Pennsylvania Issues Bulletin on VOIP Services.

In a recent sales tax bulletin, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue has stated that Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services are subject to Pennsylvania state and local sales taxes. The VOIP service is such that it falls under the statutory definition of a “telecommunications service.” The bulletin states that the State of Pennsylvania does not tax enhanced telecommunications services. Enhanced telecommunications services are services offered over a telecommunications network, which employ computer processing applications that include one or more of the following: (1) acts on the format, content, code, protocol, or similar aspects of the purchaser’s transmitted information; (2) provides the purchaser additional, different, or restructured information; (3) involves the purchaser’s interaction with stored information. VOIP services do not fall within the enhanced telecommunications service exclusion from tax as VOIP uses computer processing applications solely for the management, control, or operation of a telecommunications system and not in any manner as prescribed above. (Sales Tax Bulletin 2005-02, Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, January 28, 2005)

Posted on March 24, 2005