In an effort to curb the Texas Comptroller’s recent expansion of the tax imposed on data processing services, the Texas legislature has specifically excluded payment processing services from sales and use tax. Texas taxes data processing services, which includes “word processing, data entry, data retrieval, data search, information compilation, payroll and business accounting data production
Quick Update: Arkansas, Texas, California and North Carolina
In this episode of the SALT Shaker Podcast, host Chris Lee reviews an Arkansas determination that rent-to-own leases are subject to the short term rental tax, a Texas holding that a taxpayer’s refund claims fulfill the notice requirements, a California denial of a taxpayer’s refund claim for failing to exhaust the administrative remedies and a
Texas Court of Appeals Holds Manufacturing Exemption Refund Claim Fulfilled Notice Requirements
The Texas Court of Appeals held that a taxpayer’s refund claim sufficiently put the Comptroller on notice that the taxpayer claimed a manufacturing exemption. An electricity manufacturer filed a refund claim for sales taxes paid on various types of meters used in its business. The Comptroller denied the claim, and the taxpayer sought an administrative
Bless your heart: Texas Considers Maryland-Style Digital Advertising Tax and Broad-based Service Tax proposals
Immediately before last Friday’s deadline for the filing of unrestricted bills, Texas lawmakers introduced a digital advertising tax bill and a bill that would expand sales tax to a wide array of services.
H.B. 4467, filed on March 12 by Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-TX-116) would impose a tax on gross revenue from digital
Texas releases guidance on sales tax for online orders
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts recently released guidance explaining the application of Texas sales and use tax to online sales. In particular, online buyers must pay sales and use tax on taxable items delivered or brought into Texas. Remote sellers required to collect tax can do so based on either the shipping destination rate
Digital art subject to sales tax in Texas
The Texas Comptroller adopted an Administrative Law Judge’s decision affirming a sales and use tax assessment on a Texas-based marketing and advertising agency for “invoices for the time to create digital artwork.” According to the Comptroller, the artwork that the advertising agency “delivered to the third‑party printers was either finished art or preliminary art that
Texas Court of Appeals Upholds Insurance Premium Tax on Cotton Bale Insurance Policies
On September 24, 2020, the Texas Court of Appeals upheld the Texas insurance premium tax on insurance policies for bales of cotton temporarily stored at Texas warehouses. The court rejected the taxpayer’s arguments that: (1) the tax violated the Commerce Clause and the Import-Export Clause of the United States Constitution; and (2) the insurance at
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
Don’t Throw Away Your Shot! Texas Court of Appeals Holds All Alternative Arguments Must Be Clearly Stated In Initial Refund Claim
The Texas Court of Appeals held that the trial court did not have jurisdiction over a taxpayer’s sales and use tax refund claim because the taxpayer failed to properly state the grounds for the refund claim. The Texas Tax Code requires that a refund claim: (1) be written, (2) “state fully and in detail each
Oregon Decision and Texas Letter Ruling
In this episode we discuss two recent developments, including an Oregon decision concerning sales tax on vehicles (EAN Holdings, LLC v Oregon Department of Revenue) and a Texas letter ruling dealing with software as a service and data processing (Texas Private Letter Ruling No. PLR 20180724152951).
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