Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 9105L1112G04 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1991-05-31

Would a church lose the Texas exemption for its centennial history book by hiring an outside professional printer?

Short answer: No. The church still qualified if it published and distributed the book; using an unaffiliated professional printer did not defeat the exemption.

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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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

A church planned to sell a centennial history book and have it professionally printed by an outside printer.

The Comptroller clarified that the book had to be published and distributed by the church to qualify for the exemption under Rule 3.299(d). Hiring a printer that was not associated with the church did not cause the exemption to be lost.

What this means for you

For the church book described here, outside printing did not change the exemption result. The required roles were publication and distribution by the church itself.

Common questions

What publication was involved? A centennial history book the church planned to sell.

Could a commercial printer produce it? Yes.

What did the church still have to do? Publish and distribute the book.

Did the letter reconsider its earlier guidance? It clarified the April 26, 1991 letter while saying the publish-and-distribute requirement remained correct.

Citations and references

  • 34 Tex. Admin. Code Rule 3.299(d) — exemption provision identified in the letter

Source

Original ruling text

May 31, 1991

Dear **:

This letter is to clarify information provided to you in my letter
dated April 26, 1991 regarding the taxability of a centennial
history book your church plans to sell.

You stated that the book will be professionally printed by **
****.

As I mentioned in my previous letter, the book must be published
and distributed by the church, in order to qualify for exemption
under Rule 3.299(d). That information was, and still is, correct.
However, because your church has the printing done by someone not
associated with the church, will not cause the exemption to be
lost.

If you need additional information or have any questions, write or
call me toll free at 1-800-531-5441, extension 5-0330.

Sincerely,

Bettie U. Peterson
Tax Administration Division

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