Boost Mobile Store Partially Owes Sales Tax on Prepaid Products

A Boost Mobile retailer is partially liable for $517,000 in sales tax assessed on prepaid cards for the time period the cards only could be used to buy wireless services, the North Carolina Supreme Court held Friday.

But the cards are tax exempt for the period when they effectively were a Boost Mobile gift card that could purchase tax-exempt products or services, Justice Allison Riggs wrote for the court.

Wireless Center of NC Inc. sold the cards to customers, who then could use them to purchase Boost Mobile products. The retailer argued that customers could use the prepaid cards to ...