Welcome to the latest issue of New York Tax Insights. In this issue we cover:
A New York Court of Appeals decision upholding the assessment of sales tax on information services by interpreting the statutory exclusion for information services that are “personal or individual in nature” as inapplicable when the information is obtained from publicly-available sources. The decision is among the most significant tax decisions to be issued by the Court of Appeals in recent years (on page 1).
A New York State Administrative Law Judge determination upholding of the Department of Taxation and Finance’s denial of a deduction for royalties received from foreign affiliates, claimed under a former provision of the Tax Law that allowed royalties to be deducted unless the recipient would not be required to add them back to income. (on page 3).
A New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Technical Memorandum providing a method for attributing interest expense deductions for corporations impacted by the federal interest deduction limitations under IRC § 163(j), and for corporations with deemed repatriated income under IRC § 965(a). The new guidance is important in that it reconciles directly attributed interest expenses (which are pre-limitation) with the interest expenses actually deducted (which are post-limitation) (on page 5).
A New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal holding that admission charges to walk through haunted-house type attractions, featuring actors and special effects equipment, were subject to sales tax as charges for access to a “place of amusement,” and were not nontaxable charges for the use of “amusement devices.” While acknowledging that rides such as Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds have been held to be nontaxable amusement devices, the Tribunal distinguished the haunted attractions, finding that patrons were paying to enter haunted attractions and be entertained by actors hired to put on a show (on page 6).