Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
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…
By Jessica Kerner and Pilar Mata
The Georgia Department of Revenue determined that a company’s cloud-based applications and related services are not subject to Georgia sales and use tax. The company maintains and operates hardware and software on servers located outside of Georgia that it uses to support its customers’ telecommunications equipment, including voice, video…
By Jessica Kerner and Timothy Gustafson
The New York Department of Taxation and Finance advised a website operator, through which restaurants offer meals for sale, that it was not subject to sales tax on the fees it charged to the restaurants for services provided. The website allows approximately 5,000 restaurants in more than 27 cities…
…
By Kathryn Pittman and Andrew Appleby
The Virginia Tax Commissioner determined that an ink manufacturer’s purchase of cleaning chemicals did not qualify for the industrial manufacturing exemption from sales and use tax. To avoid color contamination, the taxpayer had to regularly clean the equipment used to produce the ink with special cleaning chemicals. The taxpayer…
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 Mary Alexander and Timothy Gustafson
The Colorado Department of Revenue determined that a mail-order seller was required to collect state and local sales tax on orders shipped to localities where it had established nexus and state use tax (and any applicable special district use tax) on all other sales shipped to customers in Colorado.
