Texas Administrative Code › Title 34 - PUBLIC FINANCE › Part 1 - COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS › Chapter 3 - TAX ADMINISTRATION › Subchapter O - STATE AND LOCAL SALES AND USE TAXES › Section 3.344 - Telecommunications Services

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Definitions.
				  The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the
				  following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Basic local exchange telephone
				  service--The provision by a telephone company of each access line and each dial
				  tone to a fixed location for sending and receiving telecommunications in the
				  telephone company's local exchange network. Services are considered basic
				  irrespective of whether the customer has access to a private or party line, or
				  whether the customer has limited or unlimited access. The term does not include
				  international, interstate, or intrastate long-distance telecommunications
				  services or mobile telecommunications services.
(2) Internet--Collectively the myriad of
				  computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating
				  software, that comprise the interconnected worldwide network of networks that
				  employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor
				  or successor protocols to the protocol, to communicate information of all kinds
				  by wire or radio.
(3) Internet
				  access service--A service that enables users to access content, information,
				  electronic mail, or other services offered over the Internet and may also
				  include access to proprietary content, information, and other services as part
				  of a package of services offered to consumers. The term does not include
				  telecommunications services. See §
											3.366 of
				  this title (relating to Internet Access Services).
(4) Interstate long-distance
				  telecommunication service--A telecommunication service that originates in one
				  state, crosses state lines, and terminates in another state.
(5) Intrastate long-distance
				  telecommunications service--A telecommunication service that originates and
				  terminates within one state, but crosses the boundaries on subdivisions or
				  jurisdictions within the state.
(6)
				  Mobile telecommunications service--The provision of a commercial mobile radio
				  service, as defined in
				  47
				  C.F.R. 20.3 of the Federal Communications
				  Commission's (FCC) regulations in effect on June 1, 1999, under the Mobile
				  Telecommunications Sourcing Act (
				  4
				  U.S.C. §§116 -
				  126 ). The term
				  includes cellular telecommunications services, personal communications services
				  (PCS), specialized mobile radio services, wireless voice over Internet protocol
				  services, and paging services. The term does not include telephone prepaid
				  calling cards or air-ground radio telephone services as defined in
				  47 C.F.R.
				  22.99 of FCC regulations in effect on June 1,
				  1999.
(7) Pay telephone coin
				  sent--Telecommunications service paid for by the insertion of coins into a
				  coin-operated telephone.
(8) Place
				  of primary use--The physical street address that is representative of where a
				  customer primarily uses a mobile telecommunications service. That location must
				  be either the customer's residential street address or the customer's primary
				  business street address that is within the licensed service area of the service
				  provider. The individual or entity that contracts with the service provider is
				  the customer. If the individual or entity that contracts with the service
				  provider is not the end user, then the physical street address where the end
				  user primarily uses the service determines the customer's place of primary use.
				  For example, a business owner who is located in Austin, Texas establishes
				  mobile telecommunication service accounts for employees who are located in
				  other cities. One employee does business from his home in Dallas, Texas. Two
				  other employees work at an office that is located in Houston, Texas. Another
				  employee works at an office that is located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The home
				  street address of the employee in Dallas is the place of primary use for that
				  cellular phone account. The place of primary use for the two Houston employees
				  is the street address of the Houston office. The place of primary use for the
				  employee in Louisiana is the street address of the New Orleans
				  office.
(9) Prepaid
				  telecommunications service--A wireless or wire telecommunications service for
				  which the provider requires a customer to prepay the full amount prior to
				  provision of the service. The term does not include the sale or use of a
				  telephone prepaid calling card as defined in paragraph (15) of this subsection.
				  A card, pin number, access code or similar device that allows a user to access
				  only a specific network, or that is intended for use with a specific user
				  account or device (e.g., to add more minutes to an existing account), is a
				  prepaid telecommunications service and is taxed as the sale of a
				  telecommunications service. Local sales tax is collected as explained in
				  subsection (h) of this section.
(10) Private communication service--A
				  telecommunication service that entitles the customer to exclusive or priority
				  use of a communications channel or group of channels between or among
				  termination points, regardless of the manner in which such channel or channels
				  are connected, and includes switching capacity, extension lines, stations, and
				  any other associated services that are provided in connection with the use of
				  such channel or channels.
(A) As it relates to
				  private communication service, the term "communications channel" means a
				  physical or virtual path of communications over which signals are transmitted
				  between or among customer channel termination points.
(B) As it relates to private communication
				  service, the term "customer channel termination point" means the location where
				  the customer either inputs or receives the communications.
(11) Seller--Any person who sells
				  telecommunications services including a hotel, motel, owner or lessor of an
				  office, residential building or development that contracts and pays for
				  telecommunications services for resale to guests or tenants.
(12) Taxable service--A telecommunications
				  service or other taxable service listed in Tax Code, §
											151.0101.
(13) Telecommunications services--The
				  electronic or electrical transmission, conveyance, routing, or reception of
				  sounds, signals, data, or information utilizing wires, cable, radio waves,
				  microwaves, satellites, fiber optics, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), or
				  any other method now in existence or that may be devised, including but not
				  limited to long-distance telephone service. The term includes mobile
				  telecommunications services and prepaid telecommunications services. The term
				  does not include:
(A) the storage of data or
				  other information for subsequent retrieval or the processing, or reception and
				  processing, of data or information intended to change its form or
				  content;
(B) the sale or use of a
				  telephone prepaid calling card;
(C)
				  Internet access service; or
(D) pay
				  telephone coin sent.
(14) Telephone company--A person who owns or
				  operates a telephone line or telephone in this state and charges for its
				  use.
(15) Telephone prepaid calling
				  card--A card or other item, including an access code, that represents the right
				  to access telecommunications services, other than prepaid telecommunications
				  services as defined in paragraph (9) of this subsection, through multiple
				  devices, regardless of the network providing direct service to the device used,
				  for which payment is made in incremental amounts and before the call or
				  transmission is initiated. For example, a calling card that allows a user to
				  access a long distance telecommunications network for the purpose of making
				  international calls through a pay phone is a telephone prepaid calling card.
				  The sale of a telephone prepaid calling card is taxed as the sale of tangible
				  personal property.
(16) Voice over
				  Internet Protocol (VoIP)--A telecommunication service where a phone call is
				  transmitted over a data network. The term "Internet Protocol" is a catchall
				  phrase for the protocols and technologies of encoding a voice call that allow
				  the voice call to be slotted in between data on a data network, including the
				  Internet, a company's Intranet, or any other type of data network.