Here's the deal on maintenance contracts and repair labor.Many states impose sales and use taxes on the labor to repair tangible personal property. In other words, if you get your rocket engine (see picture) repaired, you're gonna pay tax on the parts AND the labor. No surprise there, unless you're in a state that doesn't do this. In which case, you're probably shocked beyond all belief. Sorry. Hope you didn't spit anything on your laptop.
Anyway, the next question is whether or not maintenance contracts get taxed. Usually, maintenance and extended service contracts are taxable in states where the repair labor is taxable. And not taxable in states where repair labor isn't taxable.
However, if the contract includes a regular supply of materials - such as toner and paper in a copier contract, that will usually make the contract taxable. Even in states that don't tax repair labor. These types of contracts essentially become a pre-purchase of TPP and become taxable.
Finally, some states differentiate between a maintenance contract sold by the company who's going to be doing the service vs. a third party who will simply contract out the work when necessary. In the latter case, those are often considered insurance policies as opposed to maintenance contracts and not taxed.
Sales Tax Guy
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