Were charges for college transcripts taxable when a governmental educational institution furnished them under a statutory mandate?

Plain-English summary

A community-college district was told by an auditor that sales tax applied to transcript-copy charges. California's legal office corrected that position.

When a governmental entity furnished copies in accordance with law, the transaction was the performance of a governmental service even if the entity could receive reimbursement for providing it.

College transcripts furnished by educational institutions under a statutory mandate therefore were not sales, and sales tax did not apply. The legal office also acknowledged that it had failed to circulate this interpretation throughout the agency and said it was improving district-office access to legal opinions.

What this means for you

Governmental colleges

The result depended on furnishing transcripts as a legally required governmental service.

Accountants and tax professionals

Verify governmental status, the current statutory duty, fee authority, electronic versus physical delivery, and any optional services beyond the mandate.

Common questions

Q: Were the transcript charges taxable?

A: No.

Q: Did cost reimbursement make the transcript a sale?

A: No.

Q: Did the opinion identify the statutory mandate?

A: No. It referred to the mandate without citing it.

Citations and references

• California Revenue and Taxation Code § 6006
• The opinion refers to a transcript statute but does not identify its citation

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: CDTFA Annotated Legal Opinions
• Annotation page: Annotation 515.0239
• Original supporting opinion: 515.0239 PDF

Original ruling text

515.0239

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
1020 N STREET, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
(P.O. BOX 942879, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 94279-0001)
(916) 445-5550

December 18, 1991

Mr. T--- J. N--Vice Chancellor and General Counsel
C--- C--- C--XXXX --- Street
---, CA XXXXX

Dear Mr. N---:

This is in reply to your letter of October 16, 1991, which was addressed to Mr. E. L. Sorensen, Jr. Your letter was referred to the undersigned. We apologize for the delay in our response. We understand that the S--- F--- C--- C--- District was recently informed by one of our auditors that sales taxes were applicable to charges made for copies of transcripts provided to students or institutions of higher education. As you are aware, sales tax applies to the retail sale of tangible personal property. “Sale” is defined to include a transfer of title to tangible personal property for a consideration. Rev. and Tax. Code Section 6006. It has long been our position that, where copies of documents are furnished by governmental entities in accordance with law, transactions of this type constitute the performance of governmental services, notwithstanding that the entity furnishing the documents may be entitled to reimbursement for the performance of the service. In fact, this office a number of years ago reviewed the question of the application of tax to the situation where college transcripts are furnished by educational institutions in accordance

Mr. T--- J. N---

-2-

December 18, 1991
515.0239

with a statutory mandate. We concluded then, and remain of the opinion, that these are not “sale” transactions, and that the sales tax does not apply. What we did not do is communicate this interpretation throughout our organization. We have taken steps to improve our processes to insure that our representatives in local district offices have full access to the opinions issued by this office. Very truly yours,

Gary J. Jugum
Assistant Chief Counsel

GJJ:sr
cc:

Mr. Michael Lorenz
Senior Tax Auditor
San Francisco District Office