Interstate Traffic Signs, Inc. v. Commissioner, 845 N.W.2d 550

Interstate Traffic Signs, Inc. rents traffic-control equipment, delivering, setting up, and later retrieving and repairing equipment at the end of rentals.
Invoices separately listed rental, delivery, and mandatory pick-up charges; customers could not decline pick-up services.
Before April 2010 Interstate taxed only rental (and later delivery) charges but did not tax pick-up charges.
The Minnesota Department of Revenue audited Interstate and assessed additional sales tax, concluding pick-up charges were taxable.
The tax court granted the Commissioner’s summary-judgment motion, holding pick-up charges are part of the statutory “sales price” and therefore taxable; Interstate appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether mandatory pick-up charges are part of "sales price" under Minn. Stat. § 297A.61, subd. 7	Pick-up charges are not taxable because statute and Dept. fact sheet do not specifically mention them	Broad statutory definition of "sales price" and presumption all sales are taxable: pick-up charges are consideration and thus taxable	Pick-up charges are part of sales price and taxable
Whether pick-up charges can be deducted as charges not part of sales price under § 297A.61, subd. 7(a)	Pick-up charges are not listed and thus deductible / not included	Pick-up charges are charges for services necessary to complete the sale and therefore not deductible	Pick-up charges fall within § 297A.61, subd. 7(a)(3) and cannot be deducted
Whether statutory silence or Dept. of Revenue fact sheet creates ambiguity	Silence and Fact Sheet 155’s omission create ambiguity as to taxability	Silence does not produce ambiguity; fact sheets do not override statutes	Statute is unambiguous; omission on fact sheet does not alter statutory meaning
Whether any exemption or exclusion in § 297A.61, subd. 7(b) applies	Pick-up charges fall into an excluded category (argued generally)	Pick-up charges are not among listed exclusions (discounts, separately-stated taxes, financing charges, etc.)	No applicable exclusion; pick-up charges are included in taxable sales price

Sprint Spectrum LP v. Comm’r of Revenue, 676 N.W.2d 656 (Minn. 2004) (summary-judgment and statutory interpretation reviewed de novo)
U.S. Sprint Commc’ns Co., Ltd. v. Comm’r of Revenue, 578 N.W.2d 752 (Minn. 1998) (definition of consideration and when fees are consideration)
Fridlund Sec. Co. v. Comm’r of Revenue, 430 N.W.2d 154 (Minn. 1988) (payments that constitute total sales price even if passed to third parties)
McLane Minn., Inc. v. Comm’r of Revenue, 773 N.W.2d 289 (Minn. 2009) (statutory interpretation should not be piecemeal)
Minn. Twins P’ship v. Comm’r of Revenue, 587 N.W.2d 287 (Minn. 1998) (when no consideration is received)
Great Lakes Gas Transmission L.P. v. Comm’r of Revenue, 638 N.W.2d 435 (Minn. 2002) (presumption that everything is taxable unless exempted)
Morton Bldgs., Inc. v. Comm’r of Revenue, 488 N.W.2d 254 (Minn. 1992) (same presumption regarding taxability)
State v. Mauer, 741 N.W.2d 107 (Minn. 2007) (statutory ambiguity standard)
Rohmiller v. Hart, 811 N.W.2d 585 (Minn. 2012) (statutory silence does not create ambiguity absent multiple reasonable interpretations)
In re Welfare of R.S., 805 N.W.2d 44 (Minn. 2011) (similar principle on statutory silence and ambiguity)