Were a university press's biography sales exempt, and did one weekend of sales in another city require a temporary outlet or return adjustment?

Plain-English summary

A university press planned to sell a biography of a county civic leader and asked about the publication exemption, a weekend sale in Temple, and how to report those receipts from its sole Belton outlet.

Tax Code § 151.312 exempted writings of religious, philanthropic, charitable, historical, scientific, and similar organizations when published or distributed by the organization. It expressly excluded educational organizations, so the university's biography sales were taxable.

The letter stated that Belton and Temple each had a 7.5% combined state and local rate at that time. That historical rate is not presented as current.

One day or one weekend of sales in another town was considered occasional. The university did not need to adjust the return's local allocation or file forms opening a temporary Temple outlet for those limited receipts.

Common questions

Was the university biography exempt? No.

What rate did the 1989 letter state for Belton and Temple? 7.5% combined state and local tax in each city.

Did one weekend in Temple require a temporary outlet filing? No.

Did the university need to adjust its return allocation? No.

Citations and references

• Tex. Tax Code § 151.312

Source

• STAR search: https://star.comptroller.texas.gov/search?doc_type_code=L&tax_type_code=SST
• Opinion: https://star.comptroller.texas.gov/view/8909L0953B14

Original ruling text

Comptroller of Public Accounts
State of Texas
Austin, Texas 78774

September 14, 1989

Re: Taxability of Sales of University Publications

Dear ***:

This letter will answer the questions that you posed in our telephone
conversation on Wednesday. You indicated that the *** University
Press had published a biography of a prominent **** County Civic leader and
planned to offer it for sale shortly. You first wanted to know if these sales
would be exempt from Texas sales tax under TEX. TAX CODE ANN. Section 151.312.
The short answer is no.

That statute exempts periodicals and writings of religious,
philanthropic, charitable, historical, scientific, and similar organizations if
they are published or distributed by that organization. However, periodicals
and writings of educational organizations are expressly excluded from the
statute. *** University is an educational organization and would
therefore not qualify for this exemption.

Next, you indicated that the University will be conducting sales of this
particular book in Temple on an upcoming weekend. You wanted to know whether
the tax rate was the same in both Belton and Temple. the answer is yes. The
combined state and local sales tax rates in each city is 7.5%.

Finally, since *** University has only one outlet (Belton), you
wanted to know how to allocate this one weekend of Temple sales on your sales
tax return. The answer is that you need not worry about it. One day or one
weekend of sales in a town different from your own locality is considered to be
of such an occasional nature under our rules that no adjustment need be made on
the return. You need not file any forms opening a temporary outlet in that
jurisdiction in order to properly allocate such limited receipts.

I hope that this letter addresses all of your questions. If I can be of
further service, please let me know.

Sincerely,
RICHARD F. CRAIG
Assistant Executive Counsel