Here are the sales tax cases from the TiNY Blog for the week of August 25, 2023.
Here are the sales tax cases from the TiNY Blog for the week of August 17, 2023.
In a decision with significant implications for the sales taxation of artwork, the New York Tax Appeals Tribunal ruled on February 28 that a $7 million painting (at least a one-half share in the painting) was validly acquired for resale resulting in a six-figure sales tax refund for a co-owner of the painting. Tribunal decisions on sales tax are significant in their own right, since they are somewhat rare and (as opposed to administrative law judge rulings) they become binding precedent. But the Objet LLC ruling should have particular relevance to the art industry since it tackles two issues that factor prominently in the high-stakes sales and related tax structuring that occur in the industry: one being the form-over-substance nature of sales tax, and the other being the proper analysis for determining when property is purchased “exclusively for resale”.
In 2015, the New York Tax Law was amended to provide exemptions from sales and use tax for certain sales of electricity generated by residential or commercial solar energy systems and sold under a written solar power purchase agreement (“PPA”) (See N.Y. Tax Law §§ 1115(ee)(2), 1115(ii)(2); see also TSB-M-15(5)S). These exemptions were in addition to the already existing sales tax exemptions for the sale and installation of residential and commercial solar energy systems equipment (See Tax Law §§ 1115(ee)(1), 1115(ii)(1); see also TSB-M-05(11)S and TSB-M-12(14)S).
After several years of failed bills, Florida has finally joined the other 43 states that have passed economic nexus threshold for sales and use tax purposes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc. On April 19, 2021, Governor Ron DeSantis signed S.B.50 that enacted legislation imposing a sales tax collection requirement on both remote sellers and marketplace providers.
Here are the sales tax cases from the TiNY blog for the week of March 25, 2021.
Because this was handled by Hodgson Russ, we’ll forego editorializing and provide just the facts.
By way of summary: Petitioner paid sales tax on purchases of concrete used in foundation work for building projects. Petitioner then sought a refund for the sales tax it paid, claiming that the concrete purchases qualified as nontaxable installations of capital improvements. The ALJ determined that the transactions constituted taxable purchases of tangible personal property because it was Petitioner, and not the concrete vendor, who was responsible for the installation of the concrete.
We lumped these two cases together because they present pretty much identical facts, legal issues, and outcomes. Indeed, the opinion sections of each decision contain virtually identical structure and language. The issue in these cases was whether security services provided at real property construction projects were taxable.
The sales taxation of exotic dancing and transactions conducted in adult entertainment establishments has a long history before the Division of Tax Appeals and the New York courts. This case presents the most recent chapter.
This case examines the operation of New York’s resale exemption and the limits of the protection conferred by resale exemption certificates.