States are increasingly attempting to address the application of tax to emerging technology and business models through new law, court cases and administrative rulings. Tracking developments is critical not only for technology providers, but also for purchasers of technology—which includes everyone.
To make recent developments more accessible to our clients, KPMG's Washington National Tax –State and Local Tax practice has created a Technology Checklist (Techlist) that summarizes recent state guidance for topics such as the taxability of software, guidance on digital equivalents and much more. The Techlist will be published on a quarterly basis.
Highlights of the current issue include:
- Alabama: The Alabama Supreme Court held that all software, "including custom software created for a particular user," is taxable "tangible personal property."
- Kentucky: The Kentucky legislature amended the definition of "multichannel video programming services" to specifically include "video streaming services" effective July 1, 2019. This effectively subjects video streaming services to the state's multichannel video programming excise tax (3%), gross revenues tax (2.4%), and the utility gross receipts license tax in certain school districts (up to 3%).
- New Mexico: The New Mexico legislature enacted legislation subjecting "licenses of digital goods" to the New Mexico Gross Receipts and Compensating Tax effective July 1, 2019.
- Tennessee: The Tennessee Department of Revenue issued revised FAQs providing that, for purposes of the state franchise tax, computer software is not considered tangible personal property.
- Texas: The Texas Comptroller has issued a series of letter rulings holding that online training or educational services were not taxable data processing, information, or amusement services.
Many more developments are covered in the Techlist - download it below.
