The Supreme Court of Mississippi recently held that separate freight fees are not included in Mississippi use tax base. The taxpayer, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, paid use tax on certain tangible personal property that it used in Mississippi. It later paid freight charges to a third-party company to ship these goods to Mississippi and did
Texas Supreme Court holds that correctional facilities are not exempt as government instrumentality
The Supreme Court of Texas ruled that a corporation that owns and operates correctional facilities was not exempt from sales and use taxes as an unincorporated instrumentality of the United States or Texas. The corporation runs private prisons and enters into contracts with federal and state government agencies to house inmates. The Comptroller assessed the
Minnesota Supreme Court prescribes a win: Wholesale drug distributor able to exclude rebates from gross revenues
The taxpayer, a wholesale drug distributor, was subject to the Wholesale Drug Distributor Tax which is imposed on the taxpayer’s gross revenues from selling prescription drugs. The taxpayer offered rebate programs which provided a discount on future invoices based on a customer’s purchases from the prior month/quarter. The taxpayer did not previously include the rebate
Washington proposes limitation on MPU exemption for sales of software maintenance agreements
The Washington Department of Revenue issued proposed guidance limiting the application of the multiple points of use (MPU) sales tax exemption for bundled software maintenance agreements.
The MPU exemption provides a retail sales tax exemption for the purchase of digital goods, prewritten computer software, remotely accessed prewritten computer software, digital automated services, and digital codes
Iowa data center property owners and tenants both entitled to sales tax exemption
The Iowa Department of Revenue ruled that while a data center property owner and its tenant can both independently qualify for the sales tax exemption for data center businesses, the property owner and the tenant cannot aggregate their investments to meet the minimum investment requirement. Iowa law provides a sales tax exemption for data center
NY Tax Talk: Triggers for tax on software-as-a-service
New York continues to closely review the application of state sales tax to services performed using software platforms.
Recently, two May decisions by the New York Tax Appeals Tribunal and the New York Division of Tax Appeals affirmed the Division of Taxation’s decision to tax service providers for the sales of prewritten computer software in
Sour grapes: Washington Court of Appeals dismisses juice drink sales tax class action
The Washington Court of Appeals recently upheld the dismissal of a putative class action brought against four grocery store chains that collected sales tax on sales of 100 percent juice beverages. A taxpayer alleged that the grocers violated Washington’s Retail Sales Tax Act and Consumer Protection Act by wrongfully collecting sales tax on the exempt
New York Tax Appeals Tribunal holds sales of a company’s labor procurement system are taxable as pre-written software
The New York Tax Appeals Tribunal held that a company’s fees related to sales of its labor procurement system were taxable sales of pre-written software.
Taxpayer, Beeline.com Inc., provides services to assist customers in gathering, organizing, managing and assembling their contingent labor force. As part of its service contracts, taxpayer grants its customers license to
Taxing truths: A discussion on the use tax implications in Ellingson Drainage
In the latest episode of the SALT Shaker Podcast, Eversheds Sutherland attorneys Jeff Friedman and Jeremy Gove welcome UConn School of Law Professor Rick Pomp to discuss Jeff and Professor Pomp’s US Supreme Court cert petition in Ellingson Drainage, Inc. v. South Dakota Department of Revenue.
Jeff, Jeremy and Professor Pomp delve into the
Not so rewarding: Arizona Supreme Court holds rewards program reimbursements are subject to transaction privilege tax
On June 7, 2024, the Arizona Supreme Court held that reimbursements received by a hotel when participating in a hotel rewards program were subject to the Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT). The reimbursements were paid to the taxpayer when it provided a guest with a complementary hotel stay under the program. The rewards program required the