The Texas Court of Appeals ruled that a law firm’s purchases of loan packages for lending institution clients was the taxable purchase of data processing services. The law firm purchased loan packages consisting of promissory notes, deeds of trust, tax disclosures and other pertinent legal documents from vendors. The law firm argued that the “essence
Digital Economy
Missouri Senate votes to bring digital product tax referendum to voters
Missouri Senate Joint Resolution 33 provides that voters will decide whether to amend the state constitution to tax digital products. Missouri’s constitution prohibits expanding the sales and use tax to any services that were not taxable as of January 1, 2015. Joint Resolution 33 proposes to allow taxation of “subscriptions, licenses for digital products, and…
California says certain online activities and remote workers eliminate P.L. 86-272 protection
In Technical Advice Memorandum (TAM) 2022-01, the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) considered whether remote workers and various online activities eliminate P.L. 86-272 protection. In large part reflecting the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) guidance issued last year, the TAM concludes that a variety of activities may disqualify a taxpayer from the protections provided…
South Dakota bill proposes to exempt data center IT equipment
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Wisconsin private letter ruling determines taxability of online learning plans
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Massachusetts Legislature considering multiple digital advertising tax proposals
Following on Maryland’s heels, there are currently five separate digital advertising tax measures pending before the Massachusetts legislature. H. 2894 would impose a 5% tax on the annual digital advertising revenue from companies generating more than $25 million in digital advertising sales in Massachusetts. H. 2928 would not impose a tax directly, but would create…
Minnesota updates guidance regarding marketplace providers
The Minnesota Department of Revenue has released updated guidance regarding the state’s requirement that out-of-state marketplace providers collect and remit Minnesota sales tax if their total sales (including facilitated sales) over the prior 12-month period total either 200 or more retail sales shipped to Minnesota, or more than $100,000 in retail sales shipped to Minnesota.…
Alabama introduces legislation to exempt cryptocurrency from property tax
An Alabama legislator has re-introduced a bill that would expressly exempt “virtual currency” from ad valorem tax. Alabama broadly imposes its ad valorem tax on all property, unless expressly exempt. Under current law, several other forms of currency are enumerated as exempt, such as “money on deposit in any bank or banking institution and all…
New York ALJ determines multilevel marketing company’s web-based service not taxable
The New York Division of Tax Appeals determined that a multilevel marketing company’s provision of access to its web-based software that contains confidential and proprietary information and reports for use in developing business was neither the taxable sale of prewritten computer software, nor the sale of a taxable information service. The company, a multilevel marketing…
Indiana manufacturer’s software service agreement not subject to sales tax
The Indiana Department of Revenue issued a protest ruling that an auto parts manufacturer was entitled to a refund on certain software service purchases for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 years. The taxpayer licensed software through a remote platform into which taxpayer loaded its own data for education services, cloud services, and manufacturing support services.…



