Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8903L0933F04 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1989-03-29

Were charges to copy and deliver hospital medical records taxable in Texas?

Short answer: No. Both copying and separately billed delivery were nontaxable, but the provider owed tax on taxable items used to perform the service.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1989. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1989
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 an official Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts letter published on the State Tax Automated Research (STAR) system. Letters on STAR can be the basis of a detrimental reliance claim only for the taxpayer to whom the letter was directly issued (see 34 Tex. Admin. Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded. Taxpayer-identifying details are redacted. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice. Consult a licensed Texas tax professional about your specific situation.
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

A company placed copiers and staff at hospitals, copied medical records, mailed them to customers, and separately billed shipping.

Texas treated both the copying charge and the delivery charge as nontaxable. The provider still had to pay tax on taxable items it used to perform the service.

If medical-record copying was the company's only Texas activity, it did not need a sales-tax permit. Other activities involving taxable sales would trigger permit and collection duties.

Common questions

Were hospital-record copying charges taxable? No.

Was separately billed delivery taxable? No.

Did the provider owe tax on its supplies? Yes, on taxable inputs used for the service.

Source

Original ruling text

March 29, 1989

Dear ***:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding the taxability of copies of medical
records.

You indicate that your company contracts with hospitals to copy medical records
for hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, governmental agencies, etc. You
place copiers at the hospital and furnish personnel to copy the records.
Subsequently, you mail the copies to your customer. The charge for shipping is
billed separately on your invoice.

Your charges to copy hospital records aren't taxable. Specifically, these are
considered nontaxable services based on a prior decision by our Tax Policy
Committee. Likewise, charges to deliver copies of hospital records to your
customers aren't taxable. However, you must pay tax to your suppliers on all
taxable items used in providing this service.

Finally, you wouldn't be required to obtain a tax permit if this were your only
activity in Texas. However, you would be required to obtain a tax permit and
collect tax if you had other business activities where you were selling taxable
items in Texas.

This opinion is based on the facts presented. If there are additional or
different facts, the opinion may change. If you have any questions, please
contact Tax Correspondence. You may call toll free 1-800-252-5555, or our
regular number is 512/463-4600. My extension is 3-4662.

Sincerely,

Bob Jeffcoat
Tax Correspondence

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