Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8904L0932E08 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1989-04-05

Were charges for workers' compensation claim files and required health-care guidelines taxable?

Short answer: No. The 1989 letter exempted both categories as governmental records or required Open Records Act publications.

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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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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

No sales tax was due on charges for copies of workers' compensation claim files under the governmental-record rule then in effect.

Charges for the specified health-care guidelines were also nontaxable because the rules had to be furnished under the Open Records Act.

STAR warns that Rule 3.341 was repealed effective February 11, 2008 and its governmental-publication content was incorporated into Rule 3.322(h)(5), effective July 19, 2011. The historical citation should therefore not be used as the current rule number.

Common questions

Were claim-file copies taxable? No.

Were the required health-care guidelines taxable? No.

Is Rule 3.341 still the current citation? No. STAR identifies Rule 3.322(h)(5) as the later location.

Source

Original ruling text

ALERT: Rule 3.341 concerning Governmental Publications, Records or Documents
has been repealed effective 02/11/2008. The content of Rule 3.341 has been
incorporated into subsection (h)(5) of Rule 3.322 concerning Exempt
Organizations effective 07/19/2011.

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, TEXAS 78774

April 5, 1989

Dear ***:

Mr. Cherry asked me to write to you concerning the taxability of
copies of worker's compensation claim files and health care fee
guidelines.

I'm enclosing a copy of Rule 3.341, Sales of Governmental Publica-
tions, Records, or Documents.

No tax is due on the amount you charge for copies of workers'
compensation claim files. These documents fall under subsection
(c) of the enclosed rule.

And no tax is due on the amount charged for health care guide-
lines, i.e. Rules 42.105, 42.110, and 42.115. These rules are
required to be furnished pursuant to the Open Records Act. These
copies fall under subsection (a) and (b) of the enclosed rule.

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

If you have any questions or need more information, please call
give me a call, my number is 512/463-4614.

Sincerely,
Adina Whittemore
Taxability Section
Legal Services Division

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