owe Colorado income tax just because one of its sales representatives lives in Colorado?
Not necessarily. The company is an LLC taxed as an S corporation, so the entity itself owes no Colorado income tax, but its shareholders must file Colorado returns if the company does business here—me…
Which data-center colocation charges - cross connects, cage rentals, equipment service, power - are subject to New York sales tax?
It splits across the five services. (1) Cross Connect access to the provider's 'dark' fiber is not taxable telephony/telegraphy - the provider does not transmit signals (the customer lights the fiber …
Did a nine-year delay in referring Precision Eye Center's protest eliminate or reduce interest after the parties agreed the original tax assessment was too high?
No additional interest relief was available for delay. The parties agreed that NTTC-backed receipts, insurance payments, postage reimbursements, credits, and a 2005 eyeglass deduction substantially re…
Did Archaeological Support Services owe two $5 late-filing penalties when it mailed zero-liability CRS returns in envelopes shared with another business?
Only one. Archaeological Support Services had no taxable receipts but kept its CRS number and mailed quarterly zero returns in the same envelopes as the owner's wife's business returns. Because the De…
Were a public-school employee's 1099 payments for gym monitoring and one annual student trip taxable independent-contractor business receipts?
No. Larry Gonzales monitored Albuquerque Public Schools gym use at his principal's direction to protect school property, so the AYBL payments were wages for activity within his APS employment despite …
Could buyers use a transferred 2006 Virginia Land Preservation Tax Credit on their 2012 return after its five-year carryover expired?
No. A Land Preservation Tax Credit earned in 2006 could be carried only through 2007-2011. The later 10-year carryover applied only to property conveyed on or after January 1, 2007. The Department had…
Can a taxpayer bypass Virginia's refund deadline by carrying a late-claimed overpayment forward as a credit to the next year?
No. Virginia treated a request to credit an overpayment to another tax year as subject to the same three-year limitation as a cash refund. The 2011 return was due May 1, 2012, so the taxpayer had to f…
Did IDOR determine whether a steroid-releasing sinus implant qualified for Illinois' 1% rate as a drug or medical appliance?
No. IDOR lacked enough information about the implant's use and label claims to decide. It explained that qualifying drugs and medical appliances received the 1% state rate plus local tax, then directe…
Did federal Tax Court allocation or a divorce agreement relieve a husband from Virginia liability on a joint 2010 return?
No. Virginia adjusted the 2010 joint return to match federal income changes that the couple had not reported. State law made each spouse liable for the entire joint-return tax. The federal Tax Court's…
Could a taxpayer receive Virginia's 2009 amnesty benefits for old liabilities when the required returns were not filed by December 5, 2009?
No. Virginia's 2009 amnesty required all relevant returns and supporting documents to be filed, and the qualifying liability paid, by December 5, 2009. The taxpayer did not file several old returns un…
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.