Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8711L0846D08 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1987-11-03

How did Texas tax pagers or beepers rented with telecommunications service compared with equipment sold or rented without service?

Short answer: A pager rented with telecommunications service used the same tax rate as the service. A beeper or pager sold outright or rented without service was treated as an ordinary sale or rental of tangible personal property.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1987. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1987
Subsequent statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later rulings may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, rate, or position mentioned here.
Disclaimer: This is a taxpayer-specific November 1987 Texas Comptroller letter about pagers or beepers rented with telecommunications service or sold or rented separately. It says the opinion may change if the facts differ. Its service-rate linkage and tangible-personal-property treatment are historical and may have changed substantially; verify current telecommunications and equipment rules. Although the STAR caption also names cellular phones, the body decides only pagers or beepers. STAR documents may no longer represent current policy even when not marked superseded. Identities are redacted. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice.
About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official state tax ruling. The original ruling (linked on this page) is the authoritative source for any reliance.

Plain-English summary

When a telecommunications provider rented a pager together with telecommunications service, the pager used the same tax rate as the service.

When a beeper or pager was sold outright or rented without the service, it was treated like any other sale or rental of tangible personal property.

What this means for you

The historical result depended on bundling with telecommunications service. The letter does not separately analyze cellular phones despite that phrase appearing in the STAR caption.

Common questions

What rate applied to a pager rented with service? The same rate as the telecommunications service.

How was a standalone pager sale or rental treated? As an ordinary tangible-personal-property sale or rental.

Did the body decide cellular-phone treatment? No.

Citations and references

  • No statute or administrative rule is cited by number in the letter text.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

November 3, 1987

Dear **:

Thank you for your recent letter with the exception of telecommunications
services. I'm enclosing the rules you requested.

When a telecommunications provider rents pagers along with the provision
of
the service, the tax rate for the pager will be the same as for the
telecommunication service. If the beeper or pager is sold or is rented
without the service, it is treated like any other sale or rental of
tangible
property.

I had previously notified your office of the seminars in Corpus Christi
and
Victoria. I do not have a schedule of any seminars in San Antonio or
Houston. You may care to contact your local office in the enclosed
brochure,
"Tax Help Near Your".

This opinion is based on the facts presented. If there are additional or
different facts, the opinion may change.

If you have any questions or need more information, please call me at
1-800-252-5555 toll free from anywhere in Texas. The regular number is
512/463-4600. You may write me at the Tax Policy Division

Sincerely,
Al Van Allen
Tax Policy Division

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