To make recent developments more accessible, KPMG's Washington National Tax –State and Local Tax practice has created a quarterly Technology Checklist (Techlist) that summarizes recent state guidance for topics such as the taxability of software, guidance on digital equivalents, and much more.
Highlights of the current issue include:
- Illinois: A state appellate court upheld the imposition of the Chicago amusement tax on amusements delivered electronically, such as video streaming, audio streaming, and online games. The court found the tax did not have an extraterritorial effect (because of the sourcing regime used), did not violate the uniformity clause of the state constitution, and did not violate the Internet Tax Freedom Act prohibition on discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.
- Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission determined that sales of on-demand seminars for continuing legal education (CLE) credit, which constituted digital audiovisual works, were not subject to sales and use tax because the true object of the transaction was an educational service.
- Utah: The Utah Tax Commission concluded that a taxpayer was not a marketplace facilitator for sales occurring through its referral business.
- Wisconsin: Effective July 1, 2020, charges for internet access services are not subject to sales and use tax. Bundled transactions that include internet access along with taxable products that are sold for one non-itemized price will be subject to tax if the taxable product is greater than 10 percent of the total purchase price. If the nontaxable portion of the transaction can be determined through "reasonable and verifiable standards from the books and records," a retailer may, at its option, impose the tax only on the taxable portion of the transaction.
Many more developments are covered in the Techlist - download it below.
