Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8801L0853A10 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1988-01-07

Was researching whether property taxes were paid and issuing a certificate to a title company a taxable information service?

Short answer: Yes. The research-and-certificate charge was taxable as an information service. Separately stated courthouse copy and similar charges incurred during the research were nontaxable.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1988. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1988
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 January 1988 Texas Comptroller letter. It says the opinion may change if the facts differ and cites no statute or rule. The result covers researching county, school-district, water-district, and city tax status and certifying whether taxes were paid or due, with separately stated courthouse costs treated differently. Information-service, public-record, property-tax research, copy-charge, and invoicing rules may have changed; verify current law. STAR documents may no longer represent current policy even when not marked superseded. Taxpayer-identifying details 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

Title companies asked the provider to research whether taxes on a parcel were paid or due to the county, school district, water district, and city, then issue a certificate reporting the result.

The Comptroller treated the service charge as a taxable information service.

Courthouse copy and similar costs were nontaxable when the provider separately stated them on the client invoice.

What this means for you

The historical result distinguished the provider's research and certificate from separately stated governmental record costs incurred to perform the work.

Common questions

Was the research service taxable? Yes.

Were separately stated courthouse copies taxable? No.

Citations and references

The letter cites no numbered statute or rule.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, TEXAS 78774

January 7, 1988

Dear ***:

Thank you for your letter concerning the service you provide.

In your letter, you stated that title companies request from you a
certificate on a particular parcel of land stating that the taxes are
paid current at all the taxing authorities (county, school district,
water district and city). You research the request and then supply
the title company with a certificate showing that taxes are paid or due.

Your charges for this service are taxable as an information service. If
you
do your research at the courthouse and separately state charges incurred
there for copies and the like on your invoice to your client, then you
would
not collect tax on those items.

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

Please feel free to contact me if you have additional questions. You may
write me, call toll free 1-800-531-5441 or phone 512/463-4600.

Sincerely,
Wayne McDonald
Tax Policy Division

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