Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 9009L1046D13 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1990-09-24

Could a school sell taxable yearbooks through an exempt organization's once-a-year, 24-hour tax-free sale?

Short answer: Yes. Tax was avoided when the yearbooks were delivered to the school on one day, even if students ordered and picked up their books over multiple days.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1990. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1990
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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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

School yearbooks were ordinarily subject to Texas sales tax, but the tax could be avoided through an exempt organization's once-a-year, 24-hour tax-free sale.

The timing condition was satisfied when all books were delivered to the school on one day. Students could place orders over several days and pick up their books over several days without changing the result.

What this means for you

For the sale described, the controlling one-day event was delivery of the yearbooks to the school, not the span of order-taking or student pickup.

Common questions

Were yearbooks normally taxable? Yes.

Could the exempt organization use its annual 24-hour sale? Yes.

Did student pickup have to occur on one day? No.

Citations and references

  • No numbered statute or rule was cited in the letter.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

BOB BULLOCK
Comptroller September 24, 1990

Dear ****:

Thank you for your letter dated September 18, 1990, asking whether
school yearbooks are subject to Texas sales tax.

Although yearbooks are subject to sales tax, the sales tax can be
avoided if the yearbooks are sold at an exempt organization's once-
a-year, 24-hour, tax-free sale.

As long as the books are delivered to the school on one day, sales
tax will not be due even if the orders were taken over several days
or the books were picked up by the students over several days.

This response is based on the facts presented in your letter. If
the facts change or if there are additional relevant facts, the re-
sponse may change.

If I may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to write
me or call me toll free at 1-800-252-5555, extension 34662.

Sincerely,
Jerry Oxford
Tax Correspondence

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