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Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8710L0846B06 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1987-10-30

Were services helping employers install and administer qualified retirement plans subject to Texas sales tax?

Short answer: No. Based on the stated facts, including that the firm did not provide specialized news or current-information bulletins, Texas found the service nontaxable.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1987. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1987
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 a taxpayer-specific October 1987 Texas Comptroller letter about helping employers install and administer qualified retirement plans. The body does not discuss the extra benefit-determination or data-processing details in STAR's caption, so this page does not repeat them. It says the opinion may change if the facts differ. Its nontaxable classification is historical; verify current law and the actual information furnished. STAR documents may no longer represent current policy even when not marked superseded. Identity is redacted. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice.
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 firm's service was not taxable. It helped employers install and administer qualified retirement plans and did not furnish specialized news or current-information bulletins.

The letter gives no further service details or legal citations, so its conclusion should not be expanded to retirement-plan work with different information products or deliverables.

What this means for you

The historical result was expressly fact-specific. The absence of specialized news or current bulletins was one of the few facts the Comptroller recorded.

Common questions

Was qualified-plan installation taxable? No under the stated facts.

Was plan administration taxable? No under the stated facts.

Did the firm provide specialized news or current bulletins? No.

Citations and references

  • No statute or rule number is cited in the ruling text.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

October 30, 1987

Dear ***

Thank you for your recent letter concerning the taxability of certain
services in your business.

You state that your firm assists employers with the installation and
administration of Qualified Retirement Plans. You also state that you do
not furnish specialized news or current information bulletins.

Based on the facts presented, your service is not taxable.

This opinion is based on the facts presented. If there are additional or
different facts, the opinion may change.

If you have any questions or need more information, please call me at
1-800-252-5555 toll free from anywhere in Texas. The regular number is
512/463-4600. You may write me at the Tax Policy Division

Sincerely,
(Mrs) Jo Ann Dieck
Tax Policy Division

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