In a 3-2 decision, the South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled that a business that offers self-storage units for rent is not subject to the state sales tax. According to the high court, the renting of  storage space does not amount to providing the service of warehousing and storage.

The ruling upholds a circuit judge's decision that found James Pirmantgen and Patricia Carlson do not have to pay sales tax on their receipts from a self-service storage facility in Sisseton. The state Department of Revenue and Regulation argued that Pirmantgen and Carlson should pay sales taxes under a law that requires mini-warehousing or self-storage warehousing to pay those taxes. But the Supreme Court says the business rents storage space and does not provide the warehousing of any particular line of goods.The two dissenting justices say they believe the self-storage rental business provides a service that should be subject to the sales tax.

Source: Associated Press, KXMC.com, Supreme Court Says Self-Storage Not Taxable