Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8904L0933B13 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1989-04-13

Did Texas's agricultural exemption cover a satellite dish, CRT equipment, and agricultural market-data service?

Short answer: No. The equipment was taxable tangible property and the futures and live-market data was a taxable information service.

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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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

A purchaser used a small satellite dish and CRT equipment to receive futures markets, live markets, and related price information.

Texas treated the dish and equipment as taxable tangible personal property and the market-data subscription as a taxable information service. The agricultural exemptions in Tax Code section 151.316 and Rule 3.296 did not extend to either the equipment or the service.

Common questions

Was the satellite and CRT equipment exempt farm equipment? No.

Was the market-data service exempt? No. It was a taxable information service.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

BOB BULLOCK
Comptroller April 13, 1989

Dear ***

Thank you for your letter of April 6, 1989, concerning the taxability of
your purchase of a CRT with price data service.

As I understand from your telephone conversation April 11, 1989 with
Jerry
Wood, you purchased a small satellite dish and equipment which enable you
to
receive an information service consisting of futures markets, live
markets
and related market services.

The equipment is taxable tangible personal property and the service
provided
is a taxable information service. The agricultural exemptions provided
in
Section 151.316 of the statute, and Rule 3.296 on Agricultural
Activities, do
not extend to this type of equipment or service.

As requested, I have enclosed copies of Rule 3.296 and Rule 3.342 on
Information Services.

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 our
toll-free
number 1l-800-252-5555. The regular number is 512/463-4600. You may
write me
at Tax Correspondence, Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Sincerely,
Julie Pesl
Tax Correspondence

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