The state of Indiana has released an update to their Information Bulletin #8, which addresses the specific tax treatment of computer hardware, software, and digital goods. The bulletin has been available and regularly updated for more than twenty years, and provides detail about how the state’s laws apply to contemporary software and computer related transactions. In this update, the state added an introduction to give taxpayers a general idea of how to broadly view the taxability of these items, saying that the state generally taxes computer hardware, the taxability of software depends on whether or not it’s custom or prewritten, and charges related to remotely accessed computer software are generally not taxed. The state also removed a section of the bulletin that had been in previous updates that instructed taxpayers how to handle remotely accessed software prior to the law change that make it exempt in July 2018, as those periods are now outside of the statutory lookback period.
(Information Bulletin #8, Indiana Department of Revenue, January 2023)