New Jersey Sales Tax Q&A

Once each quarter, the New Jersey Division of Taxation publishes state tax news. Among other topics, the newsletter highlights sales and use tax issues recently addressed in New Jersey courts and the legislature. The publication also answers questions from taxpayers regarding the taxability of certain products and services.

The Fall 2014 edition fields numerous such questions on topics as diverse as breast cancer treatment to postage for printed advertisements to cellular phone service. For example:

• Breast radiation treatment catheter devices, which are used for internal radiation treatments, are considered prosthetic devices and are exempt from sales tax.
• Postage sold as part of the sales price for printed advertising material and processing services is subject to sales tax when delivered to a location in New Jersey but exempt when delivered to a location out-of-state.
• Charges for activating a cellular phone are subject to New Jersey sales and use tax, because the service is considered “necessary to complete the sale of the phone.”
• Charges for cell phone customer assistance (as for help changing a phone number or transferring data from one phone to another) are exempt.
• Charges associated with troubleshooting and resolving issues associated with the cell phone are subject to sales tax.

Sales tax sparks numerous questions. Automated sales tax software as a service (SaaS) helps businesses find answers and simplify sales tax compliance. Learn more.

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