By Ted Friedman and Timothy Gustafson

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance issued a Tax Bulletin addressing the application of sales tax to sales of computer software and related services. The Department explained that the sale of prewritten software is taxable, while the sale of custom software is not subject to tax.

By Derek Takehara and Andrew Appleby

The Texas Comptroller determined that a semiconductor manufacturer’s purchases of computer software-related services were subject to sales and use tax because the taxpayer failed to prove that such purchases qualified for the multistate benefit exemption. Taxable services performed for use in Texas are generally subject to tax. Because some

By Stephanie Do and Pilar Mata

The Colorado Department of Revenue determined that an out-of-state S corporation was not subject to Colorado income taxes and was not required to register with the Department. The S corporation provided information technology consulting services and designed accounting software systems. One of the S corporation’s clients was located in

Minnesota Sales Tax Fact Sheet No. 177, 07/01/2014

The Minnesota Department of Revenue updated its Sales Tax Fact Sheet on digital products to explain that webinars (electronically accessed live or prerecorded audio and audiovisual presentations) are exempt from tax provided the following three requirements are met:

(1) Admission to the in-person presentation is not subject

By Stephen Burroughs and Andrew Appleby

The Tennessee Court of Appeals held that the Commissioner had the authority to require Vodafone, a wireless communications provider, to use an alternative apportionment method for Tennessee franchise and excise tax purposes. Vodafone used Tennessee’s statutory cost-of-performance (COP) method to source its telecommunication service receipts. Using Tennessee’s statutory COP

By Sahang-Hee Hahn and Pilar Mata

The Illinois Department of Revenue determined that a taxpayer’s cloud computing receipts should be sourced for sales factor purposes using a market-based approach because the receipts were derived from services. The taxpayer was an information technology hosting services provider engaged in a business that focused on the delivery and

By David Pope and Timothy Gustafson 

The Michigan Court of Appeals held that Thomson Reuters’ sale of Checkpoint, an online tax and accounting research program, was the sale of a nontaxable information service and not tangible personal property for purposes of Michigan’s use tax. The Michigan Department of Treasury argued Checkpoint was tangible personal