Florida Court Rules Software Seller Must Assume Risk of Denied Sales Tax Refund Claim

• Recent Florida court opinion shows sellers may have to refund sales tax before pursuing refund from state
• Obtaining sales tax refunds and contesting denials is complex and varies by state
• Aprio’s SALT team can help sellers with refunds and compliance
• Rules for taxability of software and technology goods have become more complex
• Sellers may collect tax on transactions later determined to be exempt
• Florida court case affirmed denial of refund claim because seller was not the “taxpayer”
• Sellers are viewed as agents of the state when collecting sales tax
• Oracle incorrectly collected sales tax on software sales
• Department could not approve refund application
• Court decision based on complex tax imposition and jurisdictional rules
• Oracle unable to receive refund or contest denied claim because not the “taxpayer”

Source: aprio.com

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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