Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8907L0950G10 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1989-07-31

Did nonprofit status alone qualify an association's periodicals and writings for Texas's publication exemption?

Short answer: No. The association was nonprofit but did not fall within the religious, philanthropic, charitable, historical, scientific, or similar organizations covered by the legislation.

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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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

Senate Bill 1481 amended Texas Tax Code Section 151.312 to exempt periodicals and writings published or distributed by nonprofit religious, philanthropic, charitable, historical, scientific, or similar organizations.

The Comptroller said the requesting association did not qualify as one of those covered organization types, even though it operated as a nonprofit. Its periodicals and writings therefore did not qualify for the exemption under the described legislation.

Common questions

Was being nonprofit enough? No.

Which organizations did the quoted legislation cover? Nonprofit religious, philanthropic, charitable, historical, scientific, and similar organizations.

Did the letter treat every educational organization as covered? No. It said educational and other organizations outside the described types were excluded.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

July 31, 1989

Dear ***:

Thank you for your letter of July 20, 1989, concerning the new
legislation on periodicals and writings.

S.B. 1481 amends Section 151.312 of the Texas Tax Code to exempt
"periodicals and writings that are published or distributed by a
religious, philanthropic, charitable, historical, scientific, or
other similar organization that is not operated for profit..."
Educational and other organizations not qualifying as one of the
types of organizations so described are excluded from the exemp-
tion.

The *** Association, though non-profit, does not qualify
as an organization whose periodicals and writings will be exempt
under this legislation.

A copy of the bill is enclosed for reference.

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, you may call
toll-free 1-800-252-5555, ext. 3-4683. The regular number is 512/
463-4600. You may write me at Tax Correspondence, Comptroller of
Public Accounts.

Sincerely,
Eddie C. Washington
Tax Correspondence

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