Could a cumulative public-records database issued on compact disc qualify as a periodical when each new disc repeated earlier data and added recent information?

Plain-English summary

A redacted publisher sold subscriptions to a compact-disc database. Public records from county assessors and other agencies were enhanced with characteristics, current sales, sales history, telephone numbers, parcel maps, geocoded data, U.S. Postal Service standards, census-tract data, and other information quoted from an absent brochure.

Each disc contained the whole body of information for a year's subscription, repeating prior-disc data and adding information accumulated over the intervening two months. Counsel understood that the discs appeared at stated intervals averaging no more than three months.

Section 6362.7(b), quoted in the letter, covered qualifying periodicals sold by subscription and delivered by mail or common carrier. The source says the company sold subscriptions but does not state how it delivered the discs.

The requester compared the cumulative database to multiple-listing-service publications. After reviewing the background of Annotations 385.0340, 385.0341, and 385.0350, California agreed that the compact discs qualified as periodicals. Counsel also reexamined medium and concluded the statute could include computer-readable floppy or compact discs.

Source and live-annotation limits

The official PDF does not include the August 20, 1993 request, telephone-discussion record, staff discussions, quoted brochure, compact discs, database, public records or enhancements, prior or new data, issue or release records, subscriptions, subscriber records, prices, mail or common-carrier delivery evidence, sales, invoices, returns, exemption claim, tax calculations or payments, audit, assessment, claim, appeal, or other outcome. The publisher, database, brochure, agencies, subscribers, transactions, Oakland district personnel, and recipients are redacted or unidentified.

The source's formal first-page date is April 14, 1994. The live annotation instead ends with March 8, 1994 and supplies no explanation. This page follows the source body and discloses the conflict.

The live annotation accurately preserves the database content, cumulative two-month updates, frequency, computer-readable-medium conclusion, and MLS analogy. It additionally says sales of the periodicals were exempt even though prior data repeated. The source frames the question as exemption but expressly concludes only that the discs qualify as periodicals; it quotes mail-or-common-carrier delivery as a statutory condition without stating the actual delivery method. The live entry omits the August request, delayed response, telephone and staff discussions, brochure provenance, whole-year content, quoted statutory text, cited annotation numbers, missing records, redactions, and outcome limits.

What this means for you

Database publishers and tax professionals

Document each release, repeated and new data, content sources, continuity, schedule, subscription terms, physical media, mail or carrier delivery, prices, sales, returns, tax treatment, and any agency review.

Common questions

Q: Could a compact disc be a periodical?

A: Yes.

Q: Did repeating prior database content prevent periodical status?

A: No.

Q: What frequency did the opinion assume?

A: Stated intervals averaging no more than three months.

Q: Did the source state how subscribers received the discs?

A: No. It quoted the statutory mail-or-common-carrier condition but supplied no actual delivery fact.

Citations and references

• California Revenue and Taxation Code § 6362.7(b)
• California Sales and Use Tax Annotations 385.0340, 385.0341, and 385.0350
• August 20, 1993 request, telephone and staff discussions, brochure, discs and database, subscriptions, delivery and sales records, tax records, and outcomes — described or implicated but not documented

Verbatim support

From the official Senior Tax Counsel letter:

They also contain new data which have accumulated over the intervening two months.

We understand that the compact discs are published at stated intervals and regularly issued at average intervals not exceeding three months.

We had also re-examined the issue of whether the law permits a computer readable medium such as a floppy disc or compact disc to qualify as a periodical and have concluded that the statute may be so construed.

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: CDTFA Annotated Legal Opinions
• Annotation page: Annotation 385.0523
• Original supporting opinion: 385.0523 PDF

Original ruling text

385.0523

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

MEMBER
First District, Kentfield

450 N STREET, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
(P.O. BOX 942879, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 94279-0001)
(916) 445-6450

BRAD SHERMAN
Second District, Los Angeles
ERNEST J. DRONENBURG, JR
Third District, San Diego
MATTHEW K. FONG
Fourth District, Los Angeles
GRAY DAVIS
Controller, Sacramento

April 14, 1994

BURTON W. OLIVER
Executive Director

Dear: --I apologize for the delay in responding to your August 20, 1993 letter regarding the application of sales tax to charges by --- --- --- for publications issued on compact discs. As you and I discussed on the telephone, the issue you raised has been the subject of a number of discussions with our staff.
--- sells subscriptions to --- which consists of a data base on compact disc. The information embodied on the media consists of public records information from the county assessor and other agencies enhanced with "characteristics, current sales, sales history, telephone numbers, parcel maps, geo-coded data, USPS standards, census tract data and other significant information." The quoted portion is from the --- brochure you sent titled “--- --- ---.” The issue raised is whether the sale of the compact discs, each of which contains the whole body of information of a year's subscription qualifies for exemption from sales tax pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 6362.7, subdivision (b), which provides: "There are exempted from the taxes imposed by this part, the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state, of tangible personal property which becomes an ingredient or a component part of any periodical regularly issued at average intervals not exceeding three months, and any such periodical, that is sold by subscription and delivered by mail or common carrier." We understand that the compact discs are published at stated intervals and regularly issued at average intervals not exceeding three months. As you pointed out in your letter, the compact disc issued to a subscriber contains data which are on the previously issued disc. They also contain new data which have accumulated over the intervening two months. You noted that, in this regard, they are akin to multiple listing service publications which we have previously considered to qualify as periodicals. After

researching the background of the multiple listing service opinions published as Business Taxes Law Guide Annotations 385.0340, 385.0341, and 385.0350, we agree with your conclusion that the --- compact discs issued by --- qualify as periodicals for purposes of Revenue and Taxation Code Section 6362.7. We had also re-examined the issue of whether the law permits a computer readable medium such as a floppy disc or compact disc to qualify as a periodical and have concluded that the statute may be so construed. We hope this answers your questions; however, if you need further information, feel free to write again.

Very truly yours,

Ronald Dick
Senior Tax Counsel

RLD:plh
bc: Oakland District Administrator - CH