Rental of Storage Units Not Taxable in South Dakota

The South Dakota Supreme Court found the owners of a self-storage facility not liable for sales tax. The South Dakota Department of Revenue argued that the taxpayer’s business qualified as warehousing and storage, a taxable service under statutory tax law. The Court, however, found that the taxpayers did not engage in the service of warehousing and storing goods, but rather simply rented space to tenants, which alone did not qualify as a taxable service. (In the Matter of the Sales Tax Liability of James Primantgen & Patricia Carlson, South Dakota Supreme Court, No. 24758, December 23, 2008)

Posted on April 3, 2009