New Jersey Taxes Information Services

Effective October 1, 2006, information services will be subject to sales and use tax in New Jersey. An information service is defined as service which provides information of any kind other than “personal or individual information which is not incorporated into reports furnished to other people.” Charges for professional services are not affected since the customer is seeking the service and not the information itself. Fees paid to New Jersey or federal government agencies for information that is held as part of the agency’s function are also not subject to tax. Examples of taxable information services include mailing lists, credit reports, computer databases, severe weather alerts, legislative tracking services and web traffic reports. Examples of services not subject to this tax include consulting services, real estate appraisal, background checks, contract programming and attorney services. (Tax Notes, New Jersey Division of Taxation, Sept 26, 2006)

Posted on November 20, 2006