Did weekly church bulletins qualify as exempt periodicals when they included worship orders, pictures, news, events, and music?

Plain-English summary

San Diego audit staff asked whether tax applied under former Ruling 50 to paper sold for churches to produce weekly bulletins.

The bulletins contained the day's order of worship, pictures, news items, future scheduled events, and musical reprints. They appeared weekly.

Ruling 50 limited periodicals under former section 6362 to publications appearing at stated intervals with news or information of general interest to the public or a particular organization or group. It specifically excluded programs.

Counsel reviewed one redacted “E” bulletin dated April 26, 1970 and found it essentially a notice of that day's order of worship. It was therefore a program rather than an exempt periodical, so the paper sale did not qualify for the claimed treatment.

Source and live-annotation limits

The official PDF does not include the April 28, 1970 San Diego auditing memo, April 26 “E” bulletin, other bulletin issues, worship orders, pictures, news items, event schedules, musical reprints, churches, publisher or printer, paper, purchase or sale records, issue or printing schedules, distribution, invoice, price, return, exemption claim, tax calculation or payment, audit workpapers, assessment, claim, appeal, or other outcome. The church, publication, personnel, paper seller, transactions, amounts, and audit are not identified.

The live annotation preserves the paper-sale question, order-of-worship focus, program classification, and periodical elements. It omits the April auditing memo, Ruling 50, former section 6362, pictures, news, future events and musical reprints, weekly frequency, specific April 26 issue review, redactions, missing records, and outcome limits.

What this means for you

Churches, printers, paper sellers, and tax professionals

A recurring publication's function and overall content mattered more than its weekly schedule or inclusion of some news under the historical rule. Preserve complete issues, schedules, content, paper purchases, printing and distribution records, invoices, returns, and audit evidence.

Common questions

Q: Did weekly publication make the bulletin a periodical?

A: No.

Q: Did the presence of news and future events control?

A: No. Counsel characterized the reviewed bulletin as essentially an order-of-worship program.

Q: What transaction was addressed?

A: Sales of paper used by churches to produce the bulletins.

Citations and references

• Former California Revenue and Taxation Code § 6362
• Former California Sales Tax Ruling 50
• April 28, 1970 auditing memo, April 26 church bulletin, other issues, paper-sale and tax records, auditing records, and outcomes — described or implicated but not documented

Verbatim support

From the official Tax Counsel memorandum:

Bulletins of the type in question consist of a program of the order of worship for the day, pictures, news items, scheduled events for the future and musical reprints.

The term does not include "programs".

In our opinion, weekly church bulletins, such as the "E" bulletin for April 26, 1970, which you have forwarded to us for our review, are essentially notices as to the order of worship of the day and, as such, are programs and not exempt periodicals.

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: CDTFA Annotated Legal Opinions
• Annotation page: Annotation 385.0500
• Original supporting opinion: 385.0500 PDF

Original ruling text

385.0500

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

May 4, 1970

To:

San Diego - Auditing (REH)

From:

Tax Counsel (GJJ)

Subject:

Periodical Exemption

This is in reply to your memo of April 28, 1970 in which you raise a question as to the application of tax under Ruling 50 to sales of paper which will be used by churches to produce weekly church "bulletins". Bulletins of the type in question consist of a program of the order of worship for the day, pictures, news items, scheduled events for the future and musical reprints. These bulletins are published weekly. Ruling 50 provides that the term "periodical" as used in Section 6362 and in the ruling is limited to those publications which appear at stated intervals, each issue of which contains news or information of general interest to the public, or to some particular organization or group of persons. The term does not include "programs". In our opinion, weekly church bulletins, such as the "E" bulletin for April 26, 1970, which you have forwarded to us for our review, are essentially notices as to the order of worship of the day and, as such, are programs and not exempt periodicals.

GJJ:ab [lb]