Were subscriptions for streamed online courses and paid direct messaging subject to Florida communications services tax?

Plain-English summary

An online professional network sold two different offerings: an educational platform with streamed and downloadable instructional videos, and a paid feature for directly messaging members outside a user's existing connections while accessing compiled professional information.

The Department taxed the learning platform as a video service. Under Fla. Stat. Sec. 202.11(24), transmitting video, audio, or other programming to a purchaser—including digital video—is a video service. The educational purpose did not change that classification, and the statutory definition of information service in Sec. 202.11(5) expressly excludes video service.

The separately purchased direct-messaging feature was not subject to communications services tax. On the stated facts, it was an electronic-mail/information service that let users retrieve compiled professional information and contact selected members, rather than a taxable paid transmission of voice, data, audio, or video.

What this means for you

Online course platforms

Educational content is not automatically an exempt information service. Streaming or downloading instructional video can bring the offering within Florida's video-service definition.

Professional networks and messaging products

A standalone messaging and compiled-information feature can receive different treatment from a video subscription. Analyze each offering separately rather than treating the whole platform as one service.

Common questions

Did the educational purpose exempt the videos? No. The TAA said the video-service definition has no primary-purpose test.

Were downloaded courses treated differently from streamed courses? No. Both were part of the taxable video-service offering.

Was paid direct messaging taxable? Not on these facts; it was treated as electronic mail and an information service.

Citations and references

• Fla. Stat. Sec. 202.11(1), (5), (14), and (24)
• Fla. Stat. Sec. 202.12(1)
• Fla. Stat. Sec. 213.22(1)

Source

• Landing page: Florida Tax Law Library
• Advisement: TAA 22A19-002R

Original ruling text

QUESTION: Whether sales of [Taxpayer]
Communications Services Tax?

services are subject to the

ANSWER: Sales of [Taxpayer]
services include video services subject to
Communications Services Tax. However, sales of [Taxpayer]
services are an electronic
mail/information service not subject to Communications Services Tax.
October 7, 2022

Via Email:
Re:

Dear

Technical Assistance Advisement – TAA # 22A19-002R
Communications Services Tax
Chapter 202, Florida Statutes (“F.S.”)
(“Taxpayer”)
Business Partner
:

This is in response to your letter dated November 4, 2021, requesting this Department’s issuance
of a TAA pursuant to Section 213.22, F.S., and Chapter 12-11, Florida Administrative Code,
regarding the application of Communications Services Tax as it relates to Taxpayer’s service
offerings. Your request has been carefully examined, and the Department finds it to be in
compliance with the requisite criteria set forth in Chapter 12-11, F.A.C. This response to your
request constitutes a TAA and is issued to you under the authority of s. 213.22, F.S.

REQUESTED ADVISEMENT
Whether sales of [Taxpayer]
Services Tax (“CST”)?

services are subject to the Communications

Technical Assistance Advisement
October 7, 2022
Page 2

FACTS PROVIDED
Your request provides in part, the following:
I.

Facts & Background

[Taxpayer] is an online professional network platform that allows individual and business
members to stay connected with each other and various career opportunities.
[Taxpayer] offers products and services which service to facilitate collaboration,
enhance professional connections, and promote business growth. The service offerings
relevant to this request include [Taxpayer]
. Additional information
related to these service offerings are discussed below.
a)

[Taxpayer]

[Taxpayer]
is an online educational platform that allows users to stream
courses and instructional videos on a variety of subjects. The courses are available to
users online or may be downloaded using the mobile version of [Taxpayer]
such that users can access the courses … offline. The downloaded courses may only
be accessed by the users and cannot be shared or transferred. Users can choose to
add these courses and related skills to their [Taxpayer] profiles once … completed ….
[M]ost courses are created by [Taxpayer].… [T]hrough [Taxpayer]
,
businesses can create content specific to their organization for employees to access.
Business users may upload the organization’s … custom videos, documents, and links.
When users subscribe to [Taxpayer]
, they can access the entire
library of content, post completed courses to their [Taxpayer] profiles, and get
recommendations based on the skills they are interested in. To further enhance the user
learning experience, many of the courses come equipped with exercise files,
assessments, and transcripts for the video. Offline viewing is only available through the
mobile app; at this time, videos cannot be downloaded on desktop or laptop devices.
An active subscription is required for accessing [Taxpayer]
online and for
offline viewing.
Users can also use [Taxpayer]
to provide feedback on courses as well as
access Q&A sections regarding the courses. Courses can be purchased on a standalone basis or accessed as part of a premium subscription (i.e.,
or
) or a separate [Taxpayer]
subscription. Users who have a subscription through [Taxpayer]
or a premium
subscription have access to all of the courses and may utilize the mobile application to
access the courses offline. However, users that purchase individual courses a-la-carte
can only download those specific courses using the mobile application. [Taxpayer]
courses are not customized specifically for users and live trainings are not
offered through the [Taxpayer]
platform.

Technical Assistance Advisement
October 7, 2022
Page 3

b)
allows users to directly message another [Taxpayer] member that the user is not
connected to. If users have a Basic (free) account … they can only directly message
[Taxpayer] members that they are connected to. They must upgrade to a
account to use
messages. Users that pay a fee for a
account type are
allotted a certain amount of
credits (e.g.,
credits) each month that they
can use to send
messages.
account members have the ability to
purchase additional
credits for an additional fee. While
may be bundled
with various [Taxpayer] service offerings, for purposes of this request, it should be
assumed that
is being purchased on a standalone basis and is not bundled with
any other service offering.
II.

Issue

Whether the sales of [Taxpayer’s]
Communication[s] Services Tax?

services are subject to the

III. Pertinent Authority
In support of Taxpayer’s position, you reference s. 202.11(1), (5), and (24), F.S., and TAA #s
14A19-006, and 19A-015. You also reference the “Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act”
(PITFA”), a federal mortarium made permanent on February 24, 2016, which prohibits
discriminatory taxes imposed on sales of Internet access services. Included within the definition
of Internet access services is basic access to electronic mail services, whether procured
independently or in conjunction with other Internet access services.1
IV.

Analysis
a)

[Taxpayer]

Similar to taxpayer’s offering discussed in Florida Technical Assistance Advisement
19A-015, [Taxpayer]
provides online courses that can be streamed via its
website or downloaded onto an app. [Taxpayer] charges its customers based on the
purchase of individual courses or on a monthly or yearly subscription to access unlimited
courses. Similar to the determination in [TAA] 19A-015, charges for a course offered
through [Taxpayer]
should not be considered the sale of a communications
service, as the service being provided neither enables the customer to communicate
nor is it a video, audio, or other programming service as defined for purposes of the
CST.

1

47 U.S.C § 151 (2020).

Technical Assistance Advisement
October 7, 2022
Page 4

Rather, [Taxpayer]
, as a cloud-based platform that allows users to stream and
download courses and instructional videos on a variety of subjects, should be
considered an information service and therefore not subject to the Florida CST.
b)
… The purpose of
is to contact individuals with specific employment history and
attributes. As such,
should be considered an electronic mail service, with
components of information services, as users are provided access to information on
individuals compiled by [Taxpayer]. Neither electronic mail service nor information
services are included within the definition of communications services. Accordingly,
should not be subject to CST in Florida.
Further, the “Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act” (“PITFA”), prohibits discriminatory
taxes imposed on sales of Internet access services, including access to electronic mail
services, whether procured independently or in conjunction with other Internet access
services. …
Included with your request was a copy of [Taxpayer]
[Taxpayer]
as of March 5, 2021, order forms and invoices applicable to
both [Taxpayer]

APPLICABLE LAW

Reliance on Technical Assistance Advisements:
Section 213.22(1), F.S., states, in part, “… Technical Assistance Advisements shall have no
precedential value except to the taxpayer who requests the advisement and then only for the
specific transaction addressed in the technical assistance advisement, unless specifically stated
otherwise in the advisement.…” Therefore, the TAAs referenced in your request have not been
taken into consideration during the review of your request.

Communications Services Tax:
Chapter 202, F.S., imposes Communications Services Tax on the retail sale of communications
services, unless specifically exempt. Communications services tax is comprised of the Florida
communications services tax and the local communications services tax.
The term “communications services” is defined broadly and means, in pertinent part, “... the
transmission, conveyance, or routing of voice, data, audio, video, or any other information or
signals, including video services, to a point, or between or among points, by or through any
electronic, radio, satellite, cable, optical, microwave, or other medium or method now in
2

[Taxpayer]

were revised - the current version is dated

Technical Assistance Advisement
October 7, 2022
Page 5

existence or hereafter devised, regardless of the protocol used for such transmission or
conveyance....” See s. 202.11(1), F.S. The term “video services” means the transmission of
video, audio, or other programming service to a purchaser, and the purchaser interaction; if any,
required for the selection or use of a programming service .... The term includes basic, extended,
premium, pay-per-view, digital video, two-way cable, and music services.” See s. 202.11(24),
F.S. (Emphasis Added).
Despite the broad definition of the term “communications services,” certain services are
excluded from the definition of communications services, including Internet access service,
electronic mail service, electronic bulletin board service, and information services. See s.
202.11(1)(a) and (1)(h), F.S.
Section 202.11(5), F.S., provides in part that an “information service” means “the offering of a
capability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, using, or
making available information via communications services… . The term includes data processing
and other services that allow data to be generated, acquired, stored, processed, or retrieved
and delivered by an electronic transmission to a purchaser whose primary purpose for the
underlying transaction is the processed data or information. The term does not include video
service.” (Emphasis Added).
A sale of communications services occurs when communications services are provided for a
consideration. Communications services tax applies to the retail sales price of communications
services that (1) originate and terminate in Florida, or (2) originate or terminate in Florida and are
charged to a Florida service address. See s. 202.12(1), F.S. Service address generally means
the location of the communications equipment from which communications services originate or
are received by the customer. For video services, the service address is the location where the
customer receives the service in Florida. See s. 202.11(14), F.S.
[Taxpayer]
After completing the [Taxpayer]
, which requires that the customer
agree to “pay the fees for the Services in accordance with the payment terms stated in the
ordering document,” Taxpayer will provide the customer access to its cloud-based platform that
allows users to stream and download courses and instructional videos for various subjects.
You contend that the services provided by Taxpayer neither enable the customer to
communicate nor is a video, audio, or other programming service as defined for communications
services purposes. It is your contention that [Taxpayer]
, should be considered an
information service and therefore not subject to communications services tax. However, based
upon the description of the services offered, as well as review of the documentation and
information provided, and a preview of Taxpayer’s online educational platform, Taxpayer’s
charge for its [Taxpayer]
offering is subject to communications services tax.
Here, Taxpayer’s cloud-based platform allows customers to stream and download courses and
instructional videos related to various subject areas. This offering is subject to the

Technical Assistance Advisement
October 7, 2022
Page 6

communications services tax because it involves the “transmission of video, audio, or other
programming service to a purchaser …” and includes “digital video.” See s. 202.11(24), F.S.
Despite your contention that [Taxpayer]
would be a tax-exempt information service,
this offering enables customers to stream and download courses and instructional videos and
therefore could not be an information service as the statutory definition of information service
excludes a video service. See s. 202.11(5), F.S. Therefore, a service cannot be an information
service if it meets, as it does here, the statutory definition of video service. The definition of video
service, unlike information service, contains no test for the “primary purpose” of the transaction,
therefore the underlying purpose of the video service is irrelevant. Accordingly, Taxpayer’s
[Taxpayer]
offering that includes audio or video are “video services” subject to the
communications services tax.

Taxpayer’s
feature allows users to directly message other [Taxpayer] members. Taxpayer
offers a Basic (free)
account or a
(paid)
account. Basic account holders
can only directly message members with whom they are connected; whereas
account
holders are allotted a certain number of credits per month but have the ability to purchase
additional credits for an additional fee. The credits can be used to send
messages.
You contend that the purpose of
is to contact individuals with specified employment history
and attributes and should be considered an electronic mail service with components of
information services.
users are provided access to information, related to individuals, that
is compiled by Taxpayer.
Here, Taxpayer’s
offering does not involve the transmission or routing of voice, data, audio,
video, or any other information in exchange for a consideration. Based on the information
provided, Taxpayer is providing its users an information service that allows data to be generated,
acquired, stored, processed, or retrieved and delivered by an electronic transmission to a
purchaser whose primary purpose for the underlying transaction is the processed data or
information. Therefore, Taxpayer’s charge for
is an information service, not subject to
communications services tax.

CONCLUSION
Based upon review of the documentation and information provided, and preview of [Taxpayer]
, Taxpayer’s charge to its customers for sales of its [Taxpayer]
offering is a
video service subject to Florida Communications Services Tax. However, Taxpayer’s sales of its
offering would be electronic mail/information services, not subject to Florida
communications services tax.
This response constitutes a Technical Assistance Advisement under Section 213.22, F.S., which
is binding on the Department only under the facts and circumstances described in the request
for this advice, as specified in Section 213.22, F.S. Our response is predicated on those facts
and the specific situation summarized above. You are advised that subsequent statutory or

Technical Assistance Advisement
October 7, 2022
Page 7

administrative rule changes, or judicial interpretations of the statutes or rules, upon which this
advice is based, may subject similar future transactions to a different treatment than expressed
in this response.
You are further advised that this response, your request and related backup documents are
public records under Chapter 119, F.S., and are subject to disclosure to the public under the
conditions of Section 213.22, F.S. Confidential information must be deleted before public
disclosure. In an effort to protect confidentiality, we request you provide the undersigned with an
edited copy of your request for Technical Assistance Advisement, the backup material and this
response, deleting names, addresses and any other details which might lead to identification of
the Taxpayer. Your response should be received by the Department within ten (10) days of the
date of this letter.
If you have any further questions with regard to this matter and wish to discuss them, you may
contact me directly at (850)717-6701.
Best Regards,

Shundra McClean

Shundra McClean
Tax Law Specialist
Technical Assistance & Dispute Resolution
Record ID: 7000623536
cc:

Technical Assistance Advisement
October 7, 2022
Page 8

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Tax type:

Communications Services Tax

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