Welcome to the latest installment of our blog “What are the rules for NYS Sales tax for my profession?”

In this blog we are highlighting another industry with a few of the broad guidelines to follow! Our hope is to not only provide helpful information for the business owners, but the consumers as well!

This blog focuses on Computer Software.

Prewritten computer software includes any computer software that is not designed and developed to the specifications of a particular purchaser.

The sale of prewritten computer software is taxable, whether it is sold as a part of a package or separately, regardless of how the software is conveyed to the purchaser. Therefore, prewritten computer software sold on a disk, by electronic transmission, or by remote access will be taxable.

However, services related to computer software are exempt from sales tax. Some of these services are:

  • Training
  • Consulting
  • Troubleshooting
  • Programming

The sale of an upgrade of prewritten software is subject to sales tax. Also, the sale of a license to remotely access software is subject to state and local sales tax.

This is just a brief overview of the sales tax laws regarding computer software. Feel free to give our office a call for more information.