Opinion

Downs Racing, LP v. Commonwealth of PA

  • 143 A.3d 511
  • 2016 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 318
Court
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
Filed
Jul 11, 2016
Status
Published
Author
Dan Pellegrini
On the bench
Brobson, Covey, Pellegrini
Cited by
2 cases
Authority
More cited than 52.8%

The opinion

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Downs Racing, LP, :

Petitioner :

:

v. : Nos. 201 and 202 F.R. 2013

: Argued: June 9, 2016

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, :

Respondent :

BEFORE: HONORABLE P. KEVIN BROBSON, Judge

HONORABLE ANNE E. COVEY, Judge

HONORABLE DAN PELLEGRINI, Senior Judge

OPINION BY

SENIOR JUDGE PELLEGRINI FILED: July 11, 2016

Downs Racing, LP (Taxpayer) appeals from two orders of the Board

of Finance and Revenue (Board) sustaining a decision of the Department of

Revenue’s (Department) Board of Appeals denying its reassessment and refund

petitions for sales and use tax paid pursuant to various contracts with third parties

in the operation of its business.1

1

Because the parties were unable to stipulate to the pertinent facts, Taxpayer submitted

trial depositions and/or evidence per this Court’s December 10, 2015 Order. The evidence

includes the January 26, 2016 deposition of David Parfrey, Taxpayer’s Director of Finance, who

was involved on behalf of Taxpayer when the Department conducted the audit in this matter and

prepared Form REV-39, Sales & Use Tax Appeal Schedule (Form REV-39), worksheets

identifying all of Taxpayer’s charges relating to each of the third parties (Teleview Racing

Patrol, Inc. (Teleview), MRI Contract Staffing (MRI), and IGT), during the period of the audit,

with a description for each. In his deposition, Mr. Parfrey testified to various aspects of

Taxpayer’s relationship with the third parties, including terms of the contracts, charges made and

taxes paid on the charges, and specific details regarding the invoices. Also included in the

evidence are the contracts between Taxpayer and the third parties, Form REV-39s for the third

(Footnote continued on next page…)

I.

Taxpayer is a Pennsylvania limited partnership registered to do

business in Pennsylvania under the fictitious name Mohegan Sun at Pocono

Downs. During the period of January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2008 (Audit

Period), Taxpayer operated a harness racing track, off-betting locations, and a

casino resort, which also had 2,500 slot machines. All of the gaming activities at

the casino resort are regulated by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and

other state agencies.

In Pennsylvania, pursuant to Section 202(a) of the Tax Reform Code

of 1971 (Code),2 a tax of six percent of the purchase price is “imposed upon each

separate sale at retail3 of tangible personal property or services, as defined herein,

within this Commonwealth….” 72 P.S. §7202(a) (footnote added). A tax of six

percent is also imposed on the use within the Commonwealth of tangible personal

property purchased at retail “and on those services described herein purchased at

retail….” 72 P.S. §7202(b). The use tax “shall be paid … by the person who

makes such use as herein provided, except that such tax shall not be paid … by

such person where he has paid the [sales] tax imposed by [Section 202(a) of the

(continued…)

parties, a sampling of Teleview’s invoices, all of MRI’s invoices with corresponding employee

timecards, and all of IGT’s invoices and a sampling of IGT’s invoices concerning daily royalty

fees. Notwithstanding the parties’ inability to agree on a Stipulation, the operative facts gleaned

from this evidence are not in dispute.

2

Act of March 4, 1971, P.L. 6, No. 2, as amended, 72 P.S. §7202(a).

3

What constitutes a “sale at retail” is enumerated in Section 201(k) of the Code.

2

Code]….” Id. “Use” is defined in Section 201(o)(1) to include “[t]he exercise of

any right or power incidental to the ownership, custody or possession of tangible

personal property and shall include, but not be limited to transportation, storage or

consumption.” 72 P.S. §7201(o)(1).

Additionally, Section 201(f) of the Code defines “purchase at retail”

to include:

(1) The acquisition for a consideration of the

ownership, custody or possession of tangible personal

property other than for resale by the person acquiring the

same when such acquisition is made for the purpose of

consumption or use, whether such acquisition shall be

absolute or conditional, and by whatsoever means the

same shall have been effected.

(2) The acquisition of a license to use or consume, and

the rental or lease of tangible personal property, other

than for resale regardless of the period of time the lessee

has possession or custody of the property.

72 P.S. §7201(f) (emphasis added).

After conducting an audit of Taxpayer’s records for the Audit Period,

the Department determined that Taxpayer’s total sales and use tax for the Audit

Period was $1,208,796.86, of which Taxpayer reported $869,240.54. As a result,

in March 2011, Taxpayer was issued a Notice of Audit Assessment assessing it:

(1) sales and use tax of $339,556.32; (2) interest of $75,181.47; (3) an

understatement penalty of $16,977.82; and (4) a major understatement penalty of

$8,360.77, for a total amount due of $440,076.38.

3

Taxpayer then filed a petition for reassessment with the Department’s

Board of Appeals (Board) regarding application of the sales and use tax to certain

contracts which it claims did not involve transactions involving tangible personal

property. Taxpayer also sought a refund in the amount of $12,959.10 for use tax

self-assessed with respect to a transaction with its vendor, IGT, a manufacturer of

gaming machines, as royalty/licensing fees. The Board bifurcated the petition and

issued two decisions. In one decision, the Board sustained the assessed tax, plus

interest, and abated the imposed penalties. In the other decision, the Board denied

Taxpayer’s refund request in its entirety. Taxpayer then filed a petition for review

and a petition for refund with the Board, and the Board denied both petitions. This

appeal followed.4

II.

A.

A matter no longer in dispute between Taxpayer and the

Commonwealth that was at issue before the Board involves a contract with MRI

Contract Staffing (MRI) to assist Taxpayer with the process of interviewing and

hiring all new staff members needed to open its casino in November 2006. MRI

charged Taxpayer the payroll costs for the employees plus a percentage upcharge,

and charged sales tax on the difference between the pre-tax invoice amount and the

payroll cost to MRI of the employees who were providing the services reflected on

the invoice, that is, the “upcharge amount.” The Commonwealth in its brief now

4

In appeals from decisions of the Board, this Court has the broadest scope of review

because it functions as a trial court, even though such cases are heard in this Court’s appellate

jurisdiction. Kinsley Construction, Inc. v. Commonwealth, 894 A.2d 832 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2006).

4

concedes that this is not the sale of personal property and that $2,942, plus interest

in sales and use tax, is not owed. Accordingly, we will reverse the Board on this

issue.

B.

1.

The item that involves the largest assessment of tax – $247,891, plus

interest – involves a May 2005 Services Agreement between Taxpayer and

Teleview Racing Patrol, Inc. (Teleview) under which Teleview was to provide “a

highly integrated and complicated audio visual service to basically produce

[Taxpayer’s] live show as well as bring in … simulcast feeds from other

racetracks.” (Parfrey January 25, 2016 Deposition at 17.) In providing the telecast

and the simulcast feeds, Teleview placed physical equipment, ranging from

televisions to switchers, in Taxpayer’s facility. The Services Agreement required

Teleview to “provide, install, [and] maintain certain equipment and materials [as

specified in the Services Agreement.]” (Id. at 22-23.) Moreover, Teleview was to

“provide all necessary and appropriate personnel at the Track to operate the

equipment to be furnished by it and all such personnel shall be under its

supervision and control….”5 (Id. at 23.) The personnel was “there to operate the

equipment, the cameras, everything needed to produce the video aspect of [the]

show, as well as operate the equipment to bring the signal in from the other

racetracks.” (Id. at 21.)

5

Under the agreement between Taxpayer and Teleview, labor personnel fell under

Teleview’s supervision and control and, thus, Teleview provided their workers’ compensation

insurance.

5

Races at the racetrack were also simulcast to other racetracks and to

Taxpayer’s off-track wager sites (OTWs). At Taxpayer’s racetrack, the live feeds

were displayed on monitors located in various areas throughout the facility.

Teleview also provided part of the race security services, recorded and maintained

copies of the live racing at the racetrack, and provided the copies to the Harness

Racing Commission in the event of a protest or other dispute as to the legitimacy

of a race. During the Audit Period, Taxpayer paid Teleview $4,132,053.93 under

their agreement.

Taxpayer argues that Teleview’s closed circuit television

services/simulcast services are not taxable services under Section 202(a) of the

Code because they do not meet the definition of tangible personal property as

established by Section 201(m).6 It argues that the main purpose of the contract was

6

“Tangible personal property” is defined by Section 201(m) of the Tax Code, 72 P.S.

§7201(m), as:

Corporeal personal property including, but not limited to, goods,

wares, merchandise, steam and natural and manufactured and

bottled gas for non-residential use, electricity for non-residential

use, prepaid telecommunications, premium cable or premium

video programming service, spirituous or vinous liquor and malt or

brewed beverages and soft drinks, interstate telecommunications

service originating or terminating in the Commonwealth and

charged to a service address in this Commonwealth, intrastate

telecommunications service with the exception of (i) subscriber

line charges and basic local telephone service for residential use

and (ii) charges for telephone calls paid for by inserting money

into a telephone accepting direct deposits of money to operate,

provided further, the service address of any intrastate

telecommunications service is deemed to be within this

Commonwealth or within a political subdivision, regardless of how

or where billed or paid. In the case of any such interstate or

(Footnote continued on next page…)

6

for Teleview to produce Taxpayer’s simulcast feed to provide audio and visual

images and to record or film the races and exhibit the event live and on replay for

those in Taxpayer’s premises, including customers placing wagers on OTWs.

Taxpayer contends that just because the use of equipment is required to create and

deliver the services provided by Teleview does not mean that those services are

subject to taxation because “[m]ost services, both those subject to tax and those

not, require the service provider to use equipment …. [but a] service that can be

provided without using any [tangible personal property] is the exception.”

(Petitioner’s Brief at 17.)7

(continued…)

intrastate telecommunications service, any charge paid through a

credit or payment mechanism which does not relate to a service

address, such as a bank, travel, credit or debit card, but not

including prepaid telecommunications, is deemed attributable to

the address of origination of the telecommunications service.

7

As an additional reason to support its contention that the simulcast services were not

taxable, Taxpayer makes the “true object” test adopted in Graham Packaging Company, LP v.

Commonwealth, 882 A.2d 1076 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2005), applicable in determining that the services

it provided were not taxable. The “true object” test as provided in Graham applies:

[W]hen a transaction appears to involve both tangible and

intangible property or tangible property and a service. In order to

determine whether a taxable sale of tangible personal property has

occurred, the test focuses on whether the essence or true object of

the sale is tangible personal property or intangible property or a

service with tangible property serving only as the medium of

transmission. If the essence of the transaction or true object of the

transaction is the intangible property or service, the intangible

object/service does not assume the taxable character of the tangible

property serving as the medium of transfer.

882 A.2d at 1083 (emphasis added). Even if the “true object” of the transfer was for intangible

personal property, it does not make taxable items non-taxable.

7

The Commonwealth does not disagree with Taxpayer’s position that

such services are not subject to the sales or use tax if they are separately stated on

the invoice from items that were subject to the sales and use tax. The items subject

to the tax in the contract were equipment used to provide audio and visual images

and to record or film the races and exhibit the event live and on replay for those in

Taxpayer’s premises, including customers placing wagers on OTWs. Given that

Taxpayer has taken possession of this equipment, including cameras and other

audio visual equipment, and Teleview was obligated to “provide, install and

maintain” the equipment, that sufficiently meets Section 201(f)’s definition of

“purchase at retail” and “tangible personal property.” Therefore, those items are

taxable.

The Commonwealth then points us to Section 201(g)(4) of the Code,

which requires in pertinent part:

Where there is a transfer or retention of possession or

custody, whether it be termed a rental, lease, service or

otherwise, of tangible personal property … the full

consideration paid or delivered to the vendor or lessor

shall be considered the purchase price, even though such

consideration be separately stated and be designated as

payment for processing, laundering, service,

maintenance, insurance, repairs, depreciation or

otherwise. Where the vendor or lessor supplies or

provides an employe to operate such tangible personal

property, the value of the labor thus supplied may be

excluded and shall not be considered as part of the

purchase price if separately stated….

8

72 P.S. §7201(g)(4) (emphasis added).8 The Commonwealth asserts that the

invoices involving services contain no description of or amounts relating to the

services, and neither was any charge for claimed exempt services specified in the

Taxpayer’s contract. Because Taxpayer’s possession of the equipment invoiced by

Teleview is a taxable use and the purchase prices are the amounts indicated on the

invoices, Taxpayer has not proven the “separately stated” cost of services

associated with the equipment operation. Taxpayer responds that the invoices do

separate out services from equipment, but the Commonwealth counters that those

invoices do not state what services are taxable and what are non-taxable so they are

not “separately stated.”

The Code requires that every sale of tangible personal property or

services thereon shall be presumed to be at retail and be subject to sales tax.

Persons liable for sales and use taxes or for the collection of such taxes must keep

records as required by the Department. See Section 271 of the Code, 72 P.S.

§7271. 61 Pa. Code §34.2(a)(2) requires that the taxpayer keep, as a minimum for

practicable enforcement, certain sales tax records that are amenable to a three-point

audit. One of the audit points requires that a taxpayer keep records in a certain

way so that an otherwise non-taxable transaction remains so:

8

Section 236 of the Code, 72 P.S. §7236, provides that “[i]n all cases of petitions for

reassessment, review or appeal, the burden of proof shall be upon the petitioner or appellant, as

the case may be.” A taxpayer appealing an adverse decision of the Board with respect to a

petition for refund of sales taxes paid has the burden to prove facts requiring reversal, and the

government is not required to prove facts necessary to sustain an order of assessment. Anastasi

Brothers Corporation v. Board of Finance and Revenue, 315 A.2d 267, 270 (Pa. 1974); see also

Fiore v. Commonwealth, 668 A.2d 1210 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1993), affirmed per curium, 690 A.2d 234

(Pa. 1997).

9

Sales tax records shall be maintained from which it is

possible to ascertain the vendor’s compliance with the

taxing and exemption features of the act, that is, whether

sales made without collection of tax were in fact

nontaxable. The records shall describe items sold

without tax, and show those sales which were made tax

free because the purchase price was less than the amount

at which the statute begins to impose tax. This is the first

essential for determining the amount of tax incurred in

the vendor’s business.

61 Pa. Code §34.2(a)(2)(i)(A).

The question here, then, is whether it is possible from Taxpayer’s

sales tax records – the invoices – to determine if sales made without collection of

tax were, in fact, non-taxable by being separately stated as required by 72 P.S.

§7201(g)(4).

Taxpayer provided a sampling consisting of seven of Teleview’s sales

invoices for the service period of September 7-13, 2008. The invoices generally

indicate the category of the charge, the number of days charged, the charge per day

or week, and the total charge. For Taxpayer’s various OTWs, the invoices separate

charges into categories such as “Closed Circuit TV System, Audio System &

Downlink Dishes” and “Large Screen DLP TV’s [sic].” The invoice for

Taxpayer’s Live Racing and/or Simulcasting Performances lists charges for

“Closed Circuit Television Systems and Services,” “26” LCD TV’s [sic] and Wall

Mounts for Dial-A-Bet,” and “140 – 15” Color LCD TV’s [sic].” Another invoice

lists various labor charges, including “Labor for Simulcast Only Days” for three

days, “Labor for Live Racing and Simulcast Days” for four days, and includes the

10

State Minimum Wage Differential and the Labor Differential for the Technical

Director. A final, separate invoice states a charge for “One Third of Pennsylvania

Area Technician Manager Labor.”

Also submitted as evidence is Form REV-39, Sales & Use Tax Appeal

Schedule (Form REV-39), and an Excel worksheet prepared by David Parfrey,

Taxpayer’s Director of Finance, which states all of Teleview’s charges during the

Audit Period, including those of the above invoices, with a description of either

“Closed Circuit Television Service” or “Help Supply Labor CCTV” that

correspond to each charge. Form REV-39 also indicates the value of each charge,

the state tax for the charge, and an accounts payable county tax of $0 for each

charge.

The auditor’s summary of the invoices for the Teleview charges were

similarly fashioned, with descriptions of charges as either “CCTV Equipment

Rental” or an occasional “Help Supply Labor,” and indicated that the tax paid on

these charges was $0 across the board.9

9

During his deposition, Mr. Parfrey was asked to compare four descriptions on the

auditor’s summary, all stating “CCTV Equipment Rental” with the actual invoices:

Q: Okay. In your view is the phrase that the auditor has used

in [the summary of Teleview’s charges] of, quote, CC TV [sic]

equipment rental, close quote, an accurate description of what

actually appears on the actual invoices?

A: It is not.

Q: Let’s take the first document again, the first invoice 79289

and instead of saying the words CC TV [sic] equipment rental,

(Footnote continued on next page…)

11

Upon review of the evidence, we find that neither the auditor nor this

Court can determine from the submitted invoices what was billed for taxable

services versus non-taxable services because they were billed together as one item

on the invoice. Although the invoices separate charges such as “Closed Circuit TV

System, Audio System & Downlink Dishes” from “Large Screen DLP TV’s [sic],”

all taxable tangible property, the invoices do not separate taxable service charges

from non-taxable service charges such as those billed for the installation or service

of said equipment. Because non-taxable services for simulcasting were not

separately stated from taxable services relating to the service and installation of the

(continued…)

what does it really say is the items [sic] at issue here or the items

being invoiced?

A: It says closed circuit television systems and services.

Q: The auditor at page 13 of Exhibit P-2 … characterizes the

Teleview contract as involving the, quote, sale and installation of

audio visual equipment and therefore concludes that it’s a sale of

what’s referred in the tax rule as tangible personal property. Do

you think it’s an accurate description of what’s going on there to

call it sale and installation of audio visual equipment?

A: I do not.

Q: In what way is that inaccurate?

A: This is not a, this is not purely a rental of equipment. They

are producing and packaging a live show, not only a live show that

we are running three to four days a week, but they are also

handling the transmission of signals in from around the country

and putting them onto TVs for our patrons to wager on.

(Parfrey January 25, 2016 Deposition at 31-32.)

12

equipment charges, those services are presumed to be taxable as part of the

purchase price under 61 Pa. Code §33.2(a)(3).10

2.

Alternatively, Taxpayer contends that Teleview’s labor charges in

installing and maintaining the equipment are exempt from sales and/or use tax

because the charges qualified as “help supply services” under 61 Pa. Code §60.4(a)

for which Teleview assessed no upcharge.

Pursuant to Section 201(cc) of the Code, “help supply services” are

subject to tax. “Help supply services” are defined in pertinent part as:

Providing temporary or continuing help where the help

supplied is on the payroll of the supplying person or

entity, but is under the supervision of the individual or

business to which help is furnished. Such services

include, but are not limited to, service of a type provided

by labor and manpower pools, employe leasing services,

office help supply services, temporary help services,

usher services, modeling services or fashion show model

supply services.

72 P.S. §7201(cc) (emphasis added).11

10

Pursuant to 61 Pa. Code §33.2(a)(3), “Amounts included in the taxable portion of the

purchase price include: … [t]he charge for labor, service or alteration.”

11

61 Pa. Code §60.4 further defines “help supply service” as “[t]he providing of an

individual by a vendor to a purchaser whereby the individual is an employe of the vendor and the

work performed by the individual is under the supervision of the purchaser. (i) The term

includes the type of service provided by labor and manpower pools, employe leasing services,

(Footnote continued on next page…)

13

Moreover, in SEI Investments v. Commonwealth, 890 A.2d 1130 (Pa.

Cmwlth. 2006), where a taxpayer’s printing equipment was supplied by a

contractor and operated by the contractor’s employees, the taxpayer argued that it

should be exempt from paying taxes on its printing services because it did not have

to perform its own printing services, but rather simply provide the services.12

Finding that the contractor’s operation of the equipment was sufficient to deny the

in-house printing exemption sought by the taxpayer, we affirmed the Board’s

decision to deny the refund, reasoning:

Here, [taxpayer’s] contention that the nature of the

operation is the controlling factor, not the identity of the

operator, is not supported by the plain language of [61

Pa. Code § ]32.36(a)(4). The regulation requires that the

in[-]house printing be performed by “employees.” The

only logical construction of this requirement is that

taxpayer’s employees must perform the printing services.

This construction is supported by the remainder of

subsection (4). As written, the regulation clearly

contemplates that the taxpayer is performing the printing

services and not an outside contractor. Otherwise, it

would not be necessary to specify that the printing

activities cannot be an integrated part of the taxpayer’s

other business activities [see subsection (4)(iv)] or that

such activities are of a sufficient scope that they could be

conducted on a separate commercially viable basis [see

subsection (4)(v)]. Obviously, here, the printing

activities are of a sufficient scope that they can be

conducted on a separate, commercially viable basis

(continued…)

office help supply services, temporary help services, usher services, modeling services or fashion

show model supply services.”

12

We note that Section 201(k) of the Code and 61 Pa. Code §32.36 provide guidance

specifically relating to printing operations and related businesses.

14

because [the contractor] is performing them on that very

basis for a fee. If [the contractor] performed these

services for [the taxpayer] at its own facilities, there is

no doubt such services would be taxable. The fact that

[the contractor] has agreed to provide the same services

at [the taxpayer’s] premises using [the contractor’s]

own equipment and personnel does not change the

taxability of the service. Whether the printing services

are performed at [the taxpayer’s] premises or [the

contractor’s], [the taxpayer] has contracted with a

separate entity, which uses its own personnel and

equipment to meet [the taxpayer’s] printing

requirements.

SEI Investments, 890 A.2d at 1136-37 (emphasis added).

Under its contract with Taxpayer, Teleview was obligated to “provide,

install and maintain” the equipment at issue on Taxpayer’s various properties. In

doing so, Teleview provided its own personnel, whom it supervised and controlled.

If Teleview had performed these services for Taxpayer at its own facilities, these

services would be taxable. As such, Teleview’s performance of such services with

its own personnel for Taxpayer at Taxpayer’s premises does not change the

taxability of the services.

C.

The other transaction for which Taxpayer challenges its reassessment

involves a 2006 Intellectual Property Agreement (IP Agreement) between

Taxpayer and IGT, under which IGT licensed to Taxpayer the intellectual property

needed to operate its poker machines. Pursuant to the IP Agreement, Taxpayer, as

licensee, was granted a “qualified right and license to Third Party Intellectual

15

Property,” which is defined as “all patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade

secrets … that IGT licensed for incorporation into a Multi-Hand Poker Game.” (IP

Agreement at ¶¶1-2.) In turn, Taxpayer paid IGT royalty fees of $15 or $20 per

day per slot machine – depending on the type of slot machine – on the poker

games. As daily royalties, Taxpayer paid IGT an aggregate sum of $215,985.00

during the Audit Period. Taxpayer argues that the $12, 959 in sales and/or use tax

is not due on the licensing fees it paid to IGT because the licensing of intellectual

property does not fall under the definition of tangible personal property or any of

the taxable services enumerated in Section 201 of the Code, 72 P.S. §7201.

Addressing whether software licenses are tangible personal property,

in Dechert, LLP v. Commonwealth, 942 A.2d 210, 212 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2008), this

Court reasoned:

First, pursuant to Section 201(k)(1), a taxable “sale at

retail” includes the “transfer, for a consideration, of the

ownership, custody or possession of tangible personal

property, including the grant of a license to use or

consume....” 72 P.S. §7201(k)(1) (emphasis added).

Clearly, a license to use tangible personal property is

subject to tax. Second, as the Commonwealth notes, [the

taxpayer] continues to confuse the corporeal software

program with the intangible right to use and copy the

software. The object of the transaction is the computer

program, not the license. Absent the program, the

license is useless; it is the program, stored on the

computer hardware, which enables the user to perform

the desired tasks or functions.

(Emphasis added.) See also Graham Packaging Company, LP v. Commonwealth,

882 A.2d 1076 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2005) (where, under the “essence of the transaction”

16

or “true object” standard, renewals of licenses to use canned software were sales at

retail of “tangible personal property” and, therefore, subject to sales tax; software

was not merely incorporeal knowledge or intelligence, but was a physically

arranged matter that animated computers; and it did not matter whether the initial

or upgraded versions of the software were acquired in disk form or electronically).

Similarly, the IP Agreement between Taxpayer and IGT licensed

Taxpayer the intellectual property it needed in order to operate its poker machines.

Without the intellectual property, Taxpayer could not use or operate its poker

machines. Thus, the object of the transaction is the intellectual property and not

the license. Further, just because the Code does not expressly mention

“intellectual property” in its definition of “tangible personal property” does not

mean that it does not constitute tangible personal property. See Dechert, 942 A.2d

at 212 (“we conclude that the Code’s definition of ‘tangible personal property’ is

not rendered ambiguous merely because the statute fails to expressly state that

software licenses constitute tangible personal property….”).

Accordingly, the orders of the Board are affirmed in part and reversed

in part. They are affirmed insofar as they relate to Taxpayer’s contracts with

Teleview and IGT, and this matter is reversed and remanded to the Board to

recalculate Taxpayer’s taxes due on its contract with MRI.

__________________________________

DAN PELLEGRINI, Senior Judge

Judge McCullough did not participate in the decision of this case.

17

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Downs Racing, LP, :

Petitioner :

:

v. : Nos. 201 and 202 F.R. 2013

:

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, :

Respondent :

ORDER

AND NOW, this 11th day of July, 2016, the orders of the Board of

Finance and Revenue dated January 30, 2013, at Nos. 1111828 and 1211315, are

affirmed insofar as they relate to Downs Racing, LP’s contracts with Teleview and

IGT, and are reversed and remanded to the Board to recalculate Downs Racing,

LP’s taxes due on its contract with MRI. This Order shall become final unless

exceptions are filed within thirty (30) days pursuant to Pa. R.A.P. 1571(i).

__________________________________

DAN PELLEGRINI, Senior Judge

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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