Indiana Issues Letter on VOIP Calling Cards.

An Indiana taxpayer protested the assessment of sales tax on their sale of calling cards at a grocery store. The taxpayer claimed that many of the calling cards were for Voice Over Internet Protocol communications and were not subject to tax. The taxpayer also petitioned that the tax was computed incorrectly on the calling cards. The Indiana Department of Revenue found that the cards that were purchased by customers were sold at a lower price than standard calling cards, but the cards allowed customers to use a telephone for a predetermined number of minutes and this constituted a calling card purchase under Indiana law and was, therefore, subject to normal calling card taxes. Also, it was found that the auditor’s calculation was proper as the taxpayer did not provide enough information to calculate otherwise. (Letter of Findings No. 03-0313, Indiana Department of Revenue, December 1, 2004

Posted on March 4, 2005