Customer support in Rhode Island taxable.

In Rhode Island customer support for software was found to be taxable when purchased at the same time as canned software even though the purchase of customer support was separately stated and optional. The court found that the real object of the entire transaction was the purchase of the software and that the customer support service was part of the purchase. The statutes in Rhode Island clearly state that the sales price of a transaction includes the cost of services related to the sale. (Administrative Hearing Decision No. 2003-09, September 10, 2003.)

Posted on December 15, 2003