…
Taxpayer in its protest states that it is
"disputing" the portion of the proposed assessment that "relates
entirely to the services portion of the invoices from our vendor [Company
R]." Taxpayer states: [Company R]
provides a licensed software package for emailing our clients and prospects,
plus a hosted site and provides mass email services. It is our contention that
only the licensed software portion of their invoices is taxable and we have
remitted that portion with our payment.
Taxpayer in follow-up correspondence to the Department also
states it has a monthly agreement with Company R, where Taxpayer pays Company R
"to have access to the [Company E] mailing list data base." Taxpayer
describes the facts thusly: [Taxpayer]
log[s] in to the [Company E] database and maintain our own various email data
bases for prospects and customers. At various times throughout each month, we
send emails to various addresses from the database. These emails include
general company announcements, promotions, schedules, new product releases and
other communication. [Company R] charges [Taxpayer] approximately 3.5 cents per
email generated from our mailing list. It is our intention that the fee
associated with sending these emails, is a service provided by [Company R],
which is not subject to Indiana sales tax.
Taxpayer, in other words argues that the "per
email" charge is not part of the cost paid for licensing this product.
…
Based upon the information provided by Taxpayer, the
Department finds that there is no transfer of tangible personal property; nor
specified digital product for the protested issue and the fees charged to send
e-mails are not subject to sales/use tax. Taxpayer has met its burden of proof
under IC § 6-8.1-5-1(c).
