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TITLE 34PUBLIC FINANCE
PART 1COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
CHAPTER 3TAX ADMINISTRATION
SUBCHAPTER OSTATE AND LOCAL SALES AND USE TAXES
RULE §3.286Seller's and Purchaser's Responsibilities, including Nexus, Permits, Returns and Reporting Periods, and Collection and Exemption Rules

  (12) Taxable item--Tangible personal property and taxable services. Except as otherwise provided in Tax Code, Chapter 151, the sale or use of a taxable item in electronic form instead of on physical media does not alter the item's tax status.

    (A) Tangible personal property means property that can be seen, weighed, measured, felt, or touched or that is perceptible to the senses in any other manner, including a computer program as defined in §3.308 of this title (relating to Computers--Hardware, Software, Services, and Sales) and a telephone prepaid calling card, as defined in §3.344 of this title.

    (B) Taxable services are those identified in Tax Code, §151.0101.

(b) Who must have a sales and use tax permit.

  (1) Sellers. Each seller who is engaged in business in this state, including itinerant vendors, persons who own or operate a kiosk, and sellers operating temporarily in this state, must apply to the comptroller and obtain a sales and use tax permit for each place of business operated in this state.

  (2) Out-of-state sellers. Each out-of-state seller who has nexus with this state and is engaged in business in this state must apply to the comptroller and obtain a sales and use tax permit. An out-of-state seller is responsible for the collection and remittance of sales and use tax on all sales of taxable items made in this state until the seller ceases to have nexus with this state. An out-of-state seller ceases to have nexus with this state when the seller no longer has, and no longer intends to engage in activities that would create, nexus with this state. For example, an out-of-state seller who enters the state each year to participate in an annual trade show does not cease to have nexus with this state between one trade show and the next. In contrast, an out-of-state seller who discontinues the product line that it marketed and sold in this state, and who does not anticipate entering the state to solicit new business, has ceased to have nexus with this state. An out-of-state seller is required to maintain, for at least four years after the out-of-state seller ceases to have nexus with this state, all records required by subsection (j) of this section, including sufficient documentation to verify the date on which the out-of-state seller ceased to have nexus with this state. For more information regarding reporting periods, refer to subsection (g) of this section.

  (3) Direct sales organizations. Independent salespersons of direct sales organizations are not required to hold sales and use tax permits to sell taxable items for direct sales organizations. Direct sales organizations engaged in business in this state are sellers responsible for holding sales and use tax permits and for the collection and remittance of sales and use tax on all sales of taxable items by their independent salespersons. See subsection (d)(3) of this section for more information about the collection and remittance of sales and use tax by direct sales organizations.

  (4) Non-permitted purchasers. Persons who are not required to have a sales and use tax permit or who do not have a direct payment permit are still responsible for paying to the comptroller sales or use tax due on purchases of taxable items from sellers who do not collect and remit tax. See subsection (g)(9) of this section for return and payment information and §3.346 of this title (relating to Use Tax).

  (5) Non-permitted sellers. Failure to obtain a sales and use tax permit does not relieve a seller required by this section or other applicable law to have a sales and use tax permit from the obligation to properly collect and remit sales and use taxes. Sellers whose sales and use tax permits are suspended, pursuant to subsection (l) of this section, or cancelled, pursuant to subsection (n) of this section, and sellers who have not received sales and use tax permits due to unsigned or incomplete applications, are still responsible for properly collecting and remitting sales and use taxes. See subsection (g) of this section for return and payment information.

(c) Obtaining a sales and use tax permit.

  (1) A seller must complete an application that the comptroller furnishes and must return that application to the comptroller, together with bond or other security that may be required by §3.327 of this title (relating to Taxpayer's Bond or Other Security). A seller who files an electronic application furnished by the comptroller is deemed to have signed the application and is not required to print and mail a signed application to the comptroller. A separate sales and use tax permit under the same taxpayer account number is issued to the applicant for each place of business. Sales and use tax permits are issued without charge.

  (2) Each seller must apply for a sales and use tax permit. An individual or sole proprietor must be at least 18 years of age unless the comptroller allows an exception from the age requirement. The sales and use tax permit cannot be transferred from one seller to another. The sales and use tax permit is valid only for the seller to whom it was issued and for the transaction of business only at the address that is shown on the sales and use tax permit. If a seller operates two or more types of business at the same location, then only one sales and use tax permit is required.

  (3) The sales and use tax permit must be conspicuously displayed at the place of business for which it is issued. A permit holder that has traveling sales persons who operate from a central office needs only one sales and use tax permit, which must be displayed at that office.

  (4) All sales and use tax permits of the seller will have the same taxpayer account number; however, each place of business will have a different outlet number. The outlet numbers assigned may not necessarily correspond to the number of business locations operated by the seller.

(d) Collecting sales and use tax due.

  (1) Bracket system.

    (A) Each seller must collect sales or use tax on each separate retail sale in accordance with the statutory bracket system in Tax Code, §151.053. The practice of rounding off the amount of sales or use tax that is due on the sale of a taxable item is prohibited. Copies of the bracket system should be displayed in each place of business so both the seller and the purchaser may easily use them.

    (B) The sales and use tax applies to each total sale, not to each item of each sale. For example, if two items are purchased at the same time and each item is sold for $.07, then the seller must collect the tax on the total sum of $.14. Sales and use tax must be reported and remitted to the comptroller as provided by Tax Code, §151.410. When sales and use tax is collected properly under the bracket system, the seller is not required to remit any amount that is collected in excess of the sales and use tax due. Conversely, when the sales and use tax collected under the bracket system is less than the sales and use tax due on the seller's total receipts, the seller is required to remit sales and use tax on the total receipts even though the seller did not collect sales and use tax from the purchasers.

  (2) Sales and use tax due is debt of the purchaser; document requirements.

    (A) The sales and use tax due is a debt of the purchaser to the seller until collected. Unpaid sales or use tax is recoverable by the seller in the same manner as the original sales price of the taxable item itself, if unpaid, would be recoverable. The comptroller may proceed against either the seller or purchaser, or against both, until all applicable tax, penalty, and interest due has been paid.

    (B) The amount of sales and use tax due must be separately stated on the bill, contract, or invoice to the purchaser or there must be a written statement to the purchaser that the stated price includes sales or use tax. Contracts, bills, or invoices that merely state that "all taxes" are included are not specific enough to relieve either party to the transaction of its sales and use tax responsibilities. The total amount that is shown on such documents is presumed to be the taxable item's sales price, without sales and use tax included. The seller or purchaser may overcome the presumption by using the seller's records to show that sales or use tax was included in the sales price. Sellers located outside of Texas must identify the tax as Texas sales or use tax on their bill, contract, or invoice to the purchaser. If the out-of-state seller does not identify the tax as Texas sales or use tax at the time of the transaction, the seller is presumed not to have collected Texas sales or use tax. Either the seller or the purchaser may overcome the presumption by submitting evidence that clearly demonstrates that the Texas sales or use tax was remitted to the comptroller.

  (3) Direct sales organizations. A direct sales organization is responsible for the collection and remittance of the sales and use tax on all sales of taxable items in this state by the independent salespersons who sell the organization's product or service as explained in this paragraph. See subsection (b)(3) of this section for information about sales and use tax permits required to be held by direct sales organizations.

Cont'd...

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