On July 23, 2025, the Indiana Department of State Revenue issued Revenue Ruling # 2025-02-RST holding that generative artificial intelligence (AI) services accessed through web browsers or application programming interfaces are considered services and not subject to sales/use tax. The ruling involved a company headquartered outside of Indiana that provides advanced AI services to customers
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Enjoy your stay: Louisiana Court finds online travel booking companies not liable for sales tax collections
The Louisiana Court of Appeal held that online travel booking companies were not “dealers” required to collect sales taxes. The Louisiana Department of Revenue and various localities sued the booking companies for only collecting tax on the wholesale rate charged by the hotels rather than the retail rate charged to customers, which included a service…
New York Tax Appeals Tribunal hits the brakes on taxpayer’s sales tax refund argument
Taxpayer, a fleet management company, leases vehicles to businesses pursuant to a lease agreement that contains a terminal rental adjustment clause (“TRAC”) which is a clause that adjusts the amount of rent due under the lease at the end of the lease based on the value of the vehicle at that time. Depending on the…
Colorado Backs Up Backup: DOR Concludes Backup Service Non-Taxable Sale of Computer Software
The Colorado Department of Revenue has determined that an information technology provider’s sale of its backup service, which allowed its customers to back up business applications, files, and systems, and also included the delivery of computer servers to customers’ locations, constituted a nontaxable service. Although the Department “considered whether the placement of [the] servers constitut[ed]…
Something to Keep an Eye On: Texas Comptroller Says Web-Based Services for Eye Doctors Is Taxable Data Processing
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts issued a private letter ruling concluding that several services provided to optometrists and ophthalmologists were subject to sales tax as data processing. Specifically, the Comptroller determined that the taxpayer’s web-based software system, which doctors use to manage patient relationships, schedule appointments, refill prescriptions, and communicate about treatment, is a…
For the Record – Corporate Record Storage Service Provided in New Jersey not Subject to New York Sales Tax
On August 18, 2020, the New York Supreme Court, Albany County, held that there was no rational basis for New York’s imposition of sales tax on storage services performed in New Jersey that occurred subsequent to the initial sale and pickup of items in New York. The taxpayer, a New Jersey corporation, operated corporate records…
No Double Dipping: Nebraska Supreme Court Upholds Sales Tax On Telecom. Construction Company’s Purchases of Materials and Sales of Construction Services Using Materials
The Nebraska Supreme Court held that a telecommunications construction company was liable for sales taxes on both its purchases of construction materials to build telecommunications infrastructure and for its subsequent sales of services installing and constructing the same telecommunications property.
Nebraska law requires a construction contractor to make an election as to whether it will…
Phoenix Travelers Aren’t Getting a Free Ride
Arizona’s Supreme Court unanimously held that the city of Phoenix’s fee increase on ride-sharing trips at airports are not “transaction-based” fees and therefore constitutional. In 2016, Phoenix’s City Council had amended its City Code to require commercial ground transportation providers to pay a “trip fee” each time drivers picked up passengers from the Phoenix Sky…
If a Tree Falls in a Forest: Washington Court of Appeals Explains How Referral Services Are Sourced for B&O Tax Purposes
The Washington Court of Appeals held that taxpayer’s receipts for referral services are sourced to Washington for B&O tax purposes to the extent that such receipts are received from a lender located in Washington. The taxpayer operates an online platform through which the taxpayer offers educational tools on the loan process to prospective borrowers, analyzes…
Washington Court of Appeals Rules Online Research Taxable as Retailing
On January 13, 2020, the Washington Court of Appeals upheld the Washington Department of Revenue’s retailing characterization of taxpayer’s provision of online access to information in a digital research library. Therefore the taxpayer’s service was subject to Washington sales tax and the higher business and occupation (B&O) tax rate. Gartner, Inc. v. Washington Department of…



