Murphy Heating Service, Inc. v. Chu

Petitioner Murphy Heating Service, Inc. (Murphy) sold its retail fuel oil business to petitioner General Utilities, Inc. *908(General). Included in the sale price was some $337,000 for the "accounts of [the] seller”. Subsequently, the Department of Taxation and Finance assessed a sales tax on the sale of Murphy’s accounts on the ground that it constituted the sale of a customer list which was taxable as a sale of information under Tax Law § 1105 (c) (1). The assessment was upheld by the State Tax Commission after a hearing in which it was found that the sale of the accounts was taxable as the…