Apple Inc. v. State Tax Assessor
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The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the superior court's grant of summary judgment concluding that the taxable "sale price" of iPhones sold at discounted prices to customers who entered into wireless service contracts at Apple Inc.'s retail stores did not include payments made by the wireless service carriers to Apple in connection with the sales, holding that the amounts paid by the carriers to Apple constitute part of the taxable sale prices for the phones.
In granting summary judgment for Apple and denied the summary judgment motion filed by the State Tax Assessor the superior court concluded that the carriers' payments to Apple were insufficiently linked to the phones' purchases to constitute reimbursement for the discounts. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the grant of summary judgment and remanded for entry of judgment in favor of the Assessor, holding that because Apple expected at the time of sale it would be reimbursed by the carriers for the price discounts granted to customers entering into wireless service contracts with the carriers, the amounts Apple paid to carriers constituted part of the taxable sale prices for the phones.
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