(a) General Principles. – The following principles apply in determining where to source the sale of an item for the seller’s purpose and do not alter the application of the tax imposed under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.6 Except as otherwise provided in this section, a service is sourced where the purchaser can potentially first make use of the service. These principles apply regardless of the nature of the item, except as otherwise noted in this section:

(1) When a purchaser receives an item at a business location of the seller, the sale is sourced to that business location.

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(2) When a purchaser or purchaser’s donee receives an item at a location specified by the purchaser and the location is not a business location of the seller, the sale is sourced to the location where the purchaser or the purchaser’s donee receives the item.

(3) When subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection do not apply, the sale is sourced to the location indicated by an address for the purchaser that is available from the business records of the seller that are maintained in the ordinary course of the seller’s business when use of this address does not constitute bad faith.

(4) When subdivisions (1), (2), and (3) of this subsection do not apply, the sale is sourced to the location indicated by an address for the purchaser obtained during the consummation of the sale, including the address of a purchaser’s payment instrument, if no other address is available, when use of this address does not constitute bad faith.

(5) When subdivisions (1), (2), (3), and (4) of this subsection do not apply, including the circumstance in which the seller is without sufficient information to apply the rules, the location will be determined based on the following:

a. Address from which tangible personal property was shipped,

b. Address from which the digital good or the computer software delivered electronically was first available for transmission by the seller, or

c. Address from which the service was provided.

(b) Periodic Rental Payments. – When a lease or rental agreement requires recurring periodic payments, the payments are sourced as follows:

(1) For leased or rented property, the first payment is sourced in accordance with the principles set out in subsection (a) of this section and each subsequent payment is sourced to the primary location of the leased or rented property for the period covered by the payment. This subdivision applies to all property except a motor vehicle, an aircraft, transportation equipment, and a utility company railway car.

(2) For leased or rented property that is a motor vehicle or an aircraft but is not transportation equipment, all payments are sourced to the primary location of the leased or rented property for the period covered by the payment.

(3) For leased or rented property that is transportation equipment, all payments are sourced in accordance with the principles set out in subsection (a) of this section.

(4) For a railway car that is leased or rented by a utility company and would be transportation equipment if it were used in interstate commerce, all payments are sourced in accordance with the principles set out in subsection (a) of this section.

(c) Transportation Equipment Defined. – As used in the section, the term “transportation equipment” means any of the following used to carry persons or property in interstate commerce: a locomotive, a railway car, a commercial motor vehicle as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-4.01, or an aircraft. The term includes a container designed for use on the equipment and a component part of the equipment.

(d) Exceptions. – This section does not apply to the following:

(1) Telecommunications services. – Telecommunications services are sourced in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.4C.

(2) Direct mail. – Direct mail is sourced in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.4E.

(3) Florist wire sale. – A florist wire sale is sourced to the business location of the florist that takes an order for the sale. A “florist wire sale” is a sale in which a retail florist takes a customer’s order and transmits the order to another retail florist to be filled and delivered.

(e) Accommodations. – The rental of an accommodation, as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.4F, is sourced to the location of the accommodation.

(f) Certain Digital Property. – A purchaser receives certain digital property when the purchaser takes possession of the property or makes first use of the property, whichever comes first.

(g) Prepaid Meal Plan. – The gross receipts derived from a prepaid meal plan are sourced to the location where the food or prepared food is available to be consumed by the person.

(h) Admissions. – The gross receipts derived from an admission charge, as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.4G, are sourced in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.4G.

(i) Computer Software Renewal. – The gross receipts derived from the renewal of a service contract for prewritten software is generally sourced pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section. However, sourcing the renewal to an address where the purchaser received the underlying prewritten software does not constitute bad faith provided the seller has not received information from the purchaser that indicates a change in the location of the underlying software. (2001-347, s. 2.9; 2002-16, s. 5; 2003-284, s. 45.3; 2004-170, s. 20; 2006-33, s. 3; 2006-66, s. 24.13(a); 2008-187, s. 42; 2009-445, s. 12; 2010-31, s. 31.6(b); 2010-123, s. 10.2; 2011-330, s. 29; 2012-79, s. 2.8; 2013-414, s. 23(b); 2014-3, ss. 4.1(c), 5.1(b); 2016-5, s. 3.3; 2017-204, s. 2.3; 2018-5, s. 38.5(d); 2019-169, s. 3.3(a).)