Digital Economy

Subscribe to Digital Economy via RSS

There has been significant controversy in New York regarding whether receipts from services—particularly those that may be delivered via the Internet—constitute “service” receipts or “other business receipts” for corporate franchise tax apportionment purposes. The distinction between “service” receipts and “other business receipts” is crucial because prior to 2015, New York Tax Law generally required sourcing…

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced his 2015-2016 budget and accompanying legislation on January 19, 2015 (the 2015 Budget Bill). If enacted, New York’s tax law will be significantly altered for the second time in two years. The sales tax provisions of the legislation will tax most intercompany transactions and will also accelerate the payment…

By Evan Hamme and Madison Barnett

Applying the “true object” test to software-related services, the Tennessee Department of Revenue determined in a letter ruling that optional services offered in connection with the sale of software would not be subject to sales tax, at least in some circumstances. The taxpayer in this case sells – and…

By Charlie Kearns
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has issued guidance on the sales tax, corporation franchise tax, and personal income tax implications of transactions involving convertible virtual currency, such as bitcoins. The Department’s guidance can be found here. The Department explained in its guidance that convertible virtual currency will be

…

By Evan Hamme and Timothy Gustafson

The Colorado Department of Revenue issued guidance to a taxpayer operating a colocation and hosting facility, which provided customers a place to securely store computer servers, on whether certain charges imposed by the taxpayer were subject to sales and use tax. Specifically, the taxpayer requested guidance on the applicability…

By Mary Alexander and Charlie Kearns

The Missouri Department of Revenue determined in a letter ruling that Bitcoins are intangible property not subject to tax under Missouri’s Sales and Use Tax Law. As explained by the taxpayer, Bitcoins are “a form of digital currency that is created by software and stored electronically.” Here, the taxpayer…

By Stephanie Do and Andrew Appleby

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue addressed the possible expiration and subsequent retroactive enactment of the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA). The Department advised Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to continue to rely on Technical Information Release (TIR) No. 05-8 (July 14, 2005), until further notice, to determine the taxability…

By Derek Takehara and Andrew Appleby

The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the Minnesota Department of Revenue’s imposition of sales tax on a software company’s sale of partially customized software because the taxpayer failed to separately state customization charges on customer invoices. The taxpayer licensed software that analyzed information on retailers’ cash registers. The taxpayer always…