Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 9105L1110A11 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1991-05-16

Could a customs cartman who was not a licensed U.S. Customs Broker certify Texas sales-tax exports to Mexico?

Short answer: No. The cartman could not certify the export, but could document it by returning a Mexican customs pedimento de importaciones to the customer.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1991. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1991
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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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

The requester transported goods into Mexico but was not licensed as a U.S. Customs Broker.

After consulting U.S. Customs Service employees, the Comptroller said the requester could not certify for Texas sales-tax purposes that the goods had been exported.

The requester could instead document exports by obtaining a pedimento de importaciones from Mexican customs officials upon entering Mexico with the goods and returning that document to the customer.

What this means for you

The requester lacked authority to provide the broker certification, but official Mexican import documentation offered a separate way to support the export.

Common questions

Why could the requester not certify the export? The requester was not a licensed U.S. Customs Broker.

What document could support the export? A pedimento de importaciones from Mexican customs.

Who should receive that document? The requester's customer.

Citations and references

  • 34 Tex. Admin. Code Rule 3.323(c)(1)(C) — export documentation provision identified by the Comptroller

Source

Original ruling text

May 16, 1991

I have examined the information you provided and discussed it
with employees of the U.S. Customs Service. Because you are not
licensed as a U.S. Customs Broker, you are not eligible to
certify that goods were exported to Mexico for sales tax
purposes.

However, you may document exports for your customers by obtaining
a copy of the pedimento de importaciones from Mexican customs
officials when you enter Mexico with the goods and returning that
document to your customers. I am enclosing a copy of rule 3.323
regarding exports for your review. Please refer to subsection
(c)(1)(c) for further information.

This opinion is based on the facts you presented. Other facts,
though similar, may yield different results.

If you have questions or need more information, please call our
toll-free number 1-800-531-5441. My direct line number is 512-
463-4680 [FAX (512) 475-0900]. You may write to me in care of
Tax Administration Division.

Sincerely,

Al Van Allen
Tax Administration Division

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