Did the bimonthly Market Basket News qualify for California's historical periodical exemption?
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This page answers the general question as of 1951. Ask about yours and see what current California tax law says, with citations.
Plain-English summary
An unnamed requester's June 13 letter included a sample of Market Basket News, described as issued bi-monthly.
Tax Counsel E. H. Stetson concluded that the submitted publication qualified for the sales-tax exemption in former section 6362 and said a copy of Ruling 50 explaining the exemption was enclosed.
CDTFA's live Miscellaneous annotation groups Market Basket News with many other named publications. It says those publications were held exempt as constituted at their correspondence dates, assuming required frequency. The linked opinion reproduced here does not discuss or identify any of those other publications, so this page does not attribute their classifications or facts to this letter.
Source and live-annotation limits
The official PDF does not include the June 13 request, Market Basket News sample or any other issue, content, publication or delivery schedule, requester or reader identity, Ruling 50 enclosure, prices, invoices, sales or uses, returns, exemption documentation, tax calculations or payments, audit, assessment, claim, appeal, or later outcome. The requester, copied recipient beyond the partial printed name, readers, transactions, quantities, prices, and tax amounts are unidentified.
The source prints bi-monthly, Sales and Used Tax Ruling 50, and only the partial copied-recipient line cc: Mr. Wm. R. The original-text section preserves those forms rather than expanding the ambiguous frequency term, correcting the title, or completing the name.
The live annotation preserves Market Basket News among a broader exemption list, the date, correspondence-date limitation, and frequency assumption. It omits the request and counsel, submitted-sample review, bi-monthly schedule, section 6362 and Ruling 50, missing enclosure and other records, source forms, and absent outcome. Its additional titles are live-entry claims not supported by the linked Market Basket opinion.
What this means for you
Newsletter publishers and tax professionals
The source grounds a narrow result for one submitted publication. Preserve every issue, content and schedule, distribution, Ruling 50 or current authority, contracts, invoices and sales, returns, exemption documents, tax calculations, and payments. Do not generalize to other titles without their own sources.
Common questions
Q: How often was Market Basket News issued?
A: Bimonthly.
Q: Did it qualify for the exemption?
A: Yes.
Q: Does this PDF support the annotation summary's other named publications?
A: No. The letter itself addresses only Market Basket News.
Q: Does the source explain what Market Basket News contained?
A: No. It reports review of an absent sample but supplies no content description.
Q: Is “bi-monthly” clarified?
A: No. The source uses that form without defining it.
Citations and references
- Former California Revenue and Taxation Code § 6362
- Former California Sales and Use Tax Ruling 50
- June 13 request, sample and other issues, publication records, Ruling 50 enclosure, sales, tax records, and outcome — described or implicated but not documented
Verbatim support
From the official Tax Counsel opinion:
In answer to your letter of June 13 we advise that the publication “Market Basket News”, a sample of which accompanied your letter and which is issued bi-monthly, is, in our opinion, entitled to the exemption from the sales tax for which Section 6362 of the Sales and Use Tax Law provides.
Enclosed is a copy of Sales and Used Tax Ruling 50 explaining this exemption.
Source
- Annotated Legal Opinions collection: CDTFA Annotated Legal Opinions
- Annotation page: Annotation 385.2100
- Original supporting opinion: 385.2100 PDF
Original ruling text
385.2100
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
June 21, 1951
Gentlemen:
In answer to your letter of June 13 we advise that the publication “Market Basket News”,
a sample of which accompanied your letter and which is issued bi-monthly, is, in our opinion,
entitled to the exemption from the sales tax for which Section 6362 of the Sales and Use Tax
Law provides.
Enclosed is a copy of Sales and Used Tax Ruling 50 explaining this exemption.
Very truly yours,
E. H. Stetson
Tax Counsel
EHS: ph
cc: Mr. Wm. R
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